The Shampoo Bar Story Part 2 (FAQ's)

So you have actually made the switch and bought your first Shampoo Bar. You were so excited to use it, and then you wondered how to. After the first use, a lot of questions may pop up in your mind.

This article will try to cover most of your concerns, as much as we can. We simply thought that this type of information is something that you ought to know. This is actually the second part of our Shampoo Bar Story, and we will attempt to give an answer to all your possible questions about this topic.

What is a Shampoo Bar?

A Shampoo bar is just a solid form of the liquid shampoo that we know. This bar however, is made with all natural ingredients, and as such, it DOES NOT have any artificial fragrance, color, preservatives, detergents, alcohol, urea, formaldehyde, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), DEA, propylene glycol, and other chemicals. These are harmful ingredients that strip your hair of its NATURAL OILS, and it can really damage your hair and scalp. At times, these are the culprit behind your dry, itchy, and irritated scalp. It can also dry out your hair, and can lead to hair loss.

What are the benefits?

·         Increased volume, faster hair growth, reduced dandruff, shinier hair and a lot more.   

·         If you have curly hair, most people say they that they have more defined curls with better control.

·         Shampoo bars are generally good for all hair types and hair lengths (adjustment period may vary though for each person)

·         There are even brands which are formulated for permed and color treated hair.

·         Natural Shampoo bars are healthy and safe for every user  (even for daily use!)

·         It is eco-friendly since it does not contain any harmful chemicals

·         Highly economical because of its being compact and concentrated in form (results to higher number of usage compared to liquid shampoo).

·         Natural Shampoo bars are gentle (allowing you to retain color and moisture)

·         It reduces instances of scalp dryness.

·         It allows your hair to rebalance and produce the right amount of oils needed (something which is being stripped off by chemicals present in commercial shampoos).

·         They are also a perfect travel mate because they are so handy (without the bulky plastic bottles).

The process of making these bars are very similar to handcrafted natural soap, but the recipe and ingredient may be different. The essential oils plus the fruit and plant extracts are selected carefully to make sure that it will nourish your hair and scalp.

What can I expect to happen when I start to use the Shampoo Bar?

Since you have used conventional shampoos and conditioner for quite sometime,  this natural shampoo bar is something new to your hair and scalp. One good thing is that it will not strip hair like detergent based shampoos, and you may notice your hair feels different immediately after washing. This is what we call the "transition stage", or the period when the hair will adjust to the natural ingredients. These effects may vary from one person to another. Some people will just be okay while others may not.

Everyone's hair is unique, and the transition process will be a case to case basis. Your hair may feel greaser than normal, or it may even feel dryer than normal. It may feel waxy, coated or just weird.

This transition period (some people call them the "transitional purge" period), can last from a few days to a few weeks or even a month. This is literally a time for your hair, which has been addicted to chemical-laden shampoos, to go through a withdrawal stage.  Soon enough, it will eventually learn to live a chemical-free life. Remember, it may not be easy but it will pass! Patience and perseverance will be your key and your reward will be a healthy, soft and silky hair.

Do I still need to use hair conditioner when using this bar?

It depends on your preference.  Some can do away without one, others may feel the need to use a conditioner because they feel that their hair is dull, lacks luster, and dry.  Please remember though, that most  natural shampoo bars will not strip the natural oils from your hair. You just need to wait for your hair to fully adjust to the natural ingredients.

Because of the high concentration of oils in natural shampoo bars, the hair tends to have more of a waxy consistency, which can be gone after a couple of uses.

To avoid this, many bar shampoo users rinse with Apple Cider Vinegar to remove the coating and shine their hair. Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinses can be very helpful in such cases as they are an excellent addition to any natural hair care routine and can help bring back body and shine to dull, lackluster hair.

What is an ACV Rinse?

Do you need to use an Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) rinse? It depends on a number of factors.

Your water: If your hair does not seem to be adjusting to the shampoo bars, it may be due to your water. Hard water makes it more difficult to rinse natural shampoo from your hair.

Hair length: Many of our male customers and women with short hair have found that they do not need to rinse with vinegar, simply because their hair is short.

Tangles: ACV rinses often help with tangles.

Residue: If your hair has residue from previous products or you regularly use conditioners, styling gels etc., our shampoo bars are mild and may not remove residue from your hair like detergent shampoos. ACV rinses help remove build-up and product residue.

Hair type: Everyone's hair is unique.

Apple Cider Vinegar Hair Rinse (ACV Rinse)

Ingredients

2-4 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

16 oz cool water

1-2 drops lavender oil (optional)

Directions:

After shampooing and rinsing your hair, mix the apple cider vinegar, water, and essential oil (optional) in a plastic bottle. Leaning your head back, pour the rinse over your entire scalp, allowing the mixture to run through your hair. Be careful to avoid contact with your eyes. Let the mixture sit on your hair for 1-2 minutes. Then, rinse thoroughly.

How to Use Your Natural Shampoo Bar?

You can either use the shampoo bar directly on your wet hair or, you can rub the bar in your hands and create the lather. After that, you can run your fingers through your hair while applying the lather.

It should be applied onto your hair from scalp to ends, in a combing motion.

Cover each section of your hair. Gently massage scalp and hair, adding more water as needed, until a good lather forms.

To prevent tangles, be sure to always work from the top down, don't pile your hair on your head and use your fingers like a comb, not a mixer.

With this method, it is very important that you really build up a good lather on your head so there are no patches of soap left on your hair.

Rinse thoroughly, and repeatedly, as much as you can.

Repeat if desired.

We have been receiving a lot of feedback lately from people telling us that their hair felt more dry when they used the shampoo bars. Other feedback however is different. They said that they felt that their dry hair had more moisture and many people who suffer from oily hair or scalp said their hair had changed to what they believed "normal" would be like. We all have different hair type and so the result of the products that we use will not exactly be the same.

When looking for a shampoo bar, keep an eye out for natural ingredients like shea, mango, cocoa and other nourishing butters, along with coconut, jojoba, avocado, argan and other moisturizing oils. 

Essential oils may be used to promote certain properties, such as rosemary and lavender for healthy hair growth, or chamomile to keep hair looking healthy and bright.

Please avoid buying and using surfactant shampoo bars, or any brand that contain SLS. Always stay away from shampoo bars that contain any type of sulfate, and you should also pay close attention to bars whose ingredient lists feature sodium hydroxide - it is an extremely strong alkali which has a higher pH level than your hair. The hair doesn't have an acid mantle (your skin does, though!) and  the difference in pH levels can cause your hair to become coarse, brittle and, overtime, heavily damaged.

These are 3 most common types of Shampoo Bars in the market right now:

Cold-pressed: the process of mixing fixed oils (like coconut) with an alkali (such as Lye) to achieve saponification, where the composition of the fixed oils changes. These soaps are often rich in nourishing fats (like oils and butters) and are often SLS-free. However, because of the oils and butters, many users like to rinse their hair with a clarifying product (such as an apple cider vinegar rinse) to prevent build up on the scalp.

Glycerin-based: glycerin is a natural byproduct of the soap making process, and soaps containing natural glycerin tend to be kinder on the hair and scalp due to their lower pH levels, which help to keep the peace with your hair's own pH levels; this is said to help hair and skin maintain moisture. 

Surfactant: soap containing a surfactant will often provide the most lather, because surfactants are a compound of detergents which cause bubbling or foaming (aka lather). Common surfactant soaps are those found at LUSH, for example, and often contain SLS. The main purpose of a surfactant soap is to remove the dirt, oil, and bacteria from your hair, and can be extremely drying/clarifying to the point where they can do more harm than good to the health of your hair. 

Choosing the right shampoo bar can be a result of trial and error; there is no one specific shampoo bar that will work for every hair type, nor are shampoo bars going to solve every hair issue or concern.

One piece of advise though, not all Natural Shampoo Bars are the same. Ingredients do matter as they are the ones that will give benefits to your hair. Do not be swayed by just the colors, scents, and the looks. Know what each bar is made of as that will tell you the real worth of every bar.

For natural shampoo bars, made with high quality ingredients and were handcrafted with lots of love, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/aunaturalephil/

#naturalshampoobars #guideonusingshampoobars #localshampoobars

The Shampoo Bar Story

Certainly not a fairy tale, but the story behind these tiny bubbly pieces called Shampoo Bars traces back to some grand, old times. It started during the time when everything was handmade and they produce soaps through a process called "saponification". Those were the days where patience is still a virtue and "instant" and "ready-made" items are still unknown.

Fast forward to the recent years when everything comes handy-dandy, and everything that we need can now be bought easily from any 24/7 convenience store, or even from vending machines. It is usually a grab-and-go mentality and we forget that sometimes, this attitude and perception leads to ill consequences. The results shows the number of diseases plaguing the world today (a thing which didn’t even happen in the past), and the havoc being made to our environment and its innocent inhabitants. Videos are now being shown to prove this. Will you not be moved by such clips? I think that only the stone-heart and insensitive beings won't care about it.

This brings us to the big question. What are we doing to our planet?
Isn't it time for us to start asking ourselves what can we do, even in our own little way,  to help save what was left for us and for the next generation to come?

This is a challenge to all of us. The responsibility does not only lie on the shoulder of those with advocacy. They are not super heroes who can save the earth. They  need our help. It does not take a hefty amount of knowledge to understand the concept. It’s plain and simple. Consciousness and awareness are the key. The next step is to take action. How? By evaluating everything that we do, including the things that we use. Are we contributing to the trash that goes down the drain, and overflows to our rivers and oceans, each day?

Take a look at these points that I encountered from a blog called Unwrapped Life:

• A million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number is projected to jump another 20% by 2021.
• This equates to about 20,000 bottles being bought every second
• More than 480 billion plastic drinking bottles were sold in 2016 across the world, up from about 300 billion a decade ago. If placed end to end, these bottles would extend more than halfway to the sun.
• By 2021, annual plastic bottles sold are projected to increase to 583.3 billion.
• Fewer than half of the bottles bought in 2016 were collected for recycling and just 7% of those collected were turned into new bottles. That means, approximately 93% of the 480 billion plastic water bottles sold in 2016 ended up in landfill or in the ocean.

You don’t need to be a genius nor a math wizard to understand the numbers above. These are just plastic bottles alone (what about the sachets, the other plastics used as packaging, and a lot more?)! There’s even a lot more and all of them are being dumped into our waterways, wreaking havoc to our dear mother earth.

These sentiments gave an anchor to the story behind the resurfacing of shampoo bars. Small as it may seem to some but, we are rallying behind its purpose. Consider the multiplying effect of saving one plastic bottle per consumer per day, and take it into consideration. We believe that this will matter a lot. Now, more than ever, is the time to make the switch. Go organic. Support those small, local entrepreneurs who are striving to make the change. Their vision is clear. By using locally sourced raw materials, using natural ingredients, veering away from chemical components, wrapping up their products in biodegradable, recyclable packaging only means one thing. They care for you and for the environment, more than the profits that they can generate from sales.

Let’s throw off the IDC attitude out of the window once and for all. Think! It’s not just for some people. It’s for all of us and for those who will come after us.

For natural shampoo bars sans the plastic bottles, you may visit: https://www.facebook.com/aunaturelphil/

#zerowaste #reduceplastic #ecofriendlyproducts #locallymadeshampoobars #goorganic #environmentfriendlyproducts #ZerowastePhilippines

How to Choose the "Right" Kind of Natural Soap for your Skin

Choosing the "right soap" is quite tricky for some. It is a fact that not all the products are the same (in many aspects). Soaps are not an exception.  There are a lot of choices in the market, and you, as the consumer, should always be wise.  Do not be swayed by just price tags alone. QUALITY should be on the top of your list followed by SUITABILITY. The product and you should match, and you cannot compromise that.

This applies to your choice of skin care products. Remember, we can only have one set of skin and, it is irreplaceable. We have to be more conscious now of the stuff that we use for our skin. If you end up making the wrong choice, then regrets will surely follow. Unfortunately, it can be irreversible. What’s the most common staple in skin care that touches our skin daily? The most likely answer to this will be Soap. So, how can you pick the right kind of soap for yourself? You can do a checklist of the following:

      Skin Type – Our skin type varies. You should know your specific skin type as not all soaps will work for you. Soaps for Extra Dry Skin for example, will provide more oils which is definitely a no-no for those with Oily Skin and vice versa.

      Product Composition – Read the labels to know what the soap is made of. Ingredients do matter and that’s a fact. Natural soaps will always be a better alternative as it does not contain any chemicals which can harm our skin. Do not go just for the scent alone. You should be more conscious of each and every essential oil, extracts and fragrances that goes into each bar. Why? Because they should fit your needs and requirement. Kaolin Clay for example works best as a skin exfoliator and is therefore meant for acne-prone skin. Oats are designed to take care of sensitive skin and Guava is known to cure inflammation. Know your ingredients and match them with your specific needs.

      Go through a Trial Period – Buying the soap is not yet the end of the story. You still have to try them out. Like lotions or oils, you can do a skin patch test with soap. You can rub them on your arm or other parts of your body like your leg to see if there will be any adverse reaction. If the soap does not have any harmful or toxic ingredients, like soaps made from natural ingredients, the skin will yield to a favorable response. Given that, it will still be wise to try it out first to know if they will work for you or not. It is advisable for you to continue using the soap for at least a week, because natural ingredients’ benefits usually take effect over a certain period of time. Activated charcoal for example, will act like a magnet pulling all the excess oil, dirt and grime from your pores during the initial usage. Thus, it will be very likely for you to have breakouts. After continued usage however, once the pores are clear and clean, they will close down, and soon enough, you will have clearer skin.

      Maintenance – Once you’ve found the “right” soap for your skin, stick to using that. This will be short of saying that not unless that there’s a highly compelling reason for you to switch to another kind, then please don’t. It is already your match and it is working fine for you so cherish that. Not everyone can be as lucky as you.

You may need to evaluate the current skin care products that you are using, especially your soap
      (yes, the soap that you are rubbing on your face and body each day). Is it working for you? 
      
      Do you have clear skin which is FREE from breakouts? Or, do you have PATCHES of DRY SKIN all over your face. Touch your skin. Only you can do an honest evaluation of your current skin condition. 

HEALTHY Skin is free from any Acne, Blemishes, No Dry Patches. It is smooth, clear, and glowing. If your current skin is not like that then it’s high time for you to look for another brand. If you are using commercial brands, then most likely that the culprit will be the chemicals mixed into those brands. The most logical alternative will be skin care products made from natural ingredients. Be wary though, as there are also natural soaps which uses run-of-the mill ingredients (reason why they can offer them at a cheaper price).

      These 4 points can be very helpful especially for those who are still desperately hunting down for the best soap for their skin. No need to fret and worry for we are sure that you can also find your match!

      For your natural skin care products, you may visit: https://www.facebook.com/aunaturelphil/

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