I've suffered with eczema for years and other skin conditions too, like sebhorric dermatitis, which effects the scalp. I don't want to gross anyone out, but I do want to give a bit of background as to why I decided to switch my shampoo for natural hair soap, and maybe give hope to fellow sufferers with my results. I've never officially been told what causes these conditions, but I've always felt that harsh hair products could be making it worse. This post offers a review of the products I bought from The Natural Soap Company, and how their shampoo bar helped improve my skin.
*If you a buy a product through one of my links on Amazon, I receive a little commission.*
Shampoo bars are rapidly increasing in popularity, and there is quite an array of choices available online. I did quite a lot of research before choosing what I felt was the right shampoo bar for my hair. You can choose them based on your hair type, as well as considering cost and sustainability. Like a lot of people, I have been working on reducing the amount of plastic I buy and I was very pleased to read that The Natural Soap Company have done everything they can to maximise the use of biodegradable and recyclable packaging. All their products are hand-wrapped in paper, with paper labels and are shipped in recyclable cardboard boxes, with recyclable packing tape. They even use biodegradable, compostible cornstarch packing chips, so I can be sure that, as well as providing a plastic bottle-free option for shampoo, their commitment to the environment is 'the whole package'. Ahem.
In terms of cost, there is a lot of variation in different shops, ranging from £2.60 to £15 for a similar amount, with varying claims about how long the bar will last. I paid £4.50 for mine, and I'm still using it more than a month later. It's not even used up yet, and I wash my hair every two to three days. I have also found that it's so nourishing, I don't even need to use conditioner, so I'm pretty sure it's going to work out cheaper than my usual shampoo and conditioner. I used this shampoo bar article from The Independent to compare prices and quality between various online producers. It's also worth noting that not all 'handmade' soap is actually handmade, it's made with a commercially produced based, with scents and petals added, to give a handmade look and feel. By their very nature, handmade products are going to be more expensive, since they are far more labour intensive and tend to contain higher quality ingredients, so do check the website carefully, to make sure you are getting what you paid for. The Natural Soap Company has a brutally honest FAQs section and I really appreciated their candidness, it gave me faith in their products.
The big question, of course, is did it work? Well, it might be early days, I may see a recurrence of symptoms, because this isn't a controlled test and there may be other factors that make a difference. I also know sometimes, that it can take a while for symptoms to build up, so I may find they return, eventually. However, I have seen an improvement so far. It took a few attempts to get the technique right, as it's a little different to using normal shampoo and any residue can make scalp problems worse, so it was a learning curve to begin with. I learned that you have to take your time with using the product, but, if you're like me and don't need conditioner, it probably doesn't take any longer over all. I found a Shampoo Brush, like this one from Amazon, really useful for transferring the product throughout the hair, as it feels quite sticky to begin with. I tried to make a lather in my hands, like you normally would with soap, but found this didn't really work, so I settled on the method where you smooth the bar down the length of your hair a few times, and then lather it up from there. I found I needed to keep adding water to it, to get a really good lather, but it is very important to do this, as otherwise it doesn't rinse out properly and your hair will feel heavy and unmanageable afterwards. Once you've got a good lather, you can use a shampoo brush, or wide toothed comb to distribute it through the hair, before thoroughly rinsing it out. And I mean thoroughly. Rinse it like your life depends on it, then rinse it some more. After you think you're done, rinse it again. This is a very important step. Once you get the hang of it, it's really easy and no more time consuming than a normal shampoo - conditioner routine.
Before I started using this shampoo bar, I had to use Head and Shoulders, anything else would send my scalp into a crazy, scaly frenzy, which is grim. The problem was, Head and Shoulders made my eyes sting, just from being near the product, not because I got it in my eyes, and seemed to aggravate the eczema on my face. So, I hated washing my hair as I was stuck with it. Since I switched, I don't get the stinging anymore, which has made such a difference, but my scalp has also remained unaffected and I'm loving it. I've also had no eczema on my face since changing, although I don't know if this is definitely linked, as there are a lot of potential causes of eczema. Other surprising improvements are insanely soft, shiny hair and a lot less hair loss. I have used the same shampoo for probably around 15 years and I've always left a lot of my hair behind in the plughole. Like, a handful each time. I have really long, thick hair, so I just assumed this was normal but apparently not, as now I don't see much hair loss at all. The amazing success of this switch has led me to want to try more natural products, not just for my own health, but also to help with my attempts to use less plastic. Whilst buying my shampoo bar, I discovered a really fun 'offcuts' box of assorted soaps that you can buy from The Natural Soap Company for £7.50. It's a bit like the broken biscuits you used to get from the supermarket for a discounted price. Do they still do that? Am I showing my age here? Anyway, it may sound expensive, but when I received the box, it contained no less than 39 travel-sized soap samples in assorted scents. It's a great way to try a variety of different soaps and also a real money saver, since one sample lasted over a week.
I am really pleased to have found this company and to have discovered shampoo bars. I definitely think they are the way forward for sensitive scalps and eczema sufferers and you can find a bar that suits your needs. They even sell one that's supposed to repel nits, which is much more appealing than chemicals. I am about three quarters of the way through the Tropical Coconut bar and next, I will be trying Nettle and Rosemary. My plastic bottle consumption has gone down by three a month and that's a great bonus too!
This is so interesting! I am really tempted to try a shampoo bar, but they do intimidate me if I'm honest. Having read your review it makes me want to try one more now :)
ReplyDeleteI was exactly the same! They are really different, so take some getting used to, but there are a few tutorials online that really help.
DeleteOh I haven't tried these soaps before but I'm a big fan of natural soaps!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I've only just started using them, wish I'd switched years ago!
DeleteI would love to try these, they sound great. Love that they are so natural too!
ReplyDeleteI have never tried a shampoo bar but it is shocking how many plastic bottles I throw away. I would happy to swap back to soap for washing the rest of me.
ReplyDeleteThe shampoo bars have really taken off lately and with good reason, a friend of mine has been using them for a while and loves them.
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of shampoo bars. Never used any before.
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing about shampoo bars but haven't had the chance to try one yet.
ReplyDeleteWe love shampoo bars and have been using them for years from the lush shop. Would definitely try out this brand :)
ReplyDeleteI tend to use Lush but will certainly look into these as prefer using naturals
ReplyDeleteOh wow I love the fact that they are natural. Shampoo bars sounds like an amazing idea xx
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