I do not know about you, but I am pretty concerned about where our planet is headed in the next few decades. For some reason, many people refuse to believe scientists when they inform us that we are heading for some irreversible environmental danger if we do not clean up our act both literally and metaphorically. I try not to let this depress me, but something about the idea of near and imminent death looming over my head does not make me feel too comfy cozy. So, I try to find ways to do my part. From cutting almost all meat from my diet to trying to buy as many sustainable and eco-friendly products possible, I am always trying everything I can if it means reducing the carbon footprint.
- The Purchase
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The other day when I was out and about, I stumbled upon a shampoo bar while at Lush. I was so game to put it to the test. For context, I am a white woman with naturally straight, thick, fine hair that tends to lean on the drier side.
Previously, I used TRESemme shampoo which comes packaged in a large plastic bottle that I would purchase from my local Target. The opportunity to give this up in exchange for a shampoo that came with virtually zero waste was thrilling to me, but daunting at the same time.
I do not even use bar soap, let alone shampoo. How would this even work, and would the results make my hair even dryer? I had literally no idea. - The Test
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That night, the first thing I did was jump in the shower to wash my hair. My hair was pretty dirty, as it usually is, so it desperately needed a good soak.
I wet my hair, wet the bar, and got to work scrubbing. It felt super odd and almost against the rules as I rubbed a bar of soap into my hair, and it took me a minute to get over the initial shock. Once I did though it made sense; I was cleaning my hair root to tip.
One thing I noticed immediately was that the shampoo did not lather nearly as much as my regular bottled shampoo. This confused me at first and made me feel like I was not doing it right because usually, my head is dripping sudsy lather all over the place. Upon researching this afterward, I learned that this is what your shampoo should actually look like. The reason most shampoos foam so much is due to all the chemicals they get formulated with that allows for a satisfying, but not necessarily best for your hair, lather.
The first night I used it, I decided to use it alone without any other product. I hopped out of the shower, let my hair air dry halfway as per usual, and then blew it out with my hairdryer to dry the rest.Upon doing this, I noticed right away that my hair felt clean but different. As I mentioned, I have pretty dry hair, so after that initial use, I was left feeling quite squeaky but almost stripped. A few days later when it was time to wash again, I decided to incorporate my other products including conditioner and a Pacifica Banana hair mask to see how my hair would react. Just as I had suspected, my hair felt super clean and back to normal once it was dried again. All I needed was to put back some of the conditioning and nutrient agents that get stripped away when you wash your hair.
After realizing this, I hopped on the Lush website and realized that they also sell a bar of conditioner, which I did not know they sold when I bought the shampoo bar. Knowing this Lush shampoo bar serves as a great, eco-friendly alternative to my original shampoo and conditioner system, I cannot wait to purchase the conditioner bar!
My hair feels great and my soul feels even better knowing I am reducing my non-biodegradable waste production by making such a simple switch!