Wash And Learn – Shampoo Bars And Naturally Curly Hair

Everyone uses shampoo from a bottle, but have you ever thought about trying a shampoo bar? You’ve never heard of them. Well, let us tell you all about the amazingness of Shampoo Bars. What is a Shampoo Bar? A Shampoo Bar looks practically the same as your typical bar of soap, which you would use to wash your hands or face. The only difference is that this bar is used on your hair. The best thing about shampoo bars, is the fact that they are made using 100% natural ingredients, creating a shampoo that is deep conditioning, fluffy, takes care of your scalp, without stripping it of it’s natural oils, like some harsh shampoos can do, and just looks after your curly hair. Since they contain nothing but natural ingredients, shampoo bars do not contain any artificial perfumes, alcohol, animal products (meaning that they are perfect for Vegans), harsh synthetics, no unnatural preservatives, no artificial colours or any other kind of nasty that could cause you and your hair damage. And if that wasn’t enough, shampoo bars have been lovingly made by hand.

Do Shampoo bars lather up like normal shampoo? Of course they do. Typical liquid shampoos rely on unnatural synthetic ingredients that are added by the large companies that manufacture them en masse. These ingredients are harsh, but create the lather effect that you will be familiar of. Harsh ingredients that cause the lather include: *Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS) *Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), *Cocobetaine and/or Propylene Glycol These products would be completely redundant, if natural ingredients were not removed. Shampoo bars, on the other hand, are created in small amounts by specialist companies, and the bars contain a natural form of glycerine, that the major companies will have unnecessarily removed during the process. Glycerine not only takes care of your scalp and hair, but also lathers up just as nicely as nasty-filled liquid shampoos.

None of these products is necessary at all, as the natural ingredients would produce the lather all the same. Fatty acids are the reason that shampoo bars are able to lather, which created during the saponifying process between the fatty acids and the natural butters and oils. Fatty acids consist of: *Lauric *Linoleic *Linolenic *Myristic *Oleic *Palmitic *Ricinoleic *Stearic Each of these contributes to the lather process in a very way, if a large amount of each is present: *Palmitic, Stearic and Ricinoleic, all contribute to creating the soft and creamy bubble-action lather *Lauric & Myristic, both create a cleansing and rich bubble-action lather *Ricinoleic, Oleic, Linoleic and Linolenic contributes to the shampoo bar’s conditioning qualities *Lauric, Myristic, Palmitic, Stearic, all contributes to the hard consistency of the bar

Whilst these companies appear not to realise it, glycerine is a brilliant emollient that helps to moisturise both our curly hair, and our peachy soft skin, without the need for harsh chemicals. All of the natural ingredients that are found in bars contain fatty acids, which contribute to creating that lather that we all want. And the fatty acids consist of: *Lauric *Linoleic *Linolenic *Oleic *Palmitic *Myristic *Ricinoleic *Stearic For a conditioning effect, Ricinoleic, Linoleic, Oleic and Linolenic are required, whilst for the bar to gain its firm texture, fatty acids such as Myristic, Stearic, Lauric and Palmitic are needed. For a creamy and bubbly lather, Palmitic, Stearic and Ricinoleic are needed, whilst Lauric and Myristic are needed to create a really bubbly, cleansing type of lather.

No Stripping Allowed Some of us worry that shampoo bars will strip our hair of the natural oils that it so desperately needs, this is however, not necessarily the case. Shampoo bars are essentially made up of millions of tiny molecules that are in fact a long chain of something called “Carbon Atoms”. Each end of these chains of atoms serves a different purpose. One end draws water molecules towards it, whilst the other end attracts oils.

All of this means that shampoo bars (and soaps) are brilliant forms of hair cleansing, and the amounts of glycerine help to protect and smooth not only your hair, but your scalp too. Ultimately, shampoo bars are super gentle on your sensitive skin. Perfect.

Want to find out more about shampoo bars for naturally curly hair, then visit the natural hair blogger’s number one choice for the best hand made shampoo bars on the world wide web.