If you’ve been following me for a bit, you’ll know that I am working towards leading a more sustainable lifestyle. (If you’re new – checkout my other experiences here.) Since most of the cosmetic and FMCG brands are yet to move to more sustainable packaging – we continuously keep adding to our plastic waste everytime we discard our old plastic shampoo, conditioner and body wash bottles. Additionally, traditional shampoos and conditioners still have unsustainable palm oil, SLSs and other sulfates which aren’t good for the planet. Hence in December I moved to shampoo and conditioner bars.
HOW DO THEY HELP THE ENVIRONMENT-
- Less plastic waste. (Please note: before you buy your shampoo/conditioner bar verify that it doesn’t come in a plastic wrapping. Opt for the tin packaging for easier storage.)
- Less chemicals and unsustainable products in the water chain.
PROS –
- Ofcourse the main pro is that it helps the environment and is a small but sure way to reduce your plastic wastage.
- Most shampoo bars are SLS and paraben free and have a lot of good natural ingredients in them. I know a lot of people scoff at natural products but when formulated correctly natural products work wonders. Also, it is my personal opinion that products work differently for different people – you just need to find the one that works for you.
- The shampoo I chose worked wonders to enhance my naturally curly hair – my curls looked so gorgeous after every wash. It didn’t dry out my hair and make them frizzy like most shampoos do or maybe the conditioner just conditioned my hair brilliantly.
- Long lasting – The shampoo and conditioner bar lasted me the three months (I wash my hair twice a week) and will probably last me another month.
CONS –
- Hair gets entangled in the bar and is hard to remove without losing product.
- If you store your shampoo and conditioner near the shower – make sure to keep them dry. Once I didn’t notice that my shampoo tray had accumulated a little water. I noticed during my next shower but the shampoo bottom had melted (I don’t know the right term for it) into a mush – which was gross! Best would be to use a tray with holes to let water through.
- Just to be super honest – the shampoo doesn’t leave your scalp squeaky clean. I do have a flaky scalp which can get dandruff-y if I don’t wash my hair for a bit – I’ve noticed that the shampoo doesn’t do the best job in removing the flakes. (TMI?) I am not even talking about full blown dandruff – a few flakes here and there. I need to wash my hair 2/3 times to get them out. But that in turn makes my scalp drier and more prone to flaking. I’m not sure how effective it will be with oiled hair – mainly because SLS and paraben free shampoos don’t do the best job in removing oil. But this could just be the issue with the particular shampoo bar that I used.
- Difficult to travel with – I didn’t take them with me while traveling. I’d appreciate a travel size shampoo and conditioner bar with tin boxes to make it easier to carry around.
VERDICT –
- Using these products made me feel good about myself – both from the perspective of helping the environment as well as how they made my hair look.
- I am definitely going to give other shampoo and conditioner bars a chance – I want to try out a few from other local Indian brands and hope I find one that does a good job of protecting my curls as well as cleaning my scalp.
Are you looking to move to more sustainable products? Sustainable shampoo and conditioner is an easy way to start! Have you tried any sustainable products? Did you like them?
Linking the shampoo and conditioner I used incase anyone wants to try them – I’d definitely recommend them to people with curly hair with normal to oily scalps.
Follow me on IG for updates on sustainable living –
Read more about my sustainability stories –
Sustainable Lifestyle| Changes I Made to My Lifestyle in 2020
Sustainable Living | 3 Easy Ways To Start
10 ways to be “SUSTAINABLE” on the cheap!
Moving To Alternate Menstrual Products
And if you are still looking for something to read –
Check out my other recent posts –
Happy Panda 
You have a nice curly hairs. I am not a girl and don’t use shapoo often. But I appreciate your approach and efforts in the direction of sustainability development. I hope companies can make easy to buy, quality and natural beauty products. It is good for consumer and environment also.
Keep doing good work. I hope your blog grow in a healthy way.👍
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Thank you so much! Yes – I wish more companies would be more conscious about the products they sell.
I hope you’re doing well! 😊
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Yes, just published a poem.😊
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Awww no why would I ignore the cutest bunch of curls I just had the luck of seeing here! You have such beautiful hair. So pretty 💜😍
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Awww thank you so much ❤️🤗
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Love solid shampoo and conditioner, all just takes a bit of getting used to. Thank goodness for Lush that make all kinds of packaging free toiletry goodies!
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I’ve heard so many bloggers talk about Lush. I wish the brand was available in India!!
And I agree – it takes some getting used to and it takes some time to find the right product for you.
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I love that you’re making steps to incorporate environmentally-friendly products to your daily routine! More people should do this or at least have a basic awareness of the harm we’re doing to our planet with all the plastic and waste… Calling myself out here, I can absolutely do better, thanks for the inspo! 🙂
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It’s hard to completely change your life around to be more sustainable – hence my goals are small and simple to do – reducing my single use plastic usage, moving to natural products where possible, shopping less fast fashion, going vegan on some days etc. Goal is to be 50% more sustainable by 2022 end. I hope you’ll join me in the journey – small but sure steps! 😊
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Look at that gorgeous hair! Goddess gorgeous!!! I always look on the EWG website, are you familiar? Right now I’m using shampoo/conditioner from Conscious Skincare and they come in glass bottles (although I think the pump is plastic 😑) Good for you, I won’t scoff, this is important and we all must do our part. It’s also just better for our bodies. Keep me posted on your journey 🖤♥️
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Thank you so much ❤️
I’ll definitely checkout the EWG website!
If they have a program for returning the bottles or refilling the bottles or recycling the bottles – then the plastic pump isn’t too bad. It’s the one time use plastic that we need to work on reducing.
It’s heartening to hear that you’re on this journey too. A lot of people are so unaware about the climate change issues our planet is facing. Unaware and they don’t care – that really bothers me. 🙈
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Yes totally agree! I try 🌎🌍🌏
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That’s great thing you are doing on your part for environment👏👏
I also tried to switch on shampoo bars and conditioners but unfortunately it didn’t work out for my flaky, itchy , but oily scalp ,
Scalp never felt clean !!!! But I am still hopeful that maybe one day some brand will work for me !!!!
Ps- you have gorgeous curls but I know its all beautiful in pictures but how hard it can be to manage, I have wavy hairs and I find them hard to manage….
Ohhhhh god I just become chatty bird on your’s and shahrin’s site !!!!😵😵😵😵
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Thank you.
Yeah – I agree this shampoo bar didn’t suit my scalp either. I’m trying a new one from The Switch Co. after this. I’m hoping that works better. 😊
Thank you – yeah it’s difficult to maintain curls but the main thing is to find products that don’t make them frizzy – which is difficult.
Hehe – love your comments and feedback ❤️
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Tell us if that works for you😊😊😊
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It’s amazing that you have been taking so many environmentally friendly steps! 😋 Also, you have the prettiest hair! Love the curls! 💚💚💚
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Thank you. 😊 It feels good to do something for our planet – even if it’s something small!
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If you lather up the shampoo bar in your hand, rather than rubbing it in your hair, that stops hair getting tangled around the bar. Your hair is looking gorgeous ❤
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I think it is the shampoo bar I use – it doesn’t lather up a lot so I usually get frustrated and start rubbing it on my hair. I’m switching to a new shampoo bar as soon as this is done and I hope that works better.
Thank you ❤
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Your curls look gorgeous! 😍 I have been using natural and sustainable shampoo and conditioner brands for years now (not necessarily bars though) and there are so many options that the “conventional” brands don’t appeal to me anymore! I actually made a shampoo bar myself and it works wonders! It’s just not as great to remove oil (when I oil my hair to nourish it), but then I always have another “natural” option at hand! Thanks for sharing your experience!!
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It is rather unfortunate that we don’t have a lot of options for sustainable hair & body care products in India as of now. I see newer brands coming up slowly and hopefully we’ll have more options soon.
You made your own shampoo bar? That is so cool! I’d love to try to DIY a shampoo bar. How did you do that? I’ll google too.
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Yes, it can be quite hard to find sustainable options sometimes! In France there is this brand that makes ingredients that you can use to make your own cosmetics, so I used that and it was so easy! Now there are more and more brands like this in Europe so it’s great because you know exactly what is inside your products! Hope you will find good options where you live too! 😊
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Apart from the cons you mentioned, I also can’t go to a life where I don’t oil my hair before headwash. It’s an important ritual for me .
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But most SLS and paraben free shampoos are pretty ineffective on oily hair – no? Atleast the 4-5 I’ve tried have been. I had to wash my hair multiple times to get all the oil out. Now I use hair masks instead of hair oil.
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Reblogged this on Brand Moksha and commented:
Moving to sustainable products isn’t the easiest and it takes a little bit of hit and trial to figure out the products that do work for you and your pocket. Here is my experience using sustainable shampoo and conditioners.
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You may also want to look into DIY options to avoid buying these products. That will benefit your sustainable approach even further!
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Must read- https://kyrasinha.com/2020/11/23/real-leather-or-faux-leather-the-sustainable-dilemma/
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Hi, I tried making my own shampoo with reetha, shikakai, amla boiled and it was excellent, but needled some effort as the liquid worked best if it soaked in before a wash. Plus the prep time. So I moved to biotique henna leaf shampoo post lockdown, as online life was too busy. It’s nice, except for the plastic packing. But then, the shampoo seeds came in plastic too. Hard to avoid plastic unless companies change packaging.
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