Zero waste hair care

BEAUTY HAIR CARE Zero Wae HAIR CARE

THE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE OF HAIR CARE

By Kerry-Ann Scrace

Rising awareness regarding plastic waste and more environmentally friendly packaging has led to the creation of and a growing popularity for shampoo and conditioning bars. Consumer preferences are also leaning towards the use of natural ingredient products for dandruff protection and hair fall control.

Over the past few years, plastic waste has become a major environmental concern owing to its harmful effects on marine life as well as human and other land animals. Product packaging is believed to be responsible for around 42% of the total global plastic waste. As a result, manufacturers, are looking to avoid plastic packaging, especially in cosmetics product packaging. This has created a growing market for packaging-free or reduced packaging shampoo bars.

Whilst the concept may seem fairly novel, based on the fact that traditional shampoos and conditioners have dominated the market, shampoo and conditioning bars have always been popular with backpackers and minimalist travellers due to the fact that they are easy to use and take up much less space than bottles.

Most shampoo bars contain vegetable oils to nourish the hair. Popular options, which include coconut and hemp oils nourish, protect and strengthen the hair while providing flexibility and shine.

Various vegetable-based oils oil help control excess of sebum for oily hair and regulates that the condition of and brittle hair, whilst essential fatty acids nourish the hair fibre and help fight against hair loss. Clays can also be added to shampoo bars so that they can double up as hair masks. Clays also give shampoo bars some colour.

Shampoo bars can be as effective as liquid shampoo, however they may take some getting used to. Initially hair may feel waxy or a bit sticky. For the best outcome choose a well formulated shampoo bar - or try your hand at a homemade shampoo bar.

Shampoo bars are generally more cost effective in comparison to liquid shampoo with a standard shampoo bar lasting up to 80 washes.

As with shampoo bars, conditioning bars take a while to get used to as it is a completely different experience to using a liquid conditioner. They do not lather because it is not soap, but you will feel it working if used correctly! If your hair is not completely tangle-free once you are finished conditioning it, you did not leave the conditioner in long enough and/or did not use enough. If used correctly, your hair will feel soft, tangle-free, and squeakyclean.