These are NOT your average shampoo bars. Most importantly, they contain ZERO coconut oils*, coco sulfates, silicones, or any other synthetic ingredients. In years of searching, we have never found a shampoo bar that can say this. While this will be a great choice for all hair types, it will be especially welcome for those with coconut allergies, ultra sensitive/dry scalp, autoimmune conditions, or other health concerns/lifestyle choices that necessitate the need for truly natural ingredients.
Because there are no synthetic ingredients that will coat the hair or add shine to it, there will likely be an adjustment period where your hair may seem a little dull/dry OR a bit greasy while your scalp recalibrates to producing proper levels of its own sebum (oil). Stripping your hair of it’s natural oils & suppressing your body’s own healthy balance is what comes from many of the ways in which we Americans care for our hair, and we formulated this bar to change that.
Just like with your skin, your hair health is often a reflection of what is going on inside you. If you are not of optimal health, don’t eat an optimal diet, have out of balance hormones, or are fighting disease, your hair, skin, and nails will likely show it first - it’s an incredible indicator that can help to let us know when something is wrong on the inside. If you want great hair & skin, the best way to get them is to get yourself as healthy as possible with fresh food, clean water, and a little bit of sunshine!
We have found our favorite way to get the best results with these bars is to wash, rinse, spritz with a highly diluted apple cider vinegar spray (approx 5% or less), rinse, then apply a small amount of fat marshmallow fluff as conditioner (or, use your favorite conditioner). If you’re already using a shampoo bar this won’t be much of an adjustment, but may be very different if you’re used to traditional shampoos. You will not get a thick lather or super sudsy bubbles as you do with traditional shampoos - we are here to cleanse the hair of dirt build up, not strip it of its natural oils. If you use a lot of product in your hair you will likely have to wash twice.
As far as ingredients? Simple, gentle, effective, and food grade, as always:
Tallow
Rice Water
Marshmallow Root
Honey
Yucca Root
Arrowroot
Vanilla Bean
Lime Peel
Fresh Rosemary
*A note about coconut oil:
We’ve never been asked so many times for a specific product as we have about shampoo bars.
That’s because it seems like every single shampoo bar out there contains coconut oil, or some derivative of it, and that’s not ideal for a variety of reasons:
Coconut oil REPELS moisture, which your hair needs! While your hair (or skin) may seem moisturized after a coconut oil application, over time it actually leads to more brittle & dry locks (and skin).
Coconut is an allergen for many folks, and finding coconut free products can be a struggle.
Coconut oil production has been shown to be just as bad (and in some studies, even worse) than palm oil when it comes to habitat destruction and low biodiversity.
So why is coconut oil everywhere? Well, it’s cheap, easy to formulate with, gets great initial results despite long term damage, gives products a great “suds” (which is unnecessary but generally expected in products intended to cleanse), and it’s what everyone is doing, which makes it an easy sell. Brands tend to do what other brands do, and customers tend to do what brands tell them to do. The more something is marketed towards you, the more likely you are to think it’s the right choice. If coconut oil works for you, great, but you wont find it in any of our products, ever.
If you've been with us long, you already know the incredible benefits of using the right kind of fat for your skin i.e.tallow, so now lets talk about marshmallow root! The marshmallow plant has been used in herbal medicine for centuries, and is native to Northern Africa and Eastern Europe, and grows throughout North America, Marshmallow root has been cherished in skincare for just as long, providing instant hydration, while it continuously works to improve the skin's ability to retain moisture, and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory benefits. It also contains a naturally occurring botanical form of hydaluronic acid that can firm the skin and increase moisture levels. This comes from a thick, gum-like substance called mucilage within the root.