Beauty Finds: Hair Care Bars Part 2

Welcome to another Beauty Finds: Hair Care Bars Part 2! As some you may know I’m trying to reduce my plastic consumption. I’ve always said beauty products after food are the the hardest plastic area for me to reduce. Thankfully with hair care, it’s getting easier to go plastic free with solid shampoo and conditioner bars! However just like their liquid counterparts it takes many frogs to find the right ones.

I’ve found some bars might contain too much sulphate that make my fine hair go crazy frizzy. Nobody wants that! I also feel sometimes the ingredients are a little more concentrated being in a bar. Just like with all my beauty products I always go for cruelty free products, vegan a bonus. I prefer natural clean products and try to avoid nasty ingredients such as parabens, petrochemical ingredients and its derivatives, SLS etc. I avoid palm oil if I can as I prefer orangutangs. I’m not perfect, some nasty ingredients slip through as I sped read the label, or it’s a derivatives or an alias I’m not familiar with. With make up I opt for cruelty free, clean as possible ingredients however it’s harder with make up than skincare to avoid the crap free ingredients. My skin type is oily, combo, sensitive, acne and needs all the help it can get with anti aging. My hair type is fine, gets greasy quickly and is prone to damage even though I don’t colour it or use any heat treatments on it. I often get OWay rebuilding treatment. 

One thing I have noticed with solid shampoo and conditioners is the price. It’s a lot kinder to the bank balance. Depending on the size they also last longer. This I find interesting as many natural liquid shampoos and conditioners cost almost 3-5 times or more the price of a bar.

Solito Herbal Solid Shampoo. Neutral For All Hair Types 

This did what it said, neutral for all hair types. I was sad when it had it’s last lather. It kept my hair happy and shiny in 3 countries with 3 different climates. It left it feeing clean, happy, a little shiny. It’s scent didn’t really smell, it lathered nicely, it was a great everyday shampoo. I would repeat buy however:

It contains propylene glycol, petrochemical derived. I’ll admit I over looked it at the time as the previous solid shampoo bars made my hair a little crazy and I wanted a new shampoo. I also after purchase read more about propylene glycol and now prefer to avoid it. It doesn’t contain sodium laureth sulfate (SLS) making it more environmentally friendly. When I went to repurchase I changed my mind based on wanted to avoid petrochemicals and it’s derivatives.

It also didn’t last very long. About 2-3 weeks. This is due to travel. I kept it in a travel soap dish, forgetting to empty out the water collected while showering, it completely dissolved over time into a gooey mess. Obviously I emptied the water physically travelling with it. When based in one place at a time for a few days I forgot. Trying to use it sparingly to save it, I did use the water collected in the dish which lathered up fine! If it didn’t contain the propylene glycol I’d buy it again for sure. 

Solitio Herbal Solid Shampoo. Pomelo Oily Hair

Hair smelling citrusy? I’m in! My hair gets greasy quickly so I was all in for this shampoo. On purchase unlike the neutral one where I sped read the ingredients online this one I purchased in store with no ingredients listed. All the bars were in a bowl (since then, I noticed they’re also selling them in their packaging). As the shop is a natural cosmetics shop, I didn’t think to check. Again this contains propylene glycol and sodium laureth sulfate in addition to sodium coco sulphate the more natural version of SLS’s!! I wouldn’t have purchased it if I had known! That many sulphates and fine hair is frizz city.

It made my fine hair go a little wirey, static crazy at the roots after a few washes. I ditched it as shampoo and used it up as a body soap as I didn’t want to waste it. It was okay as a body soap but still had the same weird fizzy feeling on application. I know a little weird but that’s how it felt. Would I repurchase? No.

Biovene Barcelona Pink Heaven Shampoo In-A-Bar For All Hair Types

A Druni find! As much as I love Sephora (and Ulta in the USA) there’s something about finding skincare in a smaller chain perfumeries in Spain. The main 3 are Douglas (for Kora Organics, Honest Beauty), Primor and Druni. Primor and Druni are more likely to stock Spanish natural clean brands with some Polish brands. Primor can be like Aladdins cave for beauty accessories! Druni has a wider range of natural brands and there’s always something new in that won’t break the bank. Some shopping tips for when tourism gets back if you visit Spain!

Biovene is a local Barcelona brand that is even sold in Rite Aid in the USA! I smiled so much when I saw the brand in a Rite Aid on holiday as I’ve only just discovered it in Spain. That said I’ve only tried a few masks, so I’m not too familiar with the brand.

The shampoo’s okay. It’s not vegan as it contains beeswax however it is SLS and palm oil free. I feel if you have normal thicker hair that’s not fine like mine it will work okay. For me it was okay, but nothing wow. I would have continued using it however the smell is way too off putting. Some days it made me feel a little nauseous. As not to waste it I started using it as body soap, but again the smell was too much. Even in the evenings every time I went into the bathroom I could smell it. Sadly this one had to go. I wasn’t put off enough not to try other solid shampoos in Biovene’s range. I’ve since used and loved their Moroccan Hair Fall Therapy solid shampoo (the colour’s a gorgeous turquoise) and Damage Control Coconut and Keratin solid conditioner (please note the range in vegetarian not vegan. I’m a bad vegan as I eat honey). These 2 I got in travel sizes however the Moroccan Hair Fall Therapy shampoo didn’t last long. Maybe I applied too much as I got through the smaller bar in 3 weeks with daily washing. I know, don’t wash your hair everyday. My excuse: fine hair gets greasy quickly and throw in daily workouts, the sweat has to be washed off. 

Aside from some of the scents, the one big con I have of Biovene solid shampoo and conditioners is that the product packaging description is very brief. There’s no description on what the products benefits are. You have to go by the products title. The description mentions briefly the main ingredients, how much plastic you save, hair type suited for, without SLS’s and palm oils. Online you get description of the products benefits.

Have you tired these products? Are you a solid shampoo or liquid shampooer? I’m looking forward to when my favourite liquid shampoo and conditioner come out with a solid bar version. I can dream!