Shampoo bars...Surfactants, Soaps, and the Evolution of the way we Clean

When once asked if we do shampoo bars we initially hesitated, we only knew about soap. Making a shampoo bar out of soap itself we dismissed as we deem the alkalinity of 8 - 9 pH as being too high for hair. Also soaps can often leave the hair feeling rather clingy and oily. While some people do appreciate this and it works for them we recognize that this might not align overall with what we feel, and due to hair being naturally acidic 4.5 - 5.5 pH.

Surfactant based shampoo bars are different to soaps. Our initial impression of surfactants was that most were filled with harsh chemicals and sulphates. But when people were asking for them we decided to do some digging into the realm of surfactants to see if there really are natural alternatives and we found out some interesting stuff.

Our Fragrance Free Shampoo Bar with Seaweed

We firstly looked into some cleaning methods both modern and historical to see how people faired in the past and what natural ingredients they would use. Here is an insight to what we discovered.

A Glimpse into the Past

Across history, different cultures found creative ways to stay clean:

The Vikings crafted rudimentary soaps from fat and wood ash (lye), and maintained personal hygiene with tools like combs, tweezers, and mirrors.

The Romans applied oil to the skin, then used a scraping tool called a strigil to remove the oil along with dirt and impurities.

The Egyptians utilized a naturally occurring mineral called `Natron`, obtained from dry lake sea beds, they used to mix this with oil and used it as a form of soap, `Natron` was also used to mummify bodies... but hey lets not go there.

Going back even further into history, it’s likely that early hunter gatherers would bathe in lakes and streams and would use natural plant materials and grass to wash themselves.

Many plants including oats, horse chestnuts, soap nuts (commonly used in India and Asia), soapwort, sugar beets, and legumes etc contain compounds called saponins, a natural surfactant. These naturally occurring surfactants foam when agitated with water this helps with cleaning as it is attracted to both water and oils this helps lift away oils and grime.

This connection between nature and traditional cleansing ingredients deeply resonates with our values at Twigstix.

A Natural Approach to Modern Haircare

So back to today with 6 month of research and staying true to our ethics we have finally created our gentle yet naturally derived Shampoo Bar. Its biodegradable and formulated with plant-based surfactants such as:

Coco-glucoside

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate

We chose these as both are derived and adapted from coconut and coconut sugars and offer gentle, non-irritating cleansing for all hair types. Both provide a mild, sulphate-free lather that cleanses without stripping the hair of its natural oils.

Supportive, Nourishing Ingredients

We’ve also carefully selected nourishing oils with varied fatty acid chain lengths to support and protect the hair cuticle both from outside and within. We also use:

Wheatgerm Oil – rich in natural vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant

Seaweed extract– packed with vital minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, iodine, and potassium, as well as essential vitamins.

So its all good stuff, the way we like it.

This shampoo bar reflects our ethics formulated with ingredients that are inspired by nature.

We hope you enjoyed the read as much as we thoroughly enjoy the research.

Feel free to check out our shampoo bars and soaps.

Twigstix.

Fragrance Free Shampoo Bar

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