Eco-Friendly Hair Products

ECO-FRIENDLY SHAMPOOS AND CONDITIONERS – WHAT HAVE I BEEN TESTING?

I’ve been testing a few different shampoo and conditioner options over the past few months as I’ve been looking for one that is cost effective and does the job while also fulfilling my requirements in terms of being eco-friendly. I predominantly use Lush products but I have been hunting for other alternatives.

Aldi is not one of my go-to stores as I prefer to head out to our local farmers market but if I am going to shop at a supermarket then I’ll always choose Aldi. They’ve got a ‘no frills’ approach to grocery shopping which I appreciate and I also love the fact that as a supermarket, they take their impact on the environment seriously and there is a lot of consideration in terms of the products that they offer as well; during Veganuary for example, they introduced a whole new range of Vegan foods. Right now with the government imposed lockdown and the fact that I am limiting my trips out to only once or at more twice a week – it’s hard to get to a local market so I’m working with what I have and doing the best I can.

Our local milkman supplies a lot of our butter, eggs and milk that he produces on his local farm but there are just some items that I need to get from elsewhere – Shampoo and Conditioner are prime examples of this.

LACURA

I found this gem in Aldi the other day – Lacura, Aldi’s own brand is Leaping Bunny certified. Aldi, is one of the few supermarkets across UK and Ireland to guarantee its beauty ranges are not tested on animals and that is why I was so excited when I saw that they had also produced eco-friendly hair care products.

The Eco-Friendly Starter Pack is only £5.99 online and when you consider the cost of some shampoo and conditioner bars – this seems really cost effective.

I love the mental tin – that definitely gets a thumbs up from me and I do like the experience of unwrapping the paper on each of the bars. This truly is a plastic free, reusable and environmentally friendly experience. But that’s where it ends. The products inside the tin themselves are substandard and frankly very disappointing.

The body bar is nice, it’s got a nice smell and I enjoyed the experience of using it. It took a while to lather up though which was a little disconcerting because I didn’t feel like I was ‘clean’ but then after a bit of trial and error, it worked really nicely.

The Shampoo bar is ‘okay’ and works well but I’ve personally used shampoo bars from other brands and had a better experience.

The Conditioner bar is possibly the worst thing I’ve ever used. It doesn’t wash out and when I went to dry my hair – it was like candle wax had been dripped into my hair. I couldn’t get a comb through it. I had to get back in the shower and wash it out using my Lush Shampoo bar. I was actually really annoyed by this because I was wasting water and shampoo because of this substandard product.

While this is a great concept product – a lot of product development is still needed to get this up to scratch. I’d test it again after more work NEEDS to be done.

BAIN AND SAVON

This a great brand that I’ve used a few times. Bain and Savon are a small artisan family run soap company that produce natural handmade soap and skin care products. They believe that the products they make should be good for us and the environment. They aren’t overly costly either which is great. Their Sunny Orange Shampoo Bar is amazing! The Zesty Orange bar is a blend of nourishing oils including coconut, sweet almond and olive, plus shea butter, while the uplifting, pep-in-your-step scent and cleansing power come from essential oils of orange peel, lemongrass and grapefruit. It’s also free from SLS, preservatives and plastic packaging, they last up to three months.

LUSH SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER BARS

These are my only recommendation for anyone starting out with Shampoo and Conditioner bars – I’ve used these for a long time and I have never had any issues with them.

There’s a good range available – I’ve got thick dark hair and therefore I’ve needed to trial a couple of them to find the one that works best for me. With regards to shampoo, Godiva is great and smells amazing but my favourite is Jason and the Argon Oil. American Dream is fantastic conditioner.

I think with Shampoo and Conditioner Bars – you need to try a few before you’ll find the right one for you. However, ditching the plastic and choosing a ‘bar’ option is a great choice either way!