Solid shampoo is exactly what it sounds like; a solid form of cleanser formulated just for your hair.
Solid shampoo is made from the active ingredients of a liquid shampoo pressed into a solid bar and meant to blend with the water you are already using in your shower to cleanse your hair.
This means one of our 2.5 oz bars of solid shampoo is equal to 24+ ounces of liquid shampoo without the plastic waste!
Just like with liquid shampoos, there are TONS of different types of solid shampoo formulations out there.
Wild for Oregon solid shampoos are formulated to be
- pH balanced
- Color Safe
- Gentle and mild
- Made with absolutely NO soap, pthalates, parabens, silicones or sulfates
Why pH is important
Our hair is very sensitive to changes in pH and likes to remain on the acidic side.
The pH scale measures how acidic or how alkaline a substance is, with 7 being neutral. A measurement of 0 is really acidic, like battery acid, while 14 is the other end of the spectrum, alkaline like lye.
Our hair naturally falls around a pH of 5-5.5 and is able to maintain its integrity when exposed to substances around that range. Water is typically neutral, which means your hair care needs to match the pH of your hair or be slightly more acidic to maintain your hair's structure and the microbiome of the scalp.
By ensuring our Solid Shampoos are pH balanced, we avoid damage from a high pH all together and can safely be used on color treated hair.
How our Solid Shampoo is gentle and mild
In addition to being the proper pH, we have chosen only the most mild cleansers to include in our formulas so that we do not cause irritation or that super-stripped, squeaky-clean feeling.
We combine these cleansers with various levels of emollients to help decrease friction between the hair to avoid any mechanical damage.
Our combination of cleansers and emollients will clean your hair and leave it feeling fresh with no residue.
What we DON'T include
The things we avoid in our formulations are just as important as what we include.
NO SOAP
Don't get me wrong, I love handmade soap just as much as you. But, I love it only for use on my hands and body, which can handle the higher pH. Soap is by definition and alkaline (above a 9pH) substance. The chemical process of making soap is FATS + LYE = SOAP.
Unfortunately, many soap makers do not understand the chemistry of hair and its specific needs so it is common to find bars of soap mislabeled as shampoo bars by manufacturers, both small and large.
Using an alkaline substance, like soap, to wash your hair will cause irreversable damage to your hair over time. After repeated use, you will notice the following things happening to your hair:
- Unable to retain moisture because the cuticles along the hair shaft have been raised
- Increased frizz as the core of the hair strand is unable to stay moisturized so seeks moisture from the atmosphere
- Break down of proteins, causing any natural curl or wave pattern to deteriorate
- Hair dye will be stripped out and will have trouble taking in dye in the future
- Hair feels like straw, because of the increased friction between your strands from the raised cuticles
Fortunately, you can rest assured that Wild for Oregon Solid Shampoos are completely soap-free and the correct pH for your hair.
NO PHTHALATES OR PARABENS
Phthalates are a family of esters used in so many things we come into contact with in our daily life. From plastics and building supplies to our cosmetics and foods. The main culprit in personal care is in synthetic fragrances and have been linked to many things, but most commonly to headaches or scent sensitivity.
Parabens as well are an entire family of esters found in many different things but most notably in cosmetics, found in synthetic fragrances and preservatives.
We use only our 100% pure essential oil blends and a paraben-free preservative in our solid shampoos!
NO SILICONES or SULFATES
Silicones are used in hair care products to provide slip and create a barrier around hair strands to help decrease frizz and give a nice shiny appearance. While they can be used in shampoos, I talk more about this in What is Solid Conditioner. Spoiler, we don't use any silicones :)
Sulfates are a class of cleansers that are very harsh. Ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium cocosulfate are the most well-known of the offending sulfates we stay very far away from. These are the types of cleansers that will irritate the scalp and strip your hair of moisture. And, even though they are not soap, usually have a very high pH.
If you have any questions about or solid shampoos that are not answered in our guides, please feel free to reach out!
You can reach me at discover@wildfororegon.com
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