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The worst hair product I have ever tried
"Comparative review of the 4 shampoo bars I have tried. (Australian Natural Soap Company, Anihana, NueBar, Ethique) Hair types: I have long, fine hair that isn’t particularly dense, oily, or dry. My partner is much the same, except her hair is so dense she has nearly twice as much as me even though half of it is shaved off. Other considerations: I have irritant-sensitive dyshidrotic eczema, primarily on my hands. My partner has no skin sensitivities. Overall ratings: Australian Natural Soap Company: 0. 1/5 – this product ended up in the bin after only a few uses Anihana: 3/5 – adequate and much cheaper than the two successors, but significant drawbacks NueBar: 4. 5/5 – excellent, with only one minor usage note Ethique: 5/5* - but haven't used for very long Details: Australian Natural Soap Company, Original Shampoo, 0. 1/5 The first I tried; they popped up a lot, had rave reviews, and were affordably priced. At first use, there were two major issues. The bar burned (and I mean this literally, they were dry, cracking and painful for days afterward), and there was a very visible, thick, waxy crud all through my hair. Various sources claim this to be a result of the necessary ‘adjustment period’, but further research indicates that adjustment periods for such products are mostly bogus marketing (especially if you are switching from an already very gentle product as I was), and this crud is worsened significantly by the reaction of the saponified oils in hard water (as we have in our shower). It’s also worth noting that I failed to experience any kind of cruddy ‘adjustment period’ with the NueBar or Ethique bars, so clearly, it is possible to do with gentle and skin-safe ingredients. The crud was so thick, that I could barely brush my hair, and afterwards our beautiful boar bristle brush was also clogged up with waxy crud. It took minutes of mechanically removing this under hot water to clean the brush, and days to brush it out of my hair. We had also ordered some of their hand soaps to try, and these had similar issues. My hands which were supposed to be now clean, were sticky/tacky to touch (which in turn spread to everything I touched) and left dry and cracking. Both the soaps and the shampoo also disintegrated if left anywhere in the bathroom (we specifically removed them from the shower), separating into oils and more waxy crud, rendering them unusable. The single 0. 1 for this product, is that the lack of plastic packaging and harsh chemicals, mean they were easily disposed of responsibly. Anihana, Normal Hair Shampoo Bar, Manuka Honey and Almond, 3/5 After some research, I recognised that I likely needed a product with a surfactant, so that instead of binding to the dirt and oils in my hair and the mineral content in the water and then to my hair, the product would actually remove dirt and excess oil. The Anihana shampoos have this in the form of Sodium Coco Sulfate which is derived from coconuts. This product was immediately an improvement; it didn’t burn my hands, it was substantially cheaper (if found at ½ price), and seemed to clean hair adequately. At the very least there was no visible waxiness, and hair felt and appeared soft and clean. However, there was still waxy crud on our brush. Thinking it may just be a holdover from the ANSC Shampoo, I persisted with this shampoo bar for a few weeks. The more I used it, the more I realised it was still irritating my hands, just at a much slower rate, and to a much lesser degree. In short, this product is adequate. It doesn’t disintegrate in damp environments (though we did store in a vented soap dish above the height of the shower-head), it works well enough for my partner who doesn’t have any skin sensitivities, and the build up in the brush is easily removed with hot water and only a little mechanical action. Given its much cheaper price (at ½ price) of $10. 80/100g compared to a whipping $26. 70/100g (NueBar) and $20. 80/100g (Ethique), and its greater availability (most Coles Supermarkets at least) this may be an option for some people, but not for me. Nuebar, Shampoo Fragrance Free, 4. 5/5 This is when I expanded my checklists of desired traits to include, in addition to a gentle surfactant, a soap-free status. This is also when I discovered that many brands marketed as ‘pH-balanced’ are not necessarily soap-free as I previously assumed they had to be (my assumption being because soap is a relatively strong base). In reality, ‘pH-balanced’ on marketing does not mean, as you might reasonably assume, ‘pH-neutral’. Turns out it can mean any number of things depending on what a given company has decided pH-balanced means in the context of hair care. In the context of me, soap is my enemy, and had I realised any of the previous products contained it, I wouldn’t have bothered with them. My control over the functionality of my hands is tenuous enough as-is without introducing something I already know is bad for them. NueBar ticked all the boxes (contains surfactant, pH-balanced, soap-free), with the added bonus of offering an unscented option, so I gave it a go, this time prudently opting for a 15g sample sized bar rather than the full weight product. This bar was fantastic. No irritation after a full 2 weeks of use, no waxiness, my hair looked great, felt great, and could go much longer without a wash than previously. Brushing my hair afterwards was painless, and our brush remained crud free. The only metric by which this loses half a star is ease-of-use. Being a gentle product, it doesn’t lather to any great degree. In the context of shampoo, this meant it can be challenging to get product into the thickest or densest parts of hair. Not an issue for me, but somewhat of an issue for my partner, whose hair is so dense we have yet to go to a hairdresser that hasn’t made a surprised comment when they realise we shave half of it off and “there’s still so much of it”. It’s also worth noting that the single 15g bar lasted me (as the one with more standard hair volume) nearly 4 full weeks washing every other night, and it did not separate or disintegrate despite being kept at a lower (and damper) height in the shower while my partner used up the last of the Anihana. I would heartily recommend NueBar to anyone who can afford it. Ethique Shampoo Bar Minimum (Unscented), 5/5* I bought an Ethique sample (15g) bar at the same time as the NueBar. In this product I found all the same quality metrics as the NueBar, while it also lathered better and was thus easier to distribute through my hair; this is why I gave it a 5/5. Knowing what to keep an eye out for now, I am confident that this bar will not produce any skin issues for me, and it is also slightly cheaper than the NueBar, however, I have not used it very long, hence the attached *. At this stage, I would also fully recommend the Ethique shampoo bars. Personally I think the NueBar makes my hair feel just a little nicer than the Ethique, but both maintain my natural curls extremely well with just a gentle brush and air-dry, and the better lather is important for my partner. Based on the amount of product I used, I expect this 15g bar to last a similar period to the NueBar. The only challenge I have with Ethique is that unlike NueBar you cannot purchase directly from the brand at this time, and their only brick and mortar distributer in South Australia is quite a distance away, but I imagine many people won’t care much about this."