If you want to reduce the plastic waste in your bathroom, swapping from a liquid shampoo to a bar is an easy option, but what’s all this about a shampoo bar transition period?
When I first started looking into swapping my liquid shampoo for a shampoo bar, I came across stories of people who had to go through a transition phase when swapping to a solid bar.
Because it didn’t sound nice, I decided to look into this topic to see what this is all about. In this article I share with you what I found out about shampoo bars and transition period.
What Is A Transition Period?
Let’s first talk about what a shampoo bar transition period actually is.
It’s basically a period of time when your hair adjusts to the shampoo bar.
This means your hair might not be clean and soft after using a shampoo bar for a while, and this is the adjustment phase.
You will know that you are experiencing a transition period if you have the following symptoms after you have washed your hair using your new shampoo bar:
- greasy or waxy hair
- hair that feels dry
- heavy feeling hair
- all of the above
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Why Can A Shampoo Bar Transition Period Occur?
Most liquid shampoos use cleansing ingredients such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES).
These are cleansers, also called surfactants, that will remove dirt and build-up from your hair and scalp. They also ensure that your shampoo lathers up nicely.
SLS and SLES are mostly made from petroleum and therefore many people don’t like them.
While these ingredients help to clean your hair, they also tend to strip your hair of its natural oils. As a result, your scalp compensates by overproducing a substance called sebum, which restores the natural oil on your hair.
This will ensure that your scalp stays moisturised and also protects your hair.
If you then swap to a soap-based shampoo bar that does not contain these surfactants, the extra sebum will make your hair waxy and greasy.
It will take your scalp a while to stop producing too much sebum. And while your scalp finds the right amount to produce, you are in the shampoo bar transition period.
Because natural soap-based solid shampoos don’t use surfactants, it is more difficult to wash it out. Furthermore, they are alkaline, which will affect the pH balance of your hair, which is more acidic.
This can add to the problems of transitioning from a liquid to a solid shampoo.
How Long Does It Last?
Like me, you probably want to know now, how long this transition period takes.
The answer is not that simple, because everyone is different, and every hair reacts differently.
For some people this adaptation period only lasts for a few washes, others have to put up with it for weeks or even months.
However, don’t worry it won’t be as bad as the first wash for the full duration of the transition period. After a few washes it will get better.
It’s a gradual process, so it will get better with time until the sebum level is correct, and you will have finished transitioning.
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Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse
When you research the shampoo bar transition period, you often come across the advice to use an apple cider vinegar rinse.
It is also called an acid rinse, because vinegar has an acidic pH level whereas soap is alkaline.
By rinsing your hair with apple cider vinegar, you make sure that any excess oil produced by your scalp is washed out, but it will also restore the natural pH level of your scalp and hair.
You can make this rinse yourself by mixing one part apple cider vinegar and three or four parts of water. If you tend to have dry hair, you want to use more water as the rinse can dry out your hair.
Avoiding A Shampoo Bar Transition Period
If you now think that you don’t like the sound of having to transition, especially if it might take weeks or months, you probably wonder if it can be avoided.
An apple cider vinegar can help, but I didn’t like the idea of putting vinegar on my hair. Even if people said the smell would disappear once the hair is dry.
So I did some more research and found that you only tend to have a transition period with a soap-based shampoo bar.
These are products that don’t use any synthetic detergents or surfactants such as SLES or SLS, instead they contain natural cleansers such as coconut or olive oil.
I came across brands that produced natural shampoo bars, but said that there would be no transition or adaption period.
After checking their ingredient lists and doing some more research, I found out that these brands use natural derived surfactants. They claimed to use no harsh chemicals but only natural ingredients.
Now I’m not a chemist, but I wanted to get to the bottom of this, because I like the idea of using solid shampoo bars that are made from natural ingredients. But I was not keen on having to go through a shampoo bar transition period, which didn’t sound nice at all.
So here is what I found: there are three types of surfactants or detergents:
- Natural surfactants – these are used in soap-based bars and are made from animal or vegetable fats such as coconut oil
- Naturally derived surfactants – these are made from natural ingredients, but are processed chemically to extract certain components
- Synthetic surfactants – SLS and SLES fall in this category, and they are derived from petroleum, which is a fossil fuel, and they are chemically altered to produce a compound that would not naturally occur
As we have already seen, soap-based products use natural surfactants. Most liquid shampoos use synthetic surfactants, because they are cheap and easy to produce.
Naturally derived surfactants are used in many shampoo bars as an alternative to synthetic surfactants.
Given that the last group is derived from petroleum, I am not keen on putting products using them in my hair, so this is not an option for me.
Because I want to avoid my hair going through an adjustment period, I want to try to stay away from soap-based bars.
This leaves me with solid shampoos that use natural derived surfactants. But are these still natural shampoo bars?
Well, I guess that depends on how you define natural. These naturally derived surfactants are made by putting the natural substance, for example coconut oil, through a chemical process to extract the compounds that will act as surfactants.
However, these compounds don’t tend to be classed as synthetic as are SLS and SLES.
Natural derived surfactants such as sodium coco sulphate, which is made from coconut oil, are effective and less irritating than SLS or SLES.
After everything I have learned, I decided to opt for a surfactant-based shampoo bar that uses naturally derived surfactants.
As this will avoid the dreaded shampoo bar transition phase, while not using synthetic chemicals, so I would still class them as natural.
Especially if you consider that by making the bar even the natural ingredients will have to go through some form of chemical process.
Brands that offer surfactant-based natural shampoo bars include KinKind, Bain And Savon, Foamie and Faith In Nature.
They all lather up well, and you avoid your hair having a transition phase.
Of course, it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves, what they are comfortable with. And some of you might have good reasons for wanting to swap to a soap-based natural shampoo bar.
Maybe you have sensitive skin which gets irritated by shampoos that use surfactants. In that case, you might feel that only a soap-based bar will do.
You just have to be aware that a transition period will be part of it.
KindKind offers shampoo bars for sensitive skin, so it might be worth trying these, as you would avoid going through an adjustment period.
Transition Or Hard Water?
If your adjustment period doesn’t seem to stop, and you don’t see any improvement after a few washes, there might be another problem.
Because if you live in a hard water area, then this could be the culprit rather than your hair adjusting to the solid shampoo.
Soap-based products don’t work well with hard water, because they are alkaline, which means they will react with the minerals in the hard water. Find out more in our article about shampoo bars and hard water.
As a result, a greyish residue is left on your hair because the soap is not washed out by the water.
The effects of hard water are pretty much the same as with a transition phase, so it is easy to confuse the two.
Unlike with a transition period, the problem with hard water won’t go away after a certain time. Because every time you wash your hair, the soap bar will react with the hard water.
Using an apple cider vinegar rinse on your hair after washing it will help to get rid of the residue, but you would have to use it after every wash to readjust the pH balance of your scalp and hair.
There are other options, such as washing your hair using bottled water instead of in the shower. But this would mean having to buy water in plastic bottles and the aim in switching to a shampoo bar is to reduce plastic waste.
Installing a water softener system to transform your hard water into soft water is another option, but is more costly. If you don’t know if you live in a hard water area, you can find out by going on the website of your water company, for example Anglian Water, and using their tool.
This is another reason why I opted for a solid shampoo that uses naturally derived surfactants. As they work great with hard water and leave you with shiny, healthy hair.
Conclusion
Swapping your liquid shampoo for a solid bar will help you to reduce your plastic waste, so it is definitely a good idea.
If you choose to go for a natural soap-based haircare product, you will have to go through a shampoo bar transition phase.
But there are ways to avoid this adjustment period without having to use commercial shampoos that use nasty chemicals, that are derived from fossil fuels.
It’s a question of personal preference and what you feel comfortable with.
Now that you know all about the shampoo bar transition, you can make a well-informed decision about swapping bottled shampoo for a solid bar.
Our-Top Rated Shampoo Bars Without A Transition Period:
| Shampoo Bar | Value For Money | Range | Results | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Great | Outstanding | 4.90 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Outstanding | Good | Excellent | 4.90 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Excellent | Great | Outstanding | 4.90 | Read Review | Visit Website |
