Don’t get “soapy” from fake solid shampoos!
Solid cosmetics are no longer a news: they are a fashion, an easy mirror for lark, used to attract the interest of those who inexperiencely approach a more ecological cosmetics. Are you among them?
You’ve probably already bumped into social media posts proposing the “best solid shampoo”, made with local and organic raw materials.
Or at a craft market in the neighborhood, you touched and smelled hand-made soaps from self-production enthusiasts.
They proposed them as “solid shampoos”, winning you, because it seemed they had nothing to envy to solid cosmetics CO.SO. of Officina Naturae.
And now you have a “solid organic shampoo”, good to make your hair a tangle, or a “solid bubble bath” that, after the shower pulls the skin…
What could be hidden behind an apparent solid shampoo?
We are faced with real “fake”. They are nothing but soap, even with pretty shapes and nice colors, passed off as “solid shampoo”, “solid shower gel”, “solid conditioner” and so on. They should not be demonized but have nothing to do with the real solid cosmetics, specifically designed for the specific cleansing of each body part.
For example, how to recognize real solid shampoos?
A solid shampoo, as well as a liquid, is formulated with surfactants and active ingredients, particularly suitable for making a product with performance
and specific pH for hair. No need for acid rinsing. Our hair and skin have a pH of about 5.5/6.0 and is therefore easily understandable
that a shampoo must have an acidic pH that is close to that value.
The classic solid soap passed off as “solid shampoo” has, however, an alkaline pH: to limit the effect “nest of blackbirds” that could cause, oils or butters are added to the formula.
But what is pH?
The pH is a scale of values ranging from 0 to 14 and indicating whether a liquid substance is acidic or basic (alkaline).
The value 7 is neutral, what has a value of less than 7 is acid, what has a value of more than 7 is basic.
“Pine cones” and “Nest of Blackbirds”
Think of the hair as a pine cone. When the pH of the shampoo is less than 7 the “scales” of the pine cone are closed and the hair is easy to comb and shiny beautiful.
When the pH is higher than 7 (and in solid soaps is normally 8.0/8.5) the scales open, the hair appears opaque and intertwine with each other,
creating the effect of “nest of blackbirds”! Over time, the alkalinity of soap will tend to weaken the hair making it brittle and weak.
Just to limit this effect, those who recommend to use soap (as shampoo) solid, suggest to carry out an acid rinse to close the scales of the hair.
In reality the acid rinse allows, yes, to comb the hair but, now, the “chemical” insult that these have suffered, because of a wash with an alkaline product, is accomplished!
How to recognize fake solid shampoo?
The answer is simple, just learn to read the ingredients contained in the product (INCI), which by law should be listed on the label.
If you do not find this information easily, you are already faced with a cosmetic that does not comply with the regulations, even if it is proposed to you as
a “do-it-yourself solid shampoo”. It is not enough that the ingredients are “natural” or “organic” or locally grown.
Our solid shampoos CO.SO. have surfactants of vegetable origin and organic plant extracts that allow to realize highly performing products
and that do not require acid rinsing.
This, for example, is the INCI of our Nourishing and Protective Solid Shampoo:
Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Rice Starch, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ricinus Communis Seed Oil, Aqua, Vitis Vinifera Leaf Extract, Parfum,
Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Spirulina Maxima Powder, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Juglans Regias Leaf Extract*, Avena Sativa Leaf/Stalk Extract*, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Limonene, Geraniol, Citric Acid.
* from organic farming
A solid soap (or fake shampoo) is easily recognized because in the INCI you find these ingredients: Sodium Hydroxide, followed or preceded by an oil or butter, such as Cocos Nucifera Oil, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil.
Or find the result of the reaction between Sodium Hydroxide (Sodium Hydroxide or Caustic Soda) and an oil or butter, for example: Sodium Palmate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium cocoate or sodium followed by the name of the oil or butter.
Why you should trust solid cosmetics by Officina Naturae?
It would have been too easy to quickly propose a common soap as a “solid shampoo”! Instead the solid cosmetics CO.SO. are the result of a long research to find balanced formulas and appropriate for body, face and hair.
So if you are looking for a “real” solid shampoo, check the INCI and, if they suggest acid rinsing, raise your ears!
