Product Review: Unwrapped Life Hair Bars

Hi friends. It's Addy, here to drag out the Anti-Plastics Soapbox once again.

I am currently spending my quarantine at home in California with my parents, which leaves lots of time for discussion of current events (if you know my family, you know that "discussing current events" is like our traditional pastime). The other night, my dad and I were out for a walk with the dogs, and he brought up the myth of recycling.

Oooooh, folks. You know nothing gets me going like the ineffectiveness (read: outright lie) of recycling. I don't know about you, but now that I've been spending all my time at home, my use of plastics has a glaring spotlight on it. It's everywhere - holding lotions, wrapping around salad veggies, threaded through clothing. And then you get reminded of the fact that a greedy industry has directly lied to the public, lulled us into reliance on this material, and infiltrated every area of our lives with it, while knowing full well that these unrecoverable materials are poisoning our environment and endangering our long-term health, and [insert exploding head emoji here].

This fall, as Covid-19 lockdowns have contracted the boundaries of our daily lives, I've decided to yield to the inward-shifting perspective that this pandemic has evoked and focus on those habits close at hand. You know, the ones that you always mean to do something about but never actually do.

For me, one of these habits is removing plastic from my bathroom (for my parents, it's weaning them off plastic cling wrap). When we talk about reusables and plastic elimination, we tend to think of the kitchen and food first. But just take a browse through your bathroom and you'll notice that almost everything is in a plastic container. I have made some good progress on weeding out plastic here, but I'm determined to get it all out!

The next frontier: hair bars.

What are hair bars? What's the appeal?

The appeal of shampoo and conditioner bars is that they deliver the same cleansing and moisturizing properties as liquid products, without a non-recyclable plastic container. I'd heard of backpackers using hair bars because they're compact, waste free, easily transportable, and they last for months. From a waste-reduction perspective, I'm sold!

So why'd I wait so long?

I'd been nervous about using hair bars after hearing stories of super-oily roots and knotted, tangled ends. The last thing my unruly hair needs is more unruliness. And let's be honest, there are some hippie-dippy frontiers that I just can't cross - grody, dread-locked hair being one of them. Hair bars also seemed to be difficult to apply (though in retrospect, I don't know why I thought this - they're no different from soap bars!).

But after reading the many positive review on hair bars from Unwrapped Life, I decided to order a few and give them a whirl.

The Verdict: Why did I wait so long??

Right off the bat, let me say: huge fan of hair bars.

First, let's start with shampoo. I ordered both the Stimulator and the Hydrator shampoo bars from Unwrapped Life. Both created plenty of suds so that "cleaning" feeling was still present. This is because the UL bars contain sodium coco sulfate (SCS), an alternative to the more common detergent sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). SCS is derived from coconuts, whereas SLES is usually derived from petroleum - so this is a win, in terms of reducing petroleum use. However, if you're sensitive to sulfates or have colored hair, this may not be the right choice for you (I'll be trying this sulfate free shampoo bar soon; will get back to you!)

Next, the conditioner: I ordered UL's Hydrator conditioner bar to test. I have super dry skin, and this can be a problem on my scalp, where it's nigh impossible to apply a moisturizer directly to the skin. Which is why I loved this conditioner - because of the hard texture, I was able to part my hair and scribble conditioner right on to my scalp. Getting it through the rest of my hair was a little more challenging, but I find that running the bar down my hair helped distribute the product more easily. I also followed with a bit of argan oil as a leave-in.

Overall, these left my hair clean but not dried out, and no massive tangles! After a few days of use now, I am definitely a full-time convert to hair bars. And as hair bars become more widely used, there are more and more varieties being added to the market, so there's guaranteed to be one that fits your needs.

I purchased the Unwrapped Life's shampoo and conditioner bars directly, but they are also sold online through the Package Free shop.