Homemade activated charcoal shampoo bars

I've heard about shampoo bars last year when people started feeling the effects of having lots of plastic waste. Here in the Philippines, we use plastic A LOT because tiny sachets of products are popular here. When I've heard of shampoo bars I got interested with the idea that I don't have to worry about throwing bottles of shampoo. Pretty sure others got interested as well but there is one problem: It's much more expensive than the commercial ones.

The reasons that I could think of is cos of the hype and not many people selling. Also cos most are made with natural ingredients, as you know organic stuff is more expensive lol. So I started forgetting about it cos I got better stuff to spend my money on, and besides I only use shampoo 2-3 times a week anyway.

Then my friend started selling shampoo bars. I bought my menstrual cup from her, which I love and been using since.

The moment she posted about the shampoo bars/rounds I knew I should get one or two. They are very affordable, so I bought two (one for mom).

These are homemade and made with natural ingredients. She got 4 different flavors types (?) with different scents, and I got the activated charcoal ones. Honestly I don't know what the activated charcoal does but I figured I'll just research the benefits after I have used it to avoid the placebo effect or something.

So how was it

At first I felt like it was going to melt (is that the right term?) easily than normal soaps. I thought it's gonna be softer than soap once wet lol but apparently it's not. It was just there, being solid still, while providing me the bubbles that I need.

When I put it on my hair it felt like I was putting an actual bar soap on my head. Not because I was holding a bar, but because it made my hair kinda dry but not the dry dry. Just no oils left. I have been using a shampoo + conditioner in one bottle for years so this one is new to me. My hair didn't feel stiff though, but just, hmm, rough maybe. I put on conditioner after.

When I left it to dry, amazingly my hair became volumized. The curls got defined. It was moisturized but not having an oily feeling. It was that clean. Commercial shampoos have this feeling of having oil in your head even after you've washed it. Mine didn't. Plus, I've noticed my hair was shinier after just one wash. :D

Benefits

Apparently, using activated charcoal makes your hair grease-free and soft. That's what I noticed. It's also a scalp healer, which I actually noticed my scalp didn't itch. It can also stop the production of dandruff, in turn, it gives a healthy scalp for better growth. It also gives it a bounce, just like what I noticed, it gave it more volume.

Honestly, I love it! I have heard from my friend that it will have different effects on different people once they switch to natural stuff because it will depend on the body on how it adjusts to changes. Commercial shampoos have lots of chemicals so the probably will definitely need to adjust when switching to these types of products. I am glad it works well on me and I am pretty sure this will be the product that I'm gonna use from now on. <3