My Favourite Kiwi Bar Makers
I always say we are spoiled for choice in New Zealand.
There are many great bar makers at work all over the country lovingly creating excellent bars. A list of my favourite online options is below, but I also recommend checking out your local markets - often you can have a chat with the actual maker. Bar makers areย usually good souls.
Of course, not all bars are created equal and not every bar will be a good fit for your hair or skin type. There's no getting around some trial and error (unless you have the luck of all the gods on your side). Don't not start because you have analysis paralysis about finding the perfect bar. Accept it's a process to choose a bar and a process toย adjust from what you are used to to someting new, and get going with it.
One thing though, you should always check the ingredients - since bars can be made of many different ingredients and not all are good.ย A good rule of thumb is to avoid ingredients that you canโt pronounce.
THINGS YOU WILL WANT TO SEE ON THE LABEL
These are the kinds of natural ingredients that are doing good work in your bars:
โข Natural oils โ like coconut, olive, castor, avocado, macadamia, hemp seed
โข Butters โ like shea, cocoa
โข Plants - like kawakawa, lavender, rosemary
โข Essential oils โ distilled from plants
โข Clays โ like bentonite, kaolin, French
THINGS YOUโLL WANT TO GIVE A WIDE BERTH
Itโs possible to find bars without these kinds of ingredients, so avoid them where you can:
โข Sodium Laurel/Laureth Sulfate
โข Silicones
โข Parabens
โข Phthalates
โข Preservatives
โข Palm oil (unless proven to be sustainably sourced)
โข Tallow (animal fat)ย
To help get your personal search underway, here is a (randomised) list of my Kiwi favourites:
Plus one in Australia for our West Island cousinsย
These days you can find shampoo bars in most pharmacies, supermarkets, Farmers and other department stores, Bin Inn and local eco store and refilleries. And of course, at your local markets.
The thing that matters most in all of this is that you get started. Every bottle not bought is one saved from landfill. When you switch to bars for everything you use, you will save A LOT (like a massive lot) of plastic waste over your lifetime.ย
But if the act ofย getting started feels a bit hard, take a look at the Sample Sets we now have available.ย They include 5 bits of bars from 5 different makers along with my rating system so you can methodically compare and determine what's right for you. You can also check out some bar reviews too.
Once you've selected your bars, you'll want to house them well - so they last as long as is possible and you don't get burdened with mess. That's where the Blockย DockTMย vertical soap dish comes in. It will be the best investment you can make on your journey to a zero waste bathroom, and will pay for itself pretty quick in longer bar life (and so fewer bars are purchased).
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When you are ready, you can check out the range here.ย
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