Soap-based solid shampoo bars and syndet solid shampoo bars have different ingredients, work differently

on your hair and need different rinses/conditioners. We explain the difference below and share some of our
favourite solid shampoos from each camp and which one you should go for depending on your hair type and
condition.
Like liquid shampoo, it can take a while to find the right one for you and your hair type. If one type or brand
doesn’t work for you, it is worth trying the other or another brand; however, there are some ingredients you
should avoid, so investigate what’s in a bar before you start experimenting with it. You’ll find what our
research on some popular and local Australian brands revealed below.

SOAP-BASED SOLID SHAMPOO BARS

Soap-based solid shampoo bars are made from all-natural ingredients and essential oils. To make these
shampoo bars, either a hot or cold soap-making process is used.
The difference between these two methods involves the use of external heat, the time it takes to saponify,
the curing time, and the finish of the soap. For the cold process, no additional heat is used to facilitate the
saponification process and it takes longer. Cure time is also longer and the soap has a smooth finish. While,
for the hot process, an external heat source is used and saponification and curing is quicker. The end
product is more textured and rustic.
Importantly, your hair needs to adjust to these bars as they are different to the normal liquid shampoo your
hair is used to, so there will be an adjustment phase while your hair gets used to them.
Aoraki Naturals notes: “When beginning to use soap as a shampoo it can take time for your hair to adjust
due to residual chemicals from commercial shampoos. This transition phase can take anywhere from one to
eight weeks as your hair adjusts and the natural oils balance out. It is normal to experience lank, heavy,
slightly greasy hair at first.
“This WILL pass! Using an acidic rinse of 1T of apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) to 1c of warm water
after washing can help. Personally, it took about a month until my hair felt normal again … but now I don’t
even need a conditioner and my hair is soft and shiny. Again, results will vary from person to person.”
These shampoo bars are more alkaline so it is a good idea to use an acidic rinse with them; however,
generally, no conditioner is needed when using soap-based bars.
These bars generally work really well if you have dandruff, as they don’t contain sulphates and silicone,
which can irritate and dry out the scalp. In addition, apparently coconut-based soap is more drying but makes
a better lather, while olive oil-based soap is less drying but doesn’t lather.
These types of bars are generally cheaper than syndet bars as the ingredients used to make these bars are
cheaper to buy.
Every maker has a different recipe so finding the right bar for you can be a process of trial and error. Brands
that make this type of shampoo bar that are worth checking out are:
•Australian Natural Soap Company - all natural, vegan, palm oil free, sulfate free, paraben free, and
detergent free and handmade in Melbourne with ingredients sourced from within Australia. They
have an original solid shampoo, one for sensitive scalps, one for dry hair and one for oily hair, as well
as a dog shampoo bar!
•Aoraki Naturals - 100% natural solid shampoo that is hand-crafted in New Zealand in small batches;
no palm oil, animal fats, synthetic fragrances or colourants are used.
•Dirty Hippie Cosmetics - “sneaky SLS and nasty chemical silicone”-free soothing hair growth
shampoo bars developed for itchy scalps, dreadlocks and most hair types that is handmade to order.
It also sells natural dry shampoo powders (one for light hair and one for dark hair) in compostable
packaging!
•Quintessence Soaps - only natural ingredients and traditional processes are used for these solid
shampoo and conditioner bars. They do not contain animal fats or recycled oils, preservatives nor
the petrochemical derivatives propylene glycol (emollient), sodium lauryl sulphates
(detergent/foaming agent) or Sorbolene. In addition, FDA Food Colours or Fragrance Oils, which are
both synthetic, are not used.
•Beauty and the Bees - hand made using only natural healthy ingredients like honey, egg, beer,
charcoal, and/or herbal infusions. No synthetic ingredients! They have a couple of different
formulations for different individual requirements that are based on hundreds of years of traditional
use.
•Modern Day Earth Mumma - sells an anti-poo movement pack containing a poo bar, a conditioning
rinse, and a hair masque, as well as a hair detangler/leave in conditioner. Products contain no
preservatives and no parabens and are vegan friendly and herbal tea based.
•Cedar + Stone - plastic-free head lice prevention and treatment! Gentle, vegan, palm oil free and
with no parabens, SLS's or harsh chemicals, its head lice shampoo bar can be used to prevent and
treat head lice.
 •Urthly Organics - hair and body shampoo that never contains SLS, SLES, parabens, fluoride,
titanium dioxide, glycols, fragrance oil or mineral oils and is 100% palm oil and palm derivative free.
Using mostly organic products, ingredients are acquired straight from the grower where possible and
are produced in a sustainable environment.
•Dindi Naturals - a natural, plant-based, cruelty free, vegan-friendly shampoo travel soap that
doubles as a body soap and provides a nourishing, gentle all-over wash. It doesn’t contain silicone,
palm oil or nasty chemicals. It can be used on its own for a quick and easy shampoo (excellent for
short hair), but combining it with a liquid conditioner is recommended for best results. The company’s
solid conditioner bars give extra shine and moisture.
Other local small business brands that I have seen recommended are Robyn Soap House, The Hazelnut
Tree, Barany Naturals, Windella Farm, and Nude Nourishment.

SYNDET SOLID SHAMPOO BARS

Syndet solid shampoo bars are a synthetic detergent. They are not completely natural as surfactants used
and they are generally the same as and contain the same ingredients as the liquid shampoo your hair is
used to, just without the water content.
You get gentle surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfoacetate and harsh ones like sodium lauryl sulfate, with
some brands using gentle surfactants and some using harsh ones.
Sodium lauryl sulfate has been linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, organ toxicity, and endocrine disruption, but
these links have not been proven. It also has a potentially toxic effect on aquatic organisms. Consumer
advocacy groups such as the Environmental Working Group advise using SLS-containing products with
caution.
Some people’s scalps are sensitive to these strong surfactants, which dry and irritate the scalp, so if you
choose to use syndet bars, we recommend finding a brand that uses a gentle surfactant and avoiding brands
such as Lush that use potentially toxic SLS.
As they have the same ingredients and work the same as commercial liquid shampoo, you will not have to
go through a transition period.
They have a lower pH and you will probably still need to use a conditioner with this type of shampoo bar.
The ingredients to make syndet bars are more expensive, so these shampoo bars are generally more
expensive than the soap-based ones.
Some brands that make and sell syndet bars are:
•Lush - the surfactant used by Lush is sodium lauryl sulfate. It creates a rich foam and leaves an
unbeatable feeling of cleanliness, but it is an unnecessarily harsh surfactant. It also uses synthetic
colours and the fragrances used are made up of approximately 60% natural oils, resins and
absolutes. Some formulas are 100% natural and some are less so. In addition, there are still traces
of palm derivatives in some of its safe synthetics range. The company notes that “a complete
transparency of and removal of palm oil is in progress”.
•Ethique - certified cruelty-free and vegan, palm oil free and made in a factory powered by 100%
renewable energy, these solid shampoo bars are equivalent to up to three bottles of liquid shampoo,
100% soap free, pH balanced, and safe for colour treated hair. It combines natural ingredients with a
knowledge of science to create soaps that are effective, gentle, and better for the environment.
Sodium coco-sulfate, which is a milder, safer synthetic detergent than SLS, is used. It has a more
complex molecular structure and this prevents it from penetrating the epidermis, meaning it has less
irritancy as it cannot reach the living cells under the skin surface. The company also makes
conditioner bars and hair masks that boost the condition and shine of your hair, as well as a
shampoo bar for babies and kids.
•Creative Aromas NZ - these shampoo bars are made using a range of gentle surfactants to
maintain a neutral ph, with the company noting that this ensures it doesn’t strip the hair like some
shampoo bars can. Its shampoo and conditioner bars can last up to 80 washes and are full of
nourishing oils, butters and proteins. Its different blends are suited to different hair types - normal,
fine, oily, dry, curly, and sensitive scalps.
•Stone Rose Soaps - a family business based in Auckland, the ingredients are sourced from other
Kiwi businesses and carefully selected, with every ingredient chosen for use in products being well
researched and tested. The surfactant used in its shampoo bars is sodium lauryl sulfoacetate not
sodium lauryl sulfate; its molecules are too large to penetrate the skin; therefore it causes less
irritation than sulfates, but it can still be an irritant according to some sources. It is a mild cleansing, a
non soap formula is used and it is panthenol infused and hydrosol infused. Its conditioner bars are
non greasy, silicone free, palm free, panthenol infused and cruelty free. Unlike other conditioner
bars, which contain mostly butters and oils, they contain emulsifying and conditioning ingredients for
silky tangle free hair.
Ethique’s shampoo and conditioner bars are very popular, as are Lush’s. Most people are aware that Lush
uses a lot of chemicals in its bars and some avoid the brand because of this. However, the company’s bars
do work well for some people who have struggled with using natural shampoo bars and who have hair that
needs something stronger than a completely natural bar or whose hair just does not feel clean using these
bars. It is a good zero waste option for many.
Ethique is more natural and less harsh than Lush, and it also has better company ethics, but its bars still
contain surfactants; they are gentle however, so it seems to be a good middle ground between completely
natural and potentially toxic. The same goes for Creative Aromas NZ and Stone Rose Soaps.
Ethique has different bars for different hair types so it is easier to figure out which one might work for you:
•Shampoo bar for normal hair
•Shampoo bar for normal-dry hair
•Shampoo bar for dry-frizzy hair
•Shampoo bar for dandruff or scalp problems
•Shampoo for oily hair
•Volumising shampoo bar
TRIAL AND ERROR TIME
It may take a few bars to figure out what is right for you and your hair, so if the first bar you try doesn’t leave
you and your hair feeling clean, maybe try a different type of bar or a different brand - don’t give up on
shampoo bars just yet!
Try and figure out why the bar you are using isn’t for you - have you given it enough time to allow your hair to
transition, look at the ingredients, read reviews, and ask other zero wasters if anyone has had the same
issues - they may have the answer to the right bar for your hair type.
You can even get sample sizes and tester packs so you can test them out without having to commit to a
whole bar, which lasts ages.
Beauty and the Bees has a shampoo sampler box that contains six sample-sized shampoo bars so you can
try the various shampoo varieties to find the ones best suited for your hair and scalp. It also sells a healthy
hair starter pack that includes the shampoo, conditioner and rinse you need for your new natural hair care
routine.
Ethique’s hair sampler contains five heart-shaped bar samples of the top sellers from the company’s hair
care range. They are generously sized so you can truly test each one out, with each bar providing weeks of
use so you can fully suss out the effectiveness of every product.
It is also worth checking if a bar is palm oil free or uses sustainably sourced palm oil, as not all of them are
palm oil free.
We are lucky to now have so many different shampoo bars and so much choice when it comes to making our
hair routine zero waste.
If you prefer liquid shampoo to a bar, you can find liquid shampoo and conditioner at most bulk food stores.
You can also get natural dry shampoo in compostable packaging from Dirty Hippie Cosmetics and Black
Chicken Remedies.
And some people can get away with just washing with bicarb soda mixed with water and then rinsing with
apple cider vinegar mixed with water, while others go the no poo route and simply wash with water every
couple of days (massage your scalp as the water runs over it).
Get out of your hair comfort zone and get experimenting with zero waste haircare!
Happy experimenting! Let us know how you go!

We’ve been making soap since 1856, it’s what we do. We get asked questions all the time, what is soap,
what’s in a soap bar, is Soap bad? What’s a Syndet bar, what’s a Combo?
We thought a brief outline of soap bases and what they do might help to answer many of the questions we
get asked. Soap is made by mixing an alkali (lye / caustic) with oil or fat in a process known as
saponification. This is a chemical reaction… the triglyceride oils / fats are first hydrolysed into free fatty acids,
these then combine with the alkali to form crude soap, or base soap this is a mix of various soap salts,
excess fat or alkali, water, and liberated glycerol (glycerin) as this is broken off from the triglyceride during
the reaction process.
The glycerin is a useful by-product from soap production, although can be left in the soap product as a
softening agent, which is what we do at Stephenson, utilising the high Glycerin content for additional
processing and performance benefits.
The fats or oils can range, so long as you have the correct ratio of hard to soft that enables the soap bar to
physically form and set. This ratio can then be adjusted to give you a bar that lasts longer and doesn’t lather,
or foam higher and dissolves quicker. The typical ratio is 80:20 with Palm (Hard 80) and Palm Kernel (Soft
20) We excel at adjusting and manipulating these ratios, creating speciality soap bases with innovative
speciality oils and additives. We can use a vast array of oils in our soap manufacture, however, most
suppliers will use a standard range of oils as seen below:
VEGETABLE OILS
•Palm Oil
•Palm Kernel Oil
•Coconut Oil
•Olive Oil

VEGETABLE SOAP
Opaque vegetable origin, high glycerine soap, is sold globally. Manufactured using Vegetable Oils these
soaps contain no synthetic ingredients of surfactants, they have a high pH and can in turn in some
circumstances be drying on the skin. Vegetable soap tends to be more natural and contains no synthetic or
chemical ingredients.
Vegetable soap bases can also be used by brands and retailers looking to market supply chain certification,
such as Organic, Natural, Sustainable, Fairtrade as the soap is made using raw and natural oils, not
surfactants. These soaps are typically referred to as ‘true’ and ‘traditional’ soap bars. We can tailor soap bar
composition and performance by adjusting our fats and oils, we also introduce other additives such as Shea
Butter, Argan Oil, Cocoa Butter and much more to give moisturise and cleanse the skin whilst washing.

WHAT IS A SYNDET?
The word “syndet” is derived from “synthetic” combined with “detergent”. Technically it refers to the binding
that occurs between different detergents, also called surfactants or tension-active agents. These detergents,
which have an affinity for oils and repel water, surround dirt with small structures that are then removed by
water.
From a technical viewpoint, syndets have other advantages over soap, such as the fact that they admit the
possibility of using additives (colourants and fragrances) that are not suitable for soaps due to the high pH
environment.
SOAP VS. SYNDET
Syndets are recommended for cleansing sensitive skin and even baby skin, as they are far more gentle and
skin-friendly than traditional soaps. But remember that the anionic surfactants contained in syndets may
cause sensitization problems in reactive skins. Nonetheless, even though syndets might prove to be a
source of irritation for a small segment of the population, they are undoubtedly much more recommendable
than traditional soaps.
SYNDETS IN THE MARKET
Syndet bars are often marketed as “cleansing bars” or “dermatological bars” companies will use the term
“soap free” or “soaps without soap.” this can cause confusion although in a sense are correct.
The vast majority of products available in the market today are syndets. Handmade Soap itself has been
relegated to the traditional crafts sector – a memory of a time when cosmetics were not widely used and
when people used the same soap for their bodies and their clothes often made in small batches at home.
There is however popular demand for Natural soap (vegetable) where oils are used as people slowly move
away from chemicals, chemical processes and the surfactants widely used in Syndet manufacture.
SYNDET BASES
Syndet bars are made using blends of synthetic surfactants and formulated and produced differently than
that of traditional vegetable soap bars. Syndet surfactants are derived from oils, fats, or petroleum products
that are processed in a wide range of chemical processes other than traditional saponification. The
production of syndet bars are known to be a complex process requiring special equipment, however, with
ground-breaking innovative Syndopal base, the processing and production are simplified.
These synthetic surfactants make syndet bars the mildest personal cleansing bars, often pH neutral these
soap bases produce cleansing and mild soap bars. The most famous and, in fact, the first combo syndet
soap bar was Dove® - launched in 1955. Common ingredients found in syndet bars include:
•Sodium cocoyl isethionate (the most widely used)
•Sulfosuccinates
•Alpha oleficategoriess
•Alkyl glyceryl ether sulfonate
•Sodium cocoyl monoglyceride sulfate
•Betaines
Both the catergories above now have a hybrid option for those customers not looking for 100% Traditional
Soap or 100% Syndet, but a blend. This soap base is called a Combo Base used to create Combination
Bars.
COMBO SOAP
Combination soap base is just as it sounds. A soap base made using a combination of different types of
cleansers, surfactants, saponified oils designed to maximise cleaning while minimising irritation. These
combo soap bars are commonly combinations of traditional vegetable soap and syndet bar base. By
formulating in this way Combination bars are less irritating than Traditional Vegetable soaps, but less mild
than syndet bars a balance of the two.
To sum up, here is listed some of Pros and Cons of Soap vs Syndet below:
VEGETABLE SOAP
•Economical
•Vegetable Based
•Natural
•Organic
•Great Processing
•Oil Benefits
•High Glycerin
•Skin Additives – Shea, Cocoa
•High pH
•Drying on the Skin
•Poor Colour
SYNDET
•High Foam
•Low Colour
•Wider range of additives (usually affected by pH enviroment)
•pH Neutral
•Less Irritation
•Sythetic / Chemical
•Processing Challenges
•Expensive
STEPHENSON SOAP BASES
Here at Stephenson, we’ve always formulated, created and supplied traditional speciality soap bases, using
vegetable oils. We can tailor oils ratios and also create combo bases for increased performance when and
where requested. Soap is a challenging and confusing market, with a wide range of options and chemistry
now being used, we continue to innovate and have recently launched a new syndet base, Syndopal for
personal care manufacturers [video available here].
The soap base you need all depends on your manufacturing capability, costs, marketing and essentially what
you believe. Whatever your choice we can guide and assist you with the supply of speciality soap bases. If
you want more information or have questions, contact us here