They may look very similar but Shampoobars and Soap bars are 2 distinct cosmetic products which have in fact a completly different ingredient composition , structure of formula , functions and ph levels .

Soap bars are tipically used as cleansing hands and body soap. These are made by the saponification of selected oils and butters such as shea butter , coconut oil, cocoa butter ..to name a few! To saponify these oils we need to create a solution of Sodium Hydroxide and distilled water , a solution that will evaporate during the curing time of the soap (generally 4 to 6 weeks ). Most Soap have a high ph level which range between 9 and 11 therefore is not reccomended to use on the hair as our hair and scalp have a ph level of about 4.5 /6.5.

There are soaps of any kind , price and quality ..but we can look into it in another post.. now, let's look at how shampoo bars are made so we can understand the differences.

Shampoobar is a solid shampoo. A cosmetic product used to cleanse the scalp and hair which base is made by surfactants (compounds which acts as detergents)  and additional ingredients such oils , butters ,conditioning ingredients and more .  In shampoobars we don't saponify oils and butters as we seen in soapbars  , instead we melt and blend our ingredients , therefore curing time is not needed either . Shampoobars have a ph which is compatable with the natural ph of hair and scalp , therefore we can use shampoobars on our hair without altering the natural ph balance .

Keep reading as what I am telling you here is very important ..

Unfortunately very often soapbars are sold as shampoobars and as you can imagine based on the information I shared above , this is not doing anything good to our hair ! I will talk more in depth about this topic but for now I give you a tip to spot the difference when you are purchasing shampoobars at the shop : make sure the ingredients list DOESN'T start with Sodium Olivate , Sodium Cocoate ect .. when we see the word "sodium" before an oil ( Olivate which stands for olive oil for example) we know this is a soap . Sodium Olivate in fact is saponified olive oil. 

I hope you could find some useful informations in this article ,

As usual if you have any questions or anything you want to add ..tell me in the comments !

Happy weekend ,

Laura