My Plastic-free Shower Routine

I'm always thinking of ways to reduce my plastic usage, so I decided to make my shower routine completely plastic-free.

It took some time, of course. It was easy finding a bar of soap that I liked for my body. It was tougher finding soap bars for my face and hair.

I knew activated charcoal was the new trend in facial wash so at the Randolph Street Market in December, I bought a bar of soap with activated charcoal, hoping it would keep my skin clear. For the past six months, I've only used my bar of activated charcoal soap for my face and it's worked! My breakouts aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. The soap is gentle enough that it doesn't strip my face of all its natural oils, which means I haven't needed to use as much facial lotion. On top of all this, I can avoid buying bottles of face wash now.

The last thing I needed to complete my plastic-free shower routine was a bar of soap for my hair. After searching at farmers markets and street fairs, I finally stumbled upon a J.R. Liggett's shampoo bar at Whole Foods. I was skeptical at first but bought the bar to try anyway. Most all-natural shampoos I've bought in the past either didn't lather well at all or took twice the amount to lather. When I tried the J.R. Liggetts shampoo bar at home, I was amazed. I only needed a small amount of the soap to create a rich lather. It also didn't strip my hair of all its natural oils. The shampoo bar left my hair feeling soft, thick, and voluminous. Perfect for someone like me who's used to flat straight hair with zero body.

Gardenia soap from the Rocky Mountain Soap Market (I just love the smell of gardenias)