We Gave Chemical-Free Shaving Bars a Try, and Here’s What We Found

Switching to a sustainable lifestyle is all about unlearning, trying out new things and going for what suits us the best. When it comes to personal care, there’s a range of options available for every skin and hair type. Experimenting is everything and this time around, we tested a shaving soap bar to get rid of all the shaving cream tubes and bottles that pile up in the dustbin.

Here’s how it went.

What is a shaving bar?

This beauty product by Rustic Art is an organic, concentrated shaving cream that can be used like a soap. This shaving bar contains oils of coconut, sesame, sunflower, castor, flax seeds, basil etc. All of these ingredients are chosen to nourish your skin, keep the natural essential oils intact and prevent rashes. When it comes to delicate skin, like our face, these nourishing ingredients go a long way to keep the skin supple.

We decided to do a two-way experiment with this bar. One half of the bar was used by my colleague, Swaminathan, who shaves his face once or twice a week. And I used the second half. I shave my arms twice a month and legs, occasionally.

You can get your shaving bar by clicking on this link.

How to Use a Shaving Bar?

Surabhi Jaju, the Director of Rustic Art guided us in the process. “Men should wet their shaving brush with warm water and use it to lather up the soap. Spread this foam on your face, arms or legs evenly and use a razor to shave the area,” she told us.

Swaminathan followed this process and was happy with the results. I, on the other hand, had to improvise a bit. Perhaps the bar didn’t lather up since I used a coconut husk loofah instead of a shaving brush. Nonetheless, I used the bar like soap on my legs and used the loofah to lather it up. That worked for me and I could shave quite easily after that.

One major difference between a shaving cream and this bar is that the lather. Since Rustic Art doesn’t use synthetic foaming agents, the bar naturally did not lather as much. But, it coats the skin in a soapy film which works well with any razor. Use it twice or thrice and you will get used to the thinner foam.

Did the Bar Work?

Swaminathan, who has sensitive skin, is sceptical about trying new products or brands. The after-shave red bumps are not something he looks forward to (thanks for being a sport for this experiment). “This shaving bar felt more natural on the skin. There was absolutely no difficulty in adjusting. You need to wet your brush a couple of times to get a good lather but all is fine otherwise,” he says.

As for me, after the improvisation, the shaving process was smooth. That is to say, this bar is just as good as any other creams in the market and there is absolutely no doubt I will switch to this if it means letting less trash into the world. But Swaminathan and I have tried the bar only a couple of times. Surabhi’s grandfather has used it for a year! “He uses it every day and he noticed an increase in the life of razor blades. He mentioned that the presence of oils lubricates the blades and improves the lifespan.”

Now that is a +1 in a sustainable lifestyle.

Excited to welcome a new product in the zero-waste lifestyle family? Follow this link to get the shaving bar now!

Also Read: Plastic-Free but Good for Hair? I Used a Shampoo Bar & Here’s What I Found

(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)

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