Introducing our solid shampoo bar's ingredients. Ingredient number 7: Essential mint oil

Making the best men's shampoo bar we can starts with choosing the best possible ingredients.

It took over 30 iterations of our shampoo recipe to develop our unique Tidy solid shampoo for men. Each carefully chosen ingredient used in our honed recipe plays a very specific role in making our shampoo.

To make a shampoo bar you need to combine fats (oils), water, and an alkali in a process called saponification. (See our how to make your own Tidy solid shampoo bar blog post for more details.)

In previous posts we've written about our alkali of choice; Sodium Hydroxide and the fats that we use in Tidy solid shampoo bars for men; Organic Olive oil, Organic Coconut oil, Organic Almond oil, Organic Jojoba oil, and Organic Shea butter and a special ingredient that helps make our bars last longer; sodium lactate.

In this post we introduce an ingredient that's so important to our shampoo bars for men that we list it in the name; Essential Mint oil.

Mint and Tea Tree shampoo - a winning combination

Before starting Tidy, before "Tidy" was even conceived of as a brand, I did some research about men's buying habits when it came to toiletries and cosmetics.

One of many insights that came out of that research loud and clear was that there is one specific "flavour" of shower gel that every man I spoke with had used; Mint & Tea Tree.

Not only that, but every woman I spoke with about their partner's use of shampoos, shower gels, etc also mentioned this particular shower gel.

It's a super popular combo.

Fast forward to when I came to start experimenting with the recipe for my first solid shampoo bars I decided to skip the big debate over what fragrances to use and went straight for the popular choice: Mint and tea tree.

Clean hair and a refreshing scent

Mint is a great ingredient for shampoos.

It's a very refreshing scent, especially in the shower in the morning if you're slow to wake up.

Essential mint oil contains a number of different compounds, including menthol. Menthol has the pleasing effect of a gentle cooling sensation on your scalp while you wash your hair.

Note: we don't use it in anywhere near the same concentration as in the aforementioned popular mint and tea tree shower gel, so it doesn't have quite the same cooling effect as that's famous for. Especially in more sensitive areas if you choose to use our men's shampoo bar all over...

Some folks claim essential mint oil is also good for encouraging hair to grow longer and healthier than normal.

Apparently Alexander the Great believed that mint oil had "stimulating properties". He forbid his soldiers to consume it for fear that it would conjure erotic and distracting feelings in his men!

You shouldn't experience any erotic or distracting feelings due to using Tidy solid shampoo. At least none of our customers admit / report that washing their hair with our shampoo has that affect on them! 😄

What customers do report is an appreciation of that fact that we use less fragrance in our shampoo than most other brands;

"It lathers really nicely, and my hair smells great. I appreciate that it's not too overpowering."

Our shampoo bars contain just enough essential mint oil to make them and your hair smell fresh, but not enough to make it smell like you've dunked your head in mouthwash before venturing out for the day.

That's Tidy.