Frequently asked questions
Orders, accounts and the website
Once your order has been placed, you will often be unable tomake changes to your order. However you can message us on facebook or call uson +61 1300 288 829 if you contactus within the first half hour of placing your order and we may be able to help,this is not guaranteed.
Visit our contact us page for more information
Discount codes can be added to your order after you click “Checkout”. Discount codes do not affect shipping and taxes.
Click here to learn how to apply discounts to your ReNue subscription orders.
1. Only one discount can be used at a time.
2. If your discount is for a ‘buy one get one free’ deal, you need to add the free items to your cart in order for the code to work.
3. Your code may have expired, you can contact us on facebook to find out if this is the case.
Our ReNue program delivers your favourite NueBar products to you every 30, 60 or 90 days. Simply select the ‘ReNue this bar options’ and the frequency you prefer, and add the bar to your cart. You will then be sent an email with your order details.
You can email us or click the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of any of the marketing emails you have received from us.
The best way to do this is to create an account using the email address you used for your order. Once your account is active, you can then click ‘Manage your subscriptions’ then click ‘edit’ next to the product subscription you wish to cancel. Scroll to the bottom and click ‘cancel’.
If you encounter any problems with this process, you can email ellouise@nuebar.com
About NueBar
NueBar is made in the Blue Mountains, NSW Australia.
NueBar can mainly be bought from this website and as a loyal direct customer you can get access to offers that are unavailable to our stockists.
We have carefully selected a range of stores to stock our bars that align with our ethics and values. Visit this page to view our stockists.
Our products & formulation
Although NueBar may look like a bar of soap it is made via a completely different process and thus has completely different qualities. Simply put, it's the solid version of salon quality shampoo, conditioner and skin care.
Soap is made using Sodium hydroxide (also known as Lye) and various fats using a process called saponification. The outcome of the soap making process is always alkaline (usually between pH 8-10).
A lot of shampoo bars on the market (especially the cheaper ones) are made using the soap making process. (If their list of ingredients is either just a list of fats and oils or includes the words sodium hydroxide then you know it’s soap). This means that it is alkaline and will have a completely different feel when used on your hair compared to a pH balanced product.
The alkalinity of soap causes the scales on the hair shaft to stick up meaning the hair will tangle and dry out more easily, it can also leave a residue of soap scum on the hair, especially if your water is hard. The net result is not generally a nice feeling! It can be countered somewhat byusing a mild vinegar rinse after washing and this is what most manufacturers of this kind of bar recommend. Some people don’t mind this, and that's fine, whatever works for you.
NueBar, because it really is pH balancedshampoo concentrated into a bar, will feel much more like the regularshampoo that you are used to. Although we think it’s even better because wehave also removed so many of the nasties.
The pH of the scalp is similar to that of the skin, around5.5 (mildly acidic). The pH of the hair shaft is even more acidic, as low as 3.6. Using an alkaline (above 7) product like soap on the hair (see above)increases the negative electrical charge of the hair fibre surface increasing friction between the
fibres. This may lead to cuticle damage, tangling, frizz and fibre breakage.
Our skin has what is called an acid mantle, this is basically a mildly acidic barrier (around pH 5.5) which helps to protect the skin from bacteria and fungi.
The acid mantle of our skin is mostly able to recover from being washed with alkaline soap, however it is much more gentle, less drying and more supportive of a healthy skin microbiome to wash with a product that has the same mildly acidic pH as the skin.
NueBar is pH balanced in a range between 4 to 6.
NueBars may look small but they pack a punch. One NueBar shampoo will last around 80-90 washes (depending upon hair length).
Did you know that 80% or more of bottled shampoo, conditioner and body wash is actually just water?
With NueBar you are getting 100% concentrated, active product and you add the water as required.
Not only that, you are getting high quality active ingredients that are palm oil free, organic and fair trade, these cost a little more in terms of dollars but a lot less in terms of impact on the environment.
For maximum value follow the care instructions above.
Palm oil is a highly efficient oil, however the industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty, child labour and indigenous rights abuses. Currently almost 100% of shampoos and conditioners on the market (yes, even the "natural" ones) contain palm oil, hidden behind names such as Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Decyl Glucoside, the list goes on and on.
Deforestation for palm oil production contributes significantly to climate change. The easiest way to clear land for palm oil production is to burn the native forests and drain peatlands, this emits immense quantities of carbon and methane and has made Indonesia (the world's major palm oil producer) the third highest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.
Whilst there have been efforts to improve the sustainability of palm oil they have been heavily criticised by many as greenwash. For example the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) standards currently do not ban deforestation or destruction of peatlands for the development of oil palm plantations. NueBar really hopes that these efforts to make palm oil sustainable do succeed, but they have a long way to go yet. We believe the best way for us to apply pressure to this issue is to offer a palm oil free product choice.
Eating less processed food and using NueBar are two ways you can reduce your palm oil footprint.
At NueBar we believe that human dignity and fair trade are important issues. Where there is well known exploitation in the production of an ingredient then we try and avoid it or find a source of the product where the workers and producers are treated fairly. For example, we don't use Mica to colour our product because of problems with child labour and exploitation and instead choose to use Iron Oxides.
Cacao is another ingredient where exploitation and labour practices are highly problematic. We use a fair trade, organic Cacao butter from a cooperative in Peru.
Our Coconut Oil is a beautiful, hand pressed, organic oil from the Solomon Islands which returns 100% of the profits back to the villagers that produce the oil.
Our bags are made from soft 100% cotton mesh.They are designed more to hold and drain your NueBars and are great for creating lather from the last little bits at the end of your NueBar’s life. View them here
How to use
Nuebar Shampoo is easy to use. Frst wet the hair and wet the bar. Then you can either lather up in your hands and rub the lather on to the head or rub the bar directly on to the hair a few times (6-10 swipes is generally enough). Then put the bar down and giving the hair a good physical lather up. If you don't feel like you are getting enough lather just give the hair a few more swipes and a bit more rubbing. Rinse out. There is no need to repeat unless your hair is particularly dirty or chlorine soaked.
All of the NueBar hair products are very kind to coloured hair. This is for three reasons. Firstly the mildly acidic pH, a low pH helps the hair cuticles to lay down flat and retain colour better. Secondly no sulfates, sulfates give a very strong stripping wash. The surfactants that we use fall into a milder category and are therefore less stripping. And last but not least, the conditioning agent that we add to all of our shampoos is scientifically proven to assist with colour retention. So whilst any washing of the hair at all, even in just water, will slowly remove colour, you can rest assured that NueBar will treat your coloured hair as gently as possible.
If you normally use conditioner then yes you can continue to use it. If you don't normally use it then no there is no need to add it now!
You may actually find you don't need to use conditioner when you switch to NueBar. This is because our bars give such a lovely, soft, gentle wash and because we do include a small amount of conditioning agent in all of our shampoo bars.
However shampooing and conditioning can't be done completely effectively at the same time, this is why it may still be advisable to use conditioner if you like the conditioned effect. Conditioning is especially advisable for curlies to stop frizz and for those with long hair to help protect the ends and stop fly away.
Our conditioning bar is easy to use. Simply wet and gently smooth onto wet hair. It will not lather but will impart a silky feel to the hair as you smooth it over. When you feel this textural change in the hair then you have enough on, simply distribute and leave on the hair for a minute or two (or longer for a deep condition) and then rinse out. You can even leave it in if you have very dry damaged hair.
NueBar will have a good long life if treated well. They last longer when kept well drained and dry between use.
Don't leave sitting in a soggy pool of water or in a spot that is constantly getting splashed by water whenever the shower is on.
Place them on a flat draining dish to drip dry, one that provides good airflow all around the bar. We sell a diatomite draining dish that works well.
When you are travelling with NueBar, make sure you either air dry or pat dry bars with a towel before placing in a dry travel container or wrapping in a face cloth. If your bar is not completely dry when you leave that's OK, just make sure to open up the container to allow the product to dry further when you arrive at your destination.
As NueBar starts to reach the end of its life and get very thin, it will begin to break into smaller pieces. To help you use those last bits of bar, NueBar has introduced our "bitsbags", these cotton mesh drawstring bags, letter coded S, C and W help you to make good use of of these last little bits, talk about zero waste!