A plastic-free shampoo bar is easy to find these days. Palm oil free is a little rarer, but it’s out there too. What’s genuinely uncommon is a bar that’s palm oil free and vegan at the same time, without quietly swapping one problem ingredient for another.
Here’s the trade-off most brands don’t talk about, and how every bar in our range is built to avoid it.
The Swap Nobody Mentions
Shampoo and conditioner bars need a firming, conditioning ingredient to hold their shape and leave hair feeling smooth rather than stripped. Historically, the cosmetics industry has leaned on two main sources for that job: palm oil derivatives, or tallow, which is rendered animal fat.
So a bar that proudly avoids palm oil isn’t automatically vegan. It may have simply moved the problem from a rainforest to an abattoir. Neither is something we’re willing to build a product on.
What We Use Instead
Every shampoo and conditioner bar we make uses Brassica Alcohol and Behentrimonium Methosulphate, both derived from rapeseed, alongside cocoa butter and shea butter for firmness and conditioning. No palm derivatives, no animal-derived fatty compounds, and no compromise on how the bar actually performs. We’ve written the full story on why palm oil hides in so many “eco” shampoo bars in Why Most Shampoo Bars Still Contain Palm Oil.
Five Bars, Same Standard
Every bar in the range holds to this, regardless of what hair type it’s formulated for. Everyday People for most hair types, Creamy Curls for thick or curly hair, Balance Bar for oily and combination hair, Hyper Hydrating for dry or damaged hair, and Scalp Soothe for sensitive scalps and kids. Not sure which one matches your hair? Our full guide to Australia’s Best Shampoo Bar walks through matching formula to hair type in detail.
What That Standard Actually Means Day to Day
Every bar is paraben-free, sulphate-free and silicone-free, with no synthetic fragrance and no palm oil, formulated to be cruelty-free and vegan without exception. Not because it’s the easy path, formulating this way takes more care than reaching for whichever conditioning agent is cheapest, but because we’d rather hold the standard than cut a corner nobody would notice except us.
Made By Hand, Since 1999
These bars are handmade in Australia, part of a range that’s been refined since the business started in 1999. If you want the fuller story of how Viva La Body got here, we’ve told it properly in The Lucky 7 Story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why isn’t every palm oil free shampoo bar automatically vegan?
Some brands replace palm oil derivatives with tallow, a rendered animal fat, to get the same firming and conditioning effect. That solves the palm oil problem but introduces an animal-derived ingredient instead.
What does Viva La Body use instead of palm oil or tallow?
Brassica Alcohol and Behentrimonium Methosulphate, both derived from rapeseed, alongside cocoa butter and shea butter. These provide firmness and conditioning without palm or animal-derived ingredients.
Are all Viva La Body shampoo bars vegan?
Yes. Every bar in the range is formulated to be vegan, cruelty-free and completely palm oil free, with no exceptions across the range.
Which Viva La Body shampoo bar should I choose?
It depends on your hair type. Our full guide, Australia's Best Shampoo Bar, walks through matching each bar in the range to specific hair and scalp needs.
Are Viva La Body shampoo bars sulphate-free and silicone-free?
Yes. Every bar is paraben-free, sulphate-free, silicone-free and made without synthetic fragrance.
Real talk.
Palm oil free is a claim a lot of brands make. Vegan is another claim a lot of brands make. Making both true, in a bar that still lathers and rinses properly, takes more effort than picking whichever ingredient is easiest to source.
We’d rather do the harder version. Every bar we make holds the same standard, whichever one ends up in your shower.