Gugo Bark Natural Shampoo Strip

Gugo or gogo (Entada phaseikaudes K Meer) is large, woody climbing vine that grows in the Philippines. Gugo bark decoction is traditionally used to shampoo and condition hair. When the bark is soaked in water and rubbed, it produces a lather which cleanses the scalp very effectively. The active principle of the bark is saponin.

You know those grandmas with really long, black shiny hair? They used gugo. Gugo was ye olden days' shampoo extraordinaire.

Each strip of gugo is approximately 43cm in length, 8cm in width, and 0.1cm in thickness. Please allow for a few centimeters discrepancy as all products are handmade and manually measured.

METHOD #1
Soak the strip in water at least half an hour before use. Once the bark has softened; rub the spread fibers against each other until saponins are expressed and a lather is produced. Massage the liquid into the scalp like you would shampoo. Leave in for 3 - 5 minutes. Rinse.

OPTIONAL:
Squeeze some calamansi juice into the liquid. Citrus will strip any residue off and make hair smooth and more manageable. If your hair is used to chemical shampoo, using gugo for the first time may make your hair feel a little too squeaky clean. Adding calamansi juice will neutralize this.

Hang the gugo strip and air dry before next use. You will be able to use the strip a number of times before composting it. The spent bark can also be used as a scrub, similar to how loofahs are used. Strips can also be cut in half before use, so only 1/2 of bark is used at a time.

METHOD #2
Soak the strip in water at least half an hour before use. Once the bark has softened; rub the spread fibers against each other until saponins are expressed and a lather is produced. Use like leave on conditioner, massage the liquid into the scalp after rinsing off your regular shampoo. Do not rinse.

METHOD #3
Cut gugo bark into smaller pieces and add strips into any shampoo you use/make.

METHOD #4
If all of the above are still too much work for you, you can instead check out the hair thickening shampoo bar that we carry— its active ingredient is gugo.

We accept payments through the following gateways:

- PayPal
- GCash
- Bank of the Philippine Islands 

You will be provided payment options and instructions during order check out.

You will be presented the following pick up and delivery options upon product check out:

PICK UP

We allow personal pick-ups. Our pick-up location is within Salcedo Village, Makati City. The specific address will be provided to you when you select the PICK UP option during checkout. You may also book with a courier service (i.e. Grab / Lalamove / Angkas / Mr. Speedy / etc.) of your own choosing to pick the items up.


SHIPPING

LOCAL DELIVERY
We ship across Metro Manila via Grab / Lalamove / Angkas / Mr. Speedy / etc. Shipping rates vary and are based on your zip code. The "Local delivery" option will be visible upon checkout if your delivery address is within the areas we service.

NATIONWIDE SHIPPING
We now also ship parcels nationwide on a weekly basis via Blitz/LBC. The total weight of your order must be under 2 kilos, and should not include any perishable / food / plant products.

PACKAGING

Please expect all items to be packaged in very minimal used / recycled / secondhand paper bags or cardboard boxes. We try to minimize our carbon footprint where we can, when we can, and as much as we can, and avoid procuring new packaging materials for our products.

All single-use packaging materials, no matter how "eco-friendly," take an inordinate amount of resources (e.g. water, fuel, electricity, trees, etc.) to manufacture. This is why we prefer to solicit used paper bags and boxes via Buhay Zero Waste Preloved, an online decluttering and dumpster-diving platform that we run.Our parcels won't always look pretty, but they have a much much smaller impact on the environment than parcels that use brand new "eco-friendly" packaging materials.