Shampoo Bar Review

Thinking of switching to a shampoo bar but don’t know which one to go for? Then look no further! (well… look a bit further… just down this page)

I tried and tested 4 shampoo bars so you didn’t have to, in an attempt to find… the best bar.

I few things to note though before we jump in:

1. I was already using a shampoo bar and had gone through “the transition phase”.
2. I used them all for 10 washes with the same conditioner bar for a fair comparison because… science.
3. My hair was, once upon a time colour treated (blonde) but not anymore. Very straight, long, and millions of it. Can tend to be a bit dry and static.
4. No one has paid me to say good things.

Cool, now that’s out the way – ah-let’s go!

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Wild Sage + Co – Rosemary + Lavender Shampoo Bar

Price: £6 for 100g bar
About the company: Small family-run business that started in a small wooden cabin just outside Bristol! Super cute.
Packaging: The packaging is great and all some variation of biodegradable, compostable, recycled, recyclable – with a handy little note to explain it all. Off to a good start!
Ingredients: All natural ingredients with lots of exciting sounding oils – no palm oil for those riding that bike, and vegan.

The review: This one has a pleasant smell when dry – quite sweet. Could spend some time sniffing it for sure. It was a little bit slower to lather than some of the others but when you got some more water in there and worked it around the head you definitely got a good amount of lather. The smell of the bar/suds when wet was AMAZING and surprisingly strong for a natural shampoo! Kind of like cola bottles I felt – the only downside to this was the subsequent craving for cola bottles. After rinsing my hair, it did feel really dry and tuggy (although I found this to be common with shampoo bars in general – the conditioner bar usually helps with this). The bar didn’t go slimy or soft when wet so it was easy to handle and after the 10 washes it didn’t really look like I’d used it much at all so it’s likely it will last a while. After air drying my hair, it still actively smelled of the shampoo bar which was great – although my boyfriend did ask why I smelled of cola bottles. My hair was super soft and very shiny which I was a bit surprised by after the feeling when wet – although I’d hope so for £6 to be honest… Still, thumbs up.

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Friendly Soap – Lavender & Tea Tree Shampoo Bar

Price: £2.62 for 95g bar
About the company: With ethics and environmental awareness at the heart of the business, Friendly Soap are on a mission to create products that benefits the planet, its animals and its people! Good Job Friendly Soap!
Packaging: Now I actually got this one from a reseller called “Anything but Plastic” and it was packaged in reused cardboard packing which is good. The actual bar itself comes in a recycled carboard box – simple and effective!
Ingredients: All natural ingredients (and only 8 of them!) This one is also palm oil free and vegan.

The review: This one had a faint but distinctive tea tree smell when dry – earthy, in a good way. It was surprisingly quick to lather and worked around the hair easily! Quick and easy is what I like! The smell of the bar/suds when wet was again pleasant and earthy but not very strong at all – this isn’t a bad thing but might be different for those who are used to herbal essences. After rinsing my hair, it felt a bit dry but not anything concerning. The bar didn’t go slimy or soft when wet at all so, like the last bar, it was easy to handle and after the 10 washes it didn’t look like much had been used – a small dip, so it’s likely it will last a while. After air drying my hair, it didn’t really smell strongly of anything… it smelled clean, but not of a scent, which is fine with me! My hair felt very soft and very shiny and light which is great – not a fan of heavy roots! Big fan of this one!

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The Natural Soap Company – Tropical Coconut Shampoo Soap

Price: £4.50 for 100g bar
About the company: Small soap company in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Started on a kitchen table! Love me some home crafts!
Packaging: Paper and card largely (even paper tape) with some packing chips made from 100% non-genetically modified corn starch which are 100% biodegradable and fully compostable!
Ingredients: All natural ingredients with some fun oils but it does contain palm oil. They do, however, assure that they keep their palm oil percentage to 30% or less of the total amount of oils used in their soaps and they only ever use palm oil from sustainable sources, usually ‘Fair for Life organic palm oil’ from The Kerfoot Group or ‘Q-Gold palm oil’ from Friars Pride. This bar does not use animal products.

The review: This one had a pleasant, sweet smell when dry in a fruity way, more than vanilla-sweet. It was WILD to use. It was on my hair for a couple of seconds and it had enough shampoo on it. Crazy quick – quite difficult not to “over-product” though which means longer rinsing time! The smell of the bar/suds when wet was nice – not hugely strong but noticeable. After rinsing my hair, it felt… smooth… which is odd for a shampoo bar but I wasn’t complaining! The bar… ah the bar… when I was able to hold on to it what I noticed was that it was very slimy and soft when wet and unfortunately after 10 washes it had gone down quite a lot. This one won’t last very long! After air drying my hair, it had a faint scent which was pleasant. For the first couple of uses I was in love with this bar. My hair was so soft and incredibly shiny but after that it started to feel very heavy and looked quite dull. Now I assume this is due to product build up in the hair and that a vinegar or soda rinse would fix this but I wanted to keep the playing field the same and so did not try this. Promising start but not the best long-term.

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The Natural Soap Company – Nettle and Rosemary Shampoo Soap
(I know I’m trying another one from the same company but I heard this one is less heavy that the previous one so I wanted to try!)
Price: £4.50 for 100g bar
Packaging: The same.
Ingredients: Again, all natural ingredients with some fun oils but it does contain palm oil. Same applies as the last time though with the use of palm oil – they are trying to do it sustainably. No animal products in this bar.

The review: This one had a strong earthy smell which I really enjoyed! I like to smell the nature in natural products. It was quick to lather but nothing like the Tropical bar… which is probably a good thing. It worked around the hair easily. The smell of the bar/suds when wet was again earthy but not as strong as when dry. This bar, surprisingly was not slimy or soft and I could actually keep a hold of it – bonus!! After the 10 washes it didn’t look like much had been used, quite similar to the first 2 bars in the review – a small dip, so it’s likely it will last a while. Much better than their other bar! After air drying my hair, it didn’t really smell strongly of anything… it did smell clean, but not that same earthy scent (but that’s fine). My hair felt soft and was shiny and fairly light with no growing heaviness like the last bar – so definitely an improvement! All-round a good bar!

 

The Outcome
I liked all of the bars for different reasons and would use 3 of them again for sure. I’d probably skip the Tropical bar for the fact that I’d need an additional rinse and the product went down so quickly!

If I had to pick a favourite, I’d say it was the Friendly Soap bar. It had a great result and was very cheap in comparison with the rest. The Wild Sage + Co bar provided a more luxury experience but at £6 it is quite expensive (for my purse anyway!).

If you need any tips on making the switch to shampoo bars then take a look at my post “Switching to a Shampoo Bar”

If you try any of these bars or have any questions please let me know by commenting below or contacting me on any of my channels!

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