AIBU to share my breakthrough with conditioner bars

[berringer]

I’ve been trying to de plasticise all my toiletries, and over the years have managed to stop the shampoo, shower gel habit and swap them for bars, which has worked. But conditioner has always been a bit of Achilles heel. Until now i’ve Always been disappointed in conditioner bars, finding they just didn’t condition my hair , just kind of dry, sticky and heavy and take ages to use.

Until the last week, when i’ve Finally worked them out! Maybe you all knew this already, but just incase...... if you keep them in a little tin/tub/dish with a bit of water in the bottom, then when you come to use them they are already soft and have a slick of conditioner ready that you can rub into your hands and use easily. Also the little bit of water the bar has been sitting in has also absorbed the conditioner too and can be used!

Hope this helps someone else!

Are there SLS free shampoo bars?

@DPotter I live in REALLY hard water (east anglia) and Beauty Kubes really work for me. Not a bar, they are shampoo without the water so you crush a kube with water to make a paste and use this.

I also found an interesting article from the Solid Bar Company about how most solid shampoos are actually just soap - not designed for hair - and hence the need for transition periods and rinses. I haven't tried their stuff yet myself but it does sort of make sense... They are quite critical of anything which suggests you need to rinse with ACV or anything!

thesolidbarcompany.com/blogs/rebeccas-blogs/the-best-natural-shampoo-bar-in-the-uk-2019

@IndieTara

Conchus & Cosy Cottage Soaps are definitely SLS free.

Great tips thank you! I'd given up on conditioner bars though love the shampoos. Now off to look for a tin 😀

Vinegar rinses, people!

Most hair benefits from a dilute vinegar rinse after the wash. You may not need the conditioner at all. It may help after the conditioner, too.

I use an old squeeze vinegar bottle with a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and two cups of water. Squirt my hair after a wash. Wring it out then dry.

Glasshalfsomething you are so right. I nearly changed bar as my hair had got ridiculous last week, I couldn't get a comb through. I was going to try a Lush bar but when I looked at the ingredients they all seemed to have SLS in them and I think that's what makes me itch. I tried the apple Cider vinegar rinse and it is like night and day. Hair feels back to normal. I've found I don't need to do the rinse every time either. Thanks for the tip, hopefully someone else will read this and it will help them too.

EnterFunnyNameHere that link describes exactly my experience. I have dry curly hair and live in a hard water area. I tried a bar from Lush which was ok-ish but I got serious frizz. I also tried a bar from the soapnut company and got such thick residue even after using the vinegar rinse that I felt I was in the verge of developing dreadlocks! I had to resort to nasty normal shampoo with sulphates to get clean.
I really wanted the bars to work, as I am on a bit of an anti-plastic campaign at the moment (somewhat hindered by my family: DH refuses to use his wooden toothbrush because it feels funny ).
The best shampoo I've used so far is a sulphate free one by Renpure that I picked up in TK Maxx (sadly in a plastic bottle and more sadly a one off as I haven't been able to find it since). It transformed my hair so I am now searching for a bar that has the same effect.

@WhataLovelyPear haha - yes I tried soapnuts too, huge greasy matted mess! I am going to try the solid bar stuff next but Beauty Kubes definitely do the job for me with no need to rinse so if Solid Bar fails I'll stick with them!

@ToPlanZ - it’s a revolution! Bye bye conditioner! Hope it’s useful for more than just us.

I adore my solid shampoo (the pink one fron Lush, can't rememebr the name) but found the conditioner bars left my hair weirdly heavy and greasy. I ditched rinse-out conditioner althogether about a year ago in favour of argan oil- still comes in a bottle, but since you only use a few drops, lasts for absolutely ages (I've just finished my first 250ml bottle and my hair is waist length). I spend about half the time detangling than I used to, and usually add a drop of essential oil too for a nice smell.