Solid shampoo and conditioner bars

[LittleEsme]

I love the idea of not buying plastic and am always drawn to these bars.

Does anyone here use them?

Im concerned about how effective they are - do they truly clean and condition hair?

I also wonder how long they take to lather up. I can be in and out of the shower in 3 mins but the last bar I tried took me ages to get enough lather to wash my hair.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

I use a herbal essences shampoo bar. Cheap and cheerful. Lathers up quickly and really cleans my long hair. Haven't found a bar that's conditioning enough yet.

I use this one Eco Warrior one from Waitrose and I love it. It lathers really easily and my hair feels really clean afterwards.

I don't use conditioner so can't help there.

I’ve not had much success with conditioner bars (although I do live in an area with very hard water) but I’ve had a few of the Lush shampoo bars and they’ve been effective and lathered up with no issues. I really liked the Montalbano lemon one.

Gruum are good.

Agree with PP that there are several really good shampoo bars now (Lush’s ‘Honey I washed the kids’ is my fav) but no luck with conditioner bars. I use Faith in Nature coconut conditioner as there is a shop that does refills near me.

I use faith in nature conditioner too! I buy the 2.5L containers and decant into an old bottle. You return the containers to them when done.

Thanks you lot!
That's helpful. At least I can cut my plastic consumption down by half.

Do you lather up in your hands then apply?

I just rub the shampoo bar straight onto my head!

That’s what I was going to say! Wet your hair then rub it on your head. Lathers much better than in your hand.

I use gruum shampoo bars, which I find work really well and last a long time.

For conditioner I really like Splosh. Not bars, but they send you concentrate in pouches which you dilute in a reusable bottle, and you return the pouches when you have enough for recycling.

I use Ethique - i started off with the trial pack to figure out what I liked. They often have deals and have a loyalty point scheme too.

I've used them for years. I've found that shampoo bars bring out the natural wave in my hair, as long as I stick to silicone free ones. Agree re rubbing straight on the head. My favourite (I've tried lots) is the avocado and banana one that Superfly Soap sells. I tend to stock up on them. She sells conditioner bars that are decent too, but I don't use them that frequently. I've just got a bristle brush to see whether using that helps with oil distribution instead of conditioning because my hair is long and hefty and it gets a bit lacklustre if I condition. Anyway. Superfly. They foam nicely, work well and they're good value. She's figured it out better than anyone else I've tried.

Gruum are the best I've tried. Conditioner not so great

These bars are so good for Foster Son with learning disabilities as he was using and spilling over a bottle of shampoo each week to himself. A shampoo bar lasts him 3 weeks. I don't give him condition bar as I'm not fully convinced he washes out all of the shampoo lather.

I took one of these on holiday with me (I use refills of the liquid version at home) and really liked it, will definitely buy it again.
https://www.garnier.co.uk/our-brands/hair-care/ultimate-blends/shampoo-bars/delicate-oat-softening-shampoo-bar

I like Lush shampoo bars (I lather in my hands) but like others I have yet to find a decent solid conditioner.

I bought one from the Little Eco Shop and it was the best I had tried so I ordered a few more and they were awful. Don't know if they had changed the recipe or just that the quality control isn't very consistent.

I use the nuddy ones but haven’t tried since they relaunched and they are pricey now but I do find that they last quite a long time. Lush ones are good but I prefer sulphate free products. Since I switched to sulphate free I haven’t needed conditioner (I have quite fine straight hair so many sulphate free shampoo/hair soaps don’t work for me)

I colour my hair (which I regret) so will definitely need a conditioner

Love ethique bars & also gruum- conditioner is hard to use in hard water areas though.

I use the garnier ones not for any alustric reasons but my DD was going through 1litre of shampoo in just over a week and loads of shower gel. I was getting sick of the plastic bottles and spending so much
I started buying soap , I use dove beauty bar and the garnier shampoo bars ,much kinder to my wallet and the planet! I had to buy soap containers to make sure the shampoo bars dry out. If you don't dry them out they break apart. That's the only extra cost
Conditioner gets used much less so I haven't made the swap.

It's so much harder for them to waste it and our hair looks lovely.

If you buy Gruum don't pay full price. They always have offers for £5 a bar. I know it's expensive but it lasts forever. I'm sure the last one lasted a year with more than just me using it.
I lather on my hands.
Still looking for a conditioner bar though!

I started making hand-wash by grating a bar of soap and mixing it with boiling water, for handwashing in the kitchen as a refill for soap dispensers. It made me wish that shampoo and, particularly, conditioner could be sold as pellets to be used in a similar fashion. I don't mind shampoo bars, though I'd never buy from Lush, but I've not found a solid conditioner that works well.

@IcakethereforeIam yiu can do the same with conditioner bars but I haven’t tried it yet

I've been using Alter/native (used to be Suma) for a couple of years. I use either the Lavender&Geranium or the Lavender&Rose - I found the others too thick and heavy for my hair. They do conditioner bars too but I stopped using them, I struggled to rinse it out properly. I've since been told I should condition first and shampoo second when using solids, so I might give it another go.

As said upthread, I rub the bar directly onto my hair rather than lather it in my hands.

I used a few lush shampoo bars, smelt lovely and lathered up really well but I felt they were making my hair 'squeaky' clean if that makes sense so think it was a little harsh on my hair. The conditioner bars I didn't love they kind of left a residue which made my hair feel unclean after washing.