Switching to a shampoo bar - does it just take a while or are there better ones?

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I’ve wanted to try a shampoo bar for a while and am doing it now, but finding it a bit hard work. At the moment am using a slightly random one I bought on holiday. My hair looks quite good, less frizzy, but feels oddly stiff and as if it still has product on it when I touch it.

A friend who swears by her one says it takes a few weeks for the hair to adjust to it. Or should I just buy a better one? Or rinse it more?

Ive never found one I got on with - Ive tried a few but aways felt like I had product in my hair after it had dried

I've only used Lush ones and they've always been fine. I lather it on my hands, then rub it in

I got one of each -shampoo/conditioner - in a Holland &Barrett advent calendar Ethique .
I didn't re-buy them , found they were heavy and coated my hair even though I learned not to over use .
Ok if you really cannot carry liquids , otherwise a faff .

Smelled nice though .

I agree that the Lush ones are good, and they last for ages. I like the blue one. I think it is called something like seanik. I don’t think my hair had to adjust, but to be honest I can’t remember as I’ve now been using it for years.

Sadly I still can’t find a solid conditioner bar that I like though.

I quite like the gruum shampoo bars. Haven’t found any solid conditioners that work for me yet, sadly

I only use Lush ones plus their conditioner bar.
Hair feels lovely. Never felt there is excess product on hair. Great for taking on holiday too as no restrictions taking in hand luggage.
Also : no plastic.

Garnier ones are okay.

Kitsch is quite good. I've found most others quite soapy but this one feels like shampoo and conditioner.

My husband uses Lush Seanik and I have a curly bar from Tappermade. We love both.

We have had issues with other random shampoo bars however and found them either hard to lather or a bit oily.

I love the gruum shampoo bars

I've used these for years and love them:
yorkshiresoap.co.uk/product-category/body/hair-care/ .

I do find solid conditioner impossible to use straight from the bar, so I cut it up, put the pieces in a big (~1l for one bar of conditioner) glass bottle with a pump top, fill it with boiling water, swish it around with a chopstick, and let it melt and then cool. I then just use it like normal conditioner.

I wouldn’t use one due to the fact they have extra ingredients to hold it all together as a bar as opposed to the usual liquid form. Seems a bit pointless to me. I just don’t get the point of them other than taking them on a plane

Lush, kinkind and garnier are all good. Some of them are more ‘soapy’ and leave your hair all weird. Any that suggest you should use a vinegar rinse - avoid.

Thank you all - v helpful. I’ll persevere with trying at least one more.

There are better ones. Kitsch castor oil was the first I got on with it’s the purple one. I’d tried about 50 at that point. Now I get on with more of them.

I loved the Ethique ones but they no longer have a UK presence or ship here. Haven't found anything nearly as good since.

You have to check what you're buying as "shampoo bar" can refer to a bar of soap (avoid at all costs) or a bar of dehydrated shampoo (this is what you want).

Me too! I loved Ethique, I ordered quite a lot when they were selling off the old stock but I'm on my last conditioner bar 😒

Do you know if they are still selling in mainland Europe?

I've used a Kinkind shampoo bar and that might be an option for when my Ethique stock is used up.

I love Gruum products too, I've got a shampoo bar but haven't tried it, they have a decent range of different conditioner bars too so that's another option.

I really like the solid bars, if you've got hard water it's a bit trial and error to find ones that work.

I’ve never found one that works in hard water.

I have hard water and like Kincaid

I persevered for about a year with various bars (shampoo and conditioner) but I never found anything that worked for me. I tried various ones - inc Lush and Grüm. In the end I got fed up with having grotty hair and reverted to my usual stuff in a bottle.

Lush bars use palm oil in them, that’s why they leave your hair so nice. I try to avoid palm oil where possible so I don’t buy them (plus they are expensive!)
Every time I find a bar I like they go out of business or stop shipping to the UK, (Friendly Soap, Funky Soap) it’s very annoying. I will try the Yorkshire Soap next.

PP querying the point of them - I counted up the empty bottles from just my family’s use of shampoo and conditioner, and that saving alone makes it worth it for me.

I like lush - honey I washed the kids, foam it in my hands and rub into hair, leaves my waist length hair lovely

Me too,what a waste of money trying to find one that worked.

I’ve used lush and herbal essences the hydrating one. I’d agree with you but my hair is difficult anyway and I’ve two friends who live for the lush one but they’ve very non frizzy hair so it could be that

I just use olive oil soap, either savon de Marseille or savon d'Alleppo. It won't work in hard water though