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?

I think it's only Aus, New Zealand, US & Canada unfortunately.

I avoided Kinkind and Gruum initially because they've got fragrance in them and that tends to set me off but might give them a go.

I've tried Hairy Jayne (UK, handmade) - not great, smelt good & ingredients good but the bar is too soft and falls apart. The conditioner was really bad and just left waxy bits everywhere.

Solid bar company - not good, bar didn't lather or clean well

The faith in nature lavender one is good. Surprisingly moisturising but cleanses well too.

Lush are generally good; some cheaper ones have left my hair feeling sticky and greasy, but I think it varies with hair texture. My oldest has thicker hair and can't get on with shampoo bars at all.

I use the Garnier ones and have hard water, yes it takes longer to get a good soapy lather, end results are nice soft hair, but cost wise, it’s so much cheaper than liquid shampoo. I have shortish hair, I think that helps.

I like the Lush ones - they have been the best I’ve tried . I use one which is good for an itchy scalp . They are £9 I think but I only wash my hair twice a week usually so it lasts about 6 months !

There are loads on Amazon, I read the reviews and try ones that seem good and not had any duds.

I've settled on Foamie purple because I have grey hair. Can't vouch for the other Foamie bars but they are pretty cheap so might be worth a try?

I'm in London so hard water and it lathers up nicely.

I loved the ethique ones too, but have been getting on fine with kinkind.
I have used some that doesn't seem to rinse out properly, but then some liquid shampoo is rubbish too.

I’ve tried loads over the years and the only ones that leave my hair feeling nice are Lush ones. Even that is affected by water quality though, I found when I was on holiday in a hard water area, the shampoo bar left my hair feeling horrible.

I also use these - they are great and never feel like residue is left on the hair, which other shampoo bars sometimes do. They smell gorgeous too - particularly the “blonde moment” one.
I have fine straight hair and do use the conditioner straight from the bar - works really well for me.

I have hard water and the M&S one at £3 is my favourite and a bargain. I do also like lush but costs a lot more and the M&S one doesn’t leave as much residue.

In London. I mostly use the Friendly shampoo bars. Made the change about 7 years ago and my hair texture is much better for it (less flat and slippery). It did take 10-14days (washing every other day) for the transition - my shoulder-length hair felt stiff and a bit clumpy during that time - I did it when we were on a very rural / walking holiday so I wasn't at all bothered about what my hair looked like!

Gruum for me. Never tried the conditioner. It suited my hair straight away.

Garnier made my scalp itch, weird because their hair food range doesn't.

£3 M&S bar - good value - made my high lighted hair knotty - my mum has it now.

Dh likes the blue lush one, but i refuse to give them my custom. He currently uses the lemon Gruum one.(though hes not happy) I used it in Australia, hair was clean, not sticky in fact a bit fluffy.

I've tried loads of these and didn't get on with any of them but I bought the Decathlon hair, face and body bar when we were travelling to SE Asia. I bought it mainly as a soap bar but it turned to be an amazing shampoo as well. Great smell too. Apologies for the Portuguese link, but I'm sure they'll do it on the UK too. https://www.decathlon.pt/p/sabonete-sollido-produto-de-limpeza-para-rosto-corpo-e-cabelo-90-g/_/R-p-349019?mc=8831356

It's too dry after washing. Try using conditioner again

Friendly soap is still in business. https://friendlysoap.co.uk

I live by Friendly so it's in every shop in the valley. Although as I say this, I realise maybe that's not why it's called Friendly. The factory is just by a village called Friendly so I just assumed... oh I'm hearing it in a whole new way here in this comment!

I buy mine from the-good-soap.co.uk, good size bars for under £5, mix of options, some I get on better with than others though I default to peppermint and tea tree for DD.

As with some of the less aggressive shampoos, technique matters.

do a light application and quick wash and rinse. Then apply more normally, scrub up and rinse.

that first light wash gets off the big layer of oils and grime so you can get a deep clean. You don’t have to do that with some modern shampoos because the ingredients just cut through anything.

I have just bought from Highland Soap Company a couple of shampoo bars to try out.

The raspberry one, Herbridean seaweed and a nettle one. They all smell delicious.

If your priority is reducing plastic then see if there is a refillery place in your town. I refill large containers with shampoo (usually faith in nature) then decant at home into a reusable bottle. I bought a 5L handwash refill at the supermarket, used the handwash and now use the container for shampoo refills. 5L lasts months.

I’ve used both Alphy and Becs and Friendly shampoo and conditioner. Happy with both and they are reasonably priced as well.

The coconut kinkind shampoo and conditioner makes my dry hair lovely and soft (hard water area.) It is the first bar shampoo I've got on with, Garnier left a horrible residue.

I’ve tried Nature Box from Schwarzkopf in avocado for dry hair a few times, but maybe with my 4c hair the technique is what counts as @Ponderingwindow mentions. I wasn’t sure what to expect the first time, and then I found it quite drying the second time. Maybe I over shampooed. I haven’t used the conditioner yet. But I probably will give them a try again when I muster up the confidence again. A friend of mine with 3b-4a hair swears by them and says that she doesn’t have to use conditioner 😮.

Never found a conditioner that I like. I had one and it left such a residue that it was sticky it wouldn’t be removed with just water so had to rewash using shampoo in a bottle have tried quite a few shampoo bars some better than some. Always used Lush on holiday but I don’t go away now.

Suma do a shampoo bar which i like.