The idea of using solid shampoo and conditioner bars is easy for some, and we know that a lot of you have been sporting Ethique bars in your homes for a while now. For others, rubbing a bar on their hair or face still seems just a bit… weird.
We get lots of messages and reviews from people who were sceptical about just how well our products would work when compared to their bottled counterparts. We’ve gathered up all their questions and addressed them below.
It’s not going to lather up properly
Yes, it absolutely will!
This is by far one of the biggest reasons people give us the side eye – they want that foamy goodness when they’re shampooing and just can’t see how they could get enough product through their hair to do that. And that’s not surprising – so many other solid beauty bars are lacking in the lather department. The foam is also the first thing people notice when they start using our shampoo bars.
Here’s what Kristin said on an Amazon review,
“Just 3-4 swipes from the roots to ends (& I have short hair) and it lathers better than any traditional shampoo I’ve used in a long time. My hair is left feeling very clean, fast, and it doesn’t dry it out!”.
Don’t take my word (or Kristin’s) for it – take a look at the lather for yourself.
So how do we bring the bubbles in our shampoo bar without any soap? It’s all about the palm-oil free surfactants. We use those in our other lathering products too –Bliss Bar face cleanser (which doubles as an amazing make-up remover) and Deep Green cleanser, which has a creamy low-bubble lather.
It won’t clean my hair like salon shampoo will
Trust me, it definitely will.
Whether you have very oily hair, wash your hair only once a week, frequent the dry-shampoo aisle or love leave-in treatments and other styling products, our shampoo bars will clean your hair just as well as salon shampoo.
Each shampoo bar is essentially three bottles of salon quality shampoo, minus the plastic, palm oil, harsh ingredients and water.
The shampoo bars are made using high-quality and ethically sourced ingredients. They’re also pH balanced and won’t strip your hair of colour.
Linda on Amazon says, “I use expensive salon shampoo for treated hair and I am very particular about products. I have become very concerned about plastic waste and am switching to products that don't come in plastic containers. This product is fantastic. It left my hair shiny, soft and did not strip my lowlights or color.”
Using a shampoo bar is unhygienic
The opposite, actually. Lab tests have proven our shampoo bars can’t support any microbial life – no bacteria, no mould, no nasty things growing or living on there!
If you think of all the other things you share with your partner, family, friends and even complete strangers (toilet seats – ick.) beauty bars are the least of your worries, really.
Still worried? You can just chop up your bars so everyone gets their own piece.
The bars won’t last long
Another biggie! Granted, the shampoo bars are a heck of a lot smaller than those giant bottles of shampoos, but they actually last for months of use.
For example, our shampoo bars are the equivalent concentrations of three 350ml bottles of liquid shampoo and our conditioner bars are equivalent to five 350ml bottles of liquid conditioner.
So going by concentration alone, they should last you ages. With my shoulder-length hair, I’ve had my shampoo bar going on four months now and my conditioner bar for nearly a year. Just 3 - 5 swipes of the bar across your hair and you should have enough product to work with – anymore and you’re probably wasting it.
Storing them properly helps, too. Keep your bar dry between use by giving them plenty of air flow. Don’t let them sit in water or have water dripping on them.
Don’t be afraid to take the bars out of the shower to dry properly if you need to – and don’t leave them in there if you have a shower dome. They’ll melt and suffocate without air circulation.
Rainan writes on Amazon, “I've had the same block for four months and it's barely smaller than when I bought it, despite almost daily use. It's a good hard block of product that dries quickly on the uppermost level of my shower caddy. Keep it up high or outside the shower or bath to keep the bar from melting, or store in a bag or one of their waterproof shower boxes.”
It’s all just soap, isn’t it?
It looks like a bar of soap, yep, but it’s actually 100% soap-free, so they’re super gentle on your scalp, hair and skin.
If you’re interested in learning more about soap; what it is, why many are worried about it and how we make our bars lather without it, click here.
