Choosing the right toiletries is a pivotal piece of packing light. If you’ve struggled with the challenges of carrying liquid shampoo, perhaps it’s time to pack light with bar shampoo.

Advantages of a solid shampoo bar

Compared to liquid shampoo, a shampoo bar has many advantages:

• It’s not packaged in plastic. Most shampoo bars are “naked” or wrapped in biodegradable paper packaging. This helps decrease the amount of plastic waste typically associated with hair and beauty products. The New Zealand company Éthique estimates that worldwide, 80 billion plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles are discarded each year.
• As a solid, it circumvents carry-on flight restrictions on liquids. It’s easy to pack and doesn’t consume limited space in a “3-1-1 bag.”   
• Messy and potentially costly spills are avoided.

• A shampoo bar is more concentrated than liquid shampoo. As much as 80 percent of liquid shampoo by volume is water.
• It’s easier to find the right amount for each use. Less is needed per wash.
• A decent shampoo bar can last a long time. A very small travel-sized 18 g / 0.65 oz bar of J.R. Liggett’s lasts me around 10 washes. It’s perfect for short trips. The much larger 100 g / 3.5 oz bar is built for extended travel.
• The best shampoo bars are Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) free. Increasingly, producers are keeping chemicals and parabens out of their bars and using all-natural ingredients. This is good for our health and good for the environment.
• There’s no waste. It can be difficult to squeeze every last drop of liquid shampoo out of a bottle. This isn’t the case with a shampoo bar. The last sliver of a bar can be added to the next one.
• Because they last a long time, shampoo bars work out to be less expensive than liquid shampoo. And because many shampoo bars contain nourishing ingredients and are chemical-free, it might be possible to eliminate conditioner from a hair care routine.
• Shampoo bars and soap bars are made using a similar process. Shampoo bars contain additional ingredients to nourish and cleanse. Natural oils and butters such as coconut oil, jojoba oil, and shea butter moisturize. Castor oil helps seal in moisture and prevent split ends. The nourishing ingredients mean that a shampoo bar can double as a body soap bar and save on packing space. 

Types of shampoo bars

There are three broad categories of shampoo bars:

The cold-pressed are typically made of all-natural products such as plant-based natural oils and butter. They’re usually free of chemicals such as sulfates and parabens that can damage hair and scalp.

Glycerin-based bars offer a better pH balance than the cold-pressed bars but they don’t lather as well as bars in the other categories. They tend to be gentler because they contain fewer cleansing agents that can strip hair of its natural oils.

Surfactant bars are also pH balanced, and lather well. However, many of these contain sulfates that can cause irritation and dry out hair over time.     

My search for the perfect shampoo bar

I started with LUSH’s Honey I Washed My Hair. Two or three swipes over wet hair and its lathering prowess was nothing short of miraculous. However, that was before I became acquainted with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, a cheap synthetic cleanser and foaming agent. Occupying the highest spot in LUSH’s list of ingredients is SLS. SLS is a common skin irritant, is rumoured (but not proven) to cause cancer, and is harmful to the environment.

I’ve replaced LUSH with Éthique and J.R. Liggett’s products.

J.R. Liggett’s Old Fashioned Bar Shampoo

J.R. Liggett’s shampoo bars are based on a recipe card for “hair soap” found tucked away in an old New England cookbook. It was for an all-natural shampoo that presumably hadn’t been seen for over a century. J.R. used the recipe to create gifts for friends and family, and soon had people asking for more. Now, over 30 years later, J.R. Liggett’s produces a line of over 30 products.

The basic ingredients are olive oil, coconut oil and castor oil. The oils are all food grade and edible. There are no harmful detergents such as SLS and diethanolamine (DEA).

I like the Old-Fashioned Bar. It lathers extremely well with just a few swipes, even in hard water. The lather rinses off quickly, with no noticeable residue left behind. It leaves my hair feeling pleasantly clean. The scent is subtle and pleasant.

Éthique Sweet and Spicy Shampoo Bar

Éthique has an extensive line of solid beauty bars such as shampoo, facial cleansers, and body washes. The company claims its products consist of 100% natural ingredients. These include calendula, cocoa butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, chamomile oil, jojoba oil, and ylang ylang oil. Absent are synthetics, SLS, parabens, petroleum products, silicones, palm oil, or ingredients produced in a non-sustainable manner.

My experiment with Éthique started with the Eco-Friendly Hair Sampler kit of three shampoo and two conditioner bars.

I was so impressed with the results that I purchased the 110 g / 3.8 oz Sweet and Spicy Shampoo Bar. Three to four swipes over wet hair generate a rich lather. My hair is left feeling soft and clean with lots of volume. The “sweet and spicy” fragrance of orange, ginger and cinnamon is ever so slight.

Soap and shampoo bar case

The Matador FlatPack Soap Bar Case is a game-changer for travellers. The soft-sided case adapts to the size of a soap or shampoo bar, taking up less space as the bar becomes smaller. It’s an ideal alternative to the hard plastic or tin cases that take up the same amount of space whether empty or full.

Another advantage of the Matador is that the bar miraculously dries out inside the case. This translates into no more waste or inconvenience from soggy solids.

Conclusion

If you haven’t yet tried bar shampoo, check out one of the products described above. They’re natural, sustainable, plastic-free, and effective.

Or, explore what’s available at local farmers’ markets or from online sellers at Etsy. Another option is to make your own. There are plenty of recipes online.

These solid eco-friendly toiletries are perfect for packing light travellers.

Do you have a favourite solid bar shampoo product? If so, please join the conversation in the comments below.

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