Shampoo Bars Are the Travel-Ready, Eco-Conscious Essential of the Moment
As I write, I’m listening to the first ear-splitting flights of Chicago’s pandemic-modified Air and Water Show. Since 1959, the city’s “second most popular” festival (versus 2021’s nauseating summertime swell of 400,000-ish Lollapalooza attendees) has offered Lake Michigan’s beachside onlookers aerial military plane maneuvers above parades of boats. When it began, phrases like “emissions” and “carbon offset fee” had yet to enter the layperson’s dialect. After this month's earth-shaking United Nations climate assessment (“code red for humanity”), I wonder how much longer we’ll want to use traditional fossil-fuel consumption as entertainment—or matters of routine.
How should we go about reconfiguring life in order to step into the future? Or, better yet, the present?
Let’s consider the everyday basics. Shampoo, for instance, is one of those universal, genderless products that many restock again and again throughout a single year. There have been meaningful strides in reducing waste when it comes to packaging: bottles made from post-consumer-recycled plastic or reusable aluminum, along with refill systems. But perhaps it’s time to consider a package-free—and water-free—version. “Most shampoo is around 80%—to upwards of 95%—water,” says Jaclyn Tracy, the Ohio-based founder of Sistain, a digital marketplace for products geared toward sustainability. She points out the irony that water is the number one ingredient in the $500 billion beauty and personal care industry, all while eight million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans each year. “It is not surprising that this category is going through its own ‘clean’ transformation,” says Tracy. One such evolution arrives in a familiar format: A shampoo bar fit for your palm—or a hand-polished Binu Binu blue marble soap dish.
Insiders cite multiple reasons they’ve already made the switch: “I like to cut off a little piece of my shampoo bar off rather than bring the entire thing with me on trips. A tiny square is all I need for multiple washes,” shares Amy Chang, who educates her million-plus TikTok followers about the beauty products she vets in real-time from her home in Santa Monica. She talks about research published in the University of Washington’s Conservation Magazine, which found that, compared to bar cleansers, liquid shampoos require five times more energy for raw-material production, and almost twenty times more for packaging production. “They are a little tricky to get the hang of at first,” she admits of hitting her groove lathering the solid cleansers through her strands. Still, she insists they “produce silky, shiny, clean hair just as a liquid shampoo would.”
That’s what Brooklyn-based hairstylist Dhairius Thomas has found, to say the least. “My experience with shampoo bars has been life-changing,” says Thomas, who jets to shoots with artists and models (including Jazmine Sullivan and Winnie Harlow) “always” with waterless cleansers in his kit. Growing up, Thomas remembers reaching for regular bar soap when he ran out of liquid shampoo—something he no longer advises, given the harsher surfactants often used—but he now plans to “get rid of the bottle forever” thanks to updated formulas suitable for all hair types. “I usually use bar shampoo when I have to wash a client’s hair on set,” he says. “What’s great is that they can take it home.” Sharing fruits of the waterless revolution makes sense when products are “easy to store without spilling or exploding while in transit,” he adds, echoing a concern that lots of travelers share at this tail end of summer vacation. Here, a dozen options to further lighten 2021’s environmental load.
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Davines Love shampoo bar
The olive oil extract sourced from Slow Food Presidia in Davines’s Love formula is one of the (CO2-offset) ingredients that makes it ideal if “you’re looking to tame frizz and combat dehydrated hair,” says Thomas. The scent—described in reviews as “to die for,” “lavender laundry detergent,” and “I want to slather my entire body in this smell”—has become its own star. As for Thomas, his favorite part is the “rich, creamy lather that leaves hair silky smooth.”
Christophe Robin hydrating shampoo bar
Reactive scalps might enjoy Christophe Robin’s hydrating formula infused with aloe vera, an ingredient that Tracy suggests can “reduce itching, redness, and inflammation, and also has antifungal properties.” And if you’re dealing with hard water, Chang points out that the stabilizer sodium phytate can be of help, since the chelating ingredient “binds to heavy metals and removes them from strands.”
Klorane shampoo bar with mango butter
Klorane’s nourishing, sulfate-free formula “gets the most reactions from my clients because of its mango scent,” says Thomas. “‘What is that?’ is the question I always get when using this shampoo.” Packed with plant-based fatty acids, the palm-size bar does the work of a thirteen-ounce bottle of traditional liquid cleanser.
Viori shampoo bar
Taking inspiration from the prized long hair of the Red Yao women in China’s Huangluo mountains, Viori created its shampoo bar with a give-back mission: 5% of proceeds go toward initiatives that directly benefit the community. According to Chang, the formula may provide a surprising benefit: “It includes [vitamin] B8 (inositol), the ingredient in rice water that is thought to help with hair loss,” she explains. “This would be a great option for someone with damaged hair from coloring or frequent heat styling, as it contains hydrolyzed rice protein which can strengthen strands.”
Superzero shampoo bar for thinning hair
Superzero’s bar features rosemary oil, which is thought to help stimulate hair growth naturally. Thomas recommends it to clients that have age-related thinning, as well as superfine hair. “Lightweight oils like avocado prevent the hair from being too oily or weighed down,” he shares.
Peach volumizing shampoo bar
For customers new to the waterless scene, Grove explains that one of these shampoo bars is the equivalent of two plastic bottles. The line’s three versions are made in small batches with subtle variations to its triangular pebble shape. The volumizing one, which smells faintly of honey, is designed to promote keratin production. “I love that this formula contains coconut-derived surfactants,” says Chang of the sulfate-free solution to a gentle lather.
HiBar Maintain shampoo bar
HiBar’s color-safe formula goes long on shine, thanks to its shea butter base. “I am a big fan of HiBar shampoo and conditioner,” says Tracy, who stocks both at Sistain. “The bars work particularly well with curly hair because of its ingredients that help [promote] elasticity and lock in moisture.” It generates the level of lather you can expect from a salon visit, but without the silicones, parabens, and stripping surfactants.
Fischersund lavender and sitka spruce shampoo bar
“This is the equivalent of an oil cleanser but for your hair,” says Chang of this shampoo bar scented with Icelandic sitka spruce. “The three main oils used—coconut, castor, and olive—are able to penetrate the hair shaft, nourishing the strand from within as well as coating the outside for overall shine,” she explains, adding that it’s good for removing buildup. She recommends it for thicker, coarser hair types “that can benefit from a formula this rich and not be weighed down.”
Ethique Professor Curl solid shampoo
One of the first brands to commit to waterless, plastic-free products, Ethique has become an industry favorite for its low-impact production methods. Stylists also approve. Their Professor Curl formula “won’t strip the hair of its natural moisture,” says Thomas of the shea-butter-rich recipe that skips harsh wax, alcohol, and sulfates.
Rowse The Perfect Balance shampoo bar
This formula by the Spanish label Rowse relies on antioxidant-rich curcuma extract, which also helps maintain a balanced scalp. Chang points out its multipurpose blend of beneficial oils, including “rich penetrating oils, like olive, that will nourish the strands within,” she says, alongside jojoba to lend “amazing shine.” Meanwhile, the beta-sitosterol could interest those who are experiencing thinning, she adds, since “phytosterols are thought to help with hair loss, keeping hair full and thick.”
Sade Baron Baden moisturizing shampoo bar
A multi-use vegan formula that’s also safe for hands and body, Sade Baron’s shampoo bar is even moisturizing enough to double as a conditioner. Thomas notes that it's “awesome for beards and facial hair,” with a unisex scent that smells faintly of tea tree oil, which provides its own antibacterial benefits.
Naples Soap Company Boyfriend shampoo bar
The Boyfriend shampoo bar by Naples Soap Company is pH-balanced for all hair types. While it mentions that it’s safe even for color-treated hair, Chang still provides a gentle warning: “The lemon juice and lemon peel in their formulas can [potentially] fade colored hair,” she says, though she does like the pro-vitamin B complex in the mix. “B vitamins are really beneficial for strengthening hair, helping with hydration, and soothing the scalp.”
