shampoo bars and body soap bars.

i just recently discovered shampoo bars and i was wondering what brands would you guys recommend. its just im tired of buying shampoo and conditioner and i heard there are some shampoo bars that dont require conditioners. the only shampoo bar i know of is [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]J.R.Liggett's Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo. a youtuber called insaneone188, does pomade reviews, did a video on it and of a body soap bar. i have read that shampoo bars tend to be made of natural ingredients or whatever that are good for your hair. so if you know of any that dont have too strong of a scent that would be nice.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]now regarding body soap bars i do have some experience with them and they are not favorable experiences. i dont remember the brand but i do remember how dry they left my skin. i really have no idea if there are any benefits to body soap bars over the liquid stuff but i do feel like giving them another go. the problem though is that when i do search for them i find so many so idk which ones are reliable just like the shampoo bars.

i know this stuff is personal preference and trial and error but i need somewhere to start and in the past this site has helped me narrow down my search and made it easier on my wallet lol

so thanks in advance for those who helped. [/FONT]

Personally I use regular bar soap (Ivory) for body and hair. I shave with barbasol cream in a tube (not the canned foam) when I am done with my shave I rinse my face and hair and then take whatever barbasol is left in my brush and put it in my hair. I leave it in for 3-4 minutes while I clean up the bathroom and brush my teeth, then wipe it off with my towel. It is an excellent conditioner. My hair looks and feels better now than it ever did using my shampoo (suave men's classic clean shampoo and conditioner) or my wife's expensive shampoo and separate conditioner.

I've used Mike's and Mystic Water shampoo bars and like them. I wouldn't really classify the scents as not too strong, but they are nice smelling imo.
The main difference between shampoo and bath bars isn't necessarily the natural ingredients but the oils used to make them. Bath bars are in general more cleansing, that is they can strip the body's natural oils. On the body this can be a good thing. Whereas on the hair, stripping the oils too much can actually lead to increased oil production. Shampoo bars are typically formulated to be conditioning rather than cleansing. They will still clean, but they won't strip the oils to a great degree. Of course, your own body/hair type will dictate if you need higher cleansing or higher conditioning.

I'm making the grand tour of shampoo bars. Mike's, Mystic Waters, Cold River, Chagrin Valley, Queen Charlotte are all wonderful. I wash my hair twice a day and all are gentle enough for me. Plenty of scents out there to meet one's desires.

Are shampoo bars the next AD?

I personally love my Lush shampoo bars. My main is New but I find it can be a little drying so I alternate it with Godiva and use Trichomania when my hair is really dry. I love them for travel though. My advice is to get a tin for when they aren't in use though.

I've been using Chagrin Valley shampoo bars for the past year. They smell nice and lather great, but I can't tell a difference in my skin or hair compared to just using Dove shampoo

I've used Queen Charlotte all of 2014. Great stuff. I've also used Mike's Natural and enjoyed it but it never seems to be in stock when I go to order.

thanks guys. ill check these out. hopefully i find something i like.

I've been using Woody's hair and body bar for a while, there's no SLS in it, which is my main reason for using it.
There's a regular and a moisturing version, I haven't noticed much difference apart from I prefer the smell of the regular.

PhilC said:

I've used Queen Charlotte all of 2014. Great stuff. I've also used Mike's Natural and enjoyed it but it never seems to be in stock when I go to order.

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which queen charlotte soap did you use? i may just buy the 4 for 25$ and try the ones i am interested in but i would like your opinion.

I tried many real shampoo bars and it didn't work for me. My hair was dyed at the time and the high PH of the soap created a wreck out of my hair.

If you are using a shampoo bar to reduce packaging and don't mind SLS then I would highly recommend Lush as well. My favorite one is Oceanix, it contains algae to soften the hair and it rinces really clean. It's more of a detergent bar than a shampoo bar though.

Been using the Chagrin Valley bars for 4-5 months now and really like them. No conditioner needed. I especially like the Extra Honey Beer and the Ayurvedic Herb.

I've been wanting to try shampoo bars for a while now. Where can you buy them? Or can they only be found online?

BrentS said:

I'm making the grand tour of shampoo bars. Mike's, Mystic Waters, Cold River, Chagrin Valley, Queen Charlotte are all wonderful. I wash my hair twice a day and all are gentle enough for me. Plenty of scents out there to meet one's desires.

Are shampoo bars the next AD?

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I've tried Mike's and Mystic Waters. I enjoyed them both, but I think I like Mike's a little more and it's a larger bar. As others have pointed out, you have to plan ahead with Mike's!

How do those other brands compare? I wish Stirling made a shampoo bar as their bath bars are great and very affordable compared to most other artisan soap venders! Would you recommend any of those over others? Any of them a better value for price?

Lush cosmetics. The wife and I have been using their hair care products for years (soak and float, squeaky green, jumping juniper shampoo bars, Godiva shampoo/conditioner bar, retread & veganese conditioner {veganese is my preshave, has lanolin as ingredient}). Great quality and price point. Their solid state bath/shower soap is excellent as well. If you have a store local, go in for free samples.

I like the shampoo bars from Blog - Sweet Creek Herbs. And they have good customer service.

If body soap makes your skin dry, it is probably because that soap is really detergent, not soap. Detergents are excellent for removing grease and grime, but they strip your skin of its essential nutrients and oils, leaving you with dry, unhealthy skin. Most commercial soap, even though they are technically soap, have their glycerin removed, which will causes the soap to dry your skin out. Companies will remove the glycerin and sell it on the side for a bigger profit. Usually, if you see salt in the ingredients list of soap, the glycerin has been removed.

If you're a bay rum kinda guy, any of the Ogallala creamy soap/shampoo bars. I would (and do) recommend them to anyone. Excellent, clean and refreshing product, as with all of their stuff.

rustyshackleford said:

i just recently discovered shampoo bars and i was wondering what brands would you guys recommend. its just im tired of buying shampoo and conditioner and i heard there are some shampoo bars that dont require conditioners. the only shampoo bar i know of is J.R.Liggett's Old-Fashioned Bar Shampoo. a youtuber called insaneone188, does pomade reviews, did a video on it and of a body soap bar. i have read that shampoo bars tend to be made of natural ingredients or whatever that are good for your hair. so if you know of any that dont have too strong of a scent that would be nice.

now regarding body soap bars i do have some experience with them and they are not favorable experiences. i dont remember the brand but i do remember how dry they left my skin. i really have no idea if there are any benefits to body soap bars over the liquid stuff but i do feel like giving them another go. the problem though is that when i do search for them i find so many so idk which ones are reliable just like the shampoo bars.

i know this stuff is personal preference and trial and error but i need somewhere to start and in the past this site has helped me narrow down my search and made it easier on my wallet lol

so thanks in advance for those who helped.

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I used shampoo bars for a long time. I eventually left them now that my hair is very long and needs more moisture, but this probably won't be a concern for people with hair above shoulder length, let alone your typical men's cut.

If you have very hard water, you will need to do some kind of rinse to prevent mineral build up -- lemon juice, honey, and apple cider vinegar are popular (no, it doesn't smell like anything -- it rinses right out, and even if you left it in, vinegar is odorless when it dries, which is why some people use it to clean stuff). These should all be diluted, maybe a teaspoon to a cup of water. Even if you don't have hard water, I always liked it as a detangling/conditioning rinse.

A soap formulated to be used on hair is super-fatted, so it contains much more moisture than a regular soap. You can use them on your body too! This might solve your dryness issues. I always used mine for body cleaning as well, and it's considerably gentler than, say, a bar of Castile or Ivory.

I like Chagrin Valley quite a bit. They have lots of different types for different kinds of hair. They also sell "sample sizes," which will actually last for quite a few washes.

As far as whether shampoo bars are good for your hair, well, kinda. They definitely clean, and in my experience do leave hair pretty shiny and less static-y than traditional shampoo. The good ones are also free of synthetic ingredients, which are scalp irritants to many people, like SLS.

But like I said, for long hairs, there can be issues. Soap is quite alkaline as well as being anionic, which can cause slightly faster shed of cuticle on the hair. But this is something that is measured in long-term use on hair that is long enough to be years old. So if your hair is short, it's really pretty irrelevant -- you'd be cutting it every month or two, so there's really no reason for you to concern yourself with cuticle shed over the course of years. It certainly isn't bad for your scalp or body in general -- in fact it's much gentler -- and hair is dead, so it doesn't mean anything to general health.

Mystic Waters shampoo bars are excellent. Don't use Lush; they have SLS in them. One of the main reasons to use a shampoo bar is to get away from detergents and foaming agents.

For body soaps, I really like Stirling bath soaps and they are inexpensive.