Shampoo and conditioner bars: Am I doing something wrong?

We get asked this from time to time by customers who really want to be using solid shampoo and conditioner bars to cut down on plastic but struggle to get used to using a shampoo bar…

“I’ve tried using solid bars before but my hair feels weird or gets tangled and then I can’t get a comb through it. Is this normal? Any advice much appreciated!”

And this is Jayne’s usual response…

“There is sometimes an adjustment period, usually for the first couple of weeks, when you make the switch. I’d advise, at the beginning, to use the shampoo bar with any liquid conditioner you’ve already been using. This is because the conditioner bar takes more getting used to than the shampoo bar does. When you’ve tried this combination a few times to make sure that the shampoo bar is compatible with your hair, start using the conditioner bar with it.

The conditioner bar does feel different to a liquid conditioner when it’s on wet hair, so sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s doing much until your hair is actually dried. Which means it can take a couple of goes to get used to how much to use. Take a tiny piece of the conditioner bar, squish it into your palm with your index finger. Add a bit of water and turn it into a paste. Then carefully rub the paste between your palms until it turns into a liquid conditioner. Run your palms over the mid-lengths and ends of your hair and (gently) use a wide tooth comb or tangle teaser to get it right through all of your hair. 

The most important point is to always rinse REALLY well. Rinse until you think there isn’t any product left in your hair and then rinse a bit more for good luck. Conditioner bars do have waxes and butters added to make them solid so they require more rinsing than liquid conditioners (which already contain water).

If you’re still struggling to get your hair to feel good using both bars together, I’d suggest going back to using the shampoo bar with liquid conditioner if that was working better for you. We do sell the liquid products as refills so you’d still be using less plastic. If that combination still doesn’t feel right, try the products the other way around (liquid shampoo with conditioner bar) and to try to work out which works best for you by process of elimination. 

Hope that helps!”