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5 Reasons Travellers Should Switch to Shampoo Bars
Shampoos, conditioners and liquid soaps. They all consist mostly of water and take up a big chunk of our washbags.
Traveling often with heavy dive gear it was something that always caused a lot of issues for me. I would usually have to end up sacrificing them and wasting the money I spent only to have to re-buy them on the other side.
On top of this, to wash the travel dust off we would have to source local shops after a long and tiring journey. Of course, if you’re only on vacation for a few weeks you can just repeat these steps on your way back.
Enough is enough!
Planning ahead for our next big move we recently made the change to solid shampoo and conditioner bars. Although relative newbies to the game there are some major benefits we just couldn’t predict.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you go through them to make a purchase we will earn a commission. Our aim is to help our readers through these links so everything we promote will be high quality products we personally believe in.
1) Shampoo Bars Are Travel Friendly
Shampoo Bars are major space and weight savers. Up to 80% of the content of normal bottles is water. The other 20% is the stuff that’s actually cleaning your hair.
What the bars therefore do is give you only the stuff that’s going to clean your hair. This is great for us as we are now not transporting any unnecessary liquid but still getting the same end result.
It also means no big messes from bottles leaking in transit. Trust me you’re not going to feel conflicted about chucking them into your bag next time. Cut down even more by choosing a 2in1.
If that isn’t enough you can also easily chuck them in your hand luggage for that weekend away or hotel stopover and won’t be stopped at security for it.
2) Shampoo Bars Are Eco-Friendly
HUGE PLUS! Shampoo bars cut out those plastic bottles. It may not seem like much but every month/2 months when we finish using up our shampoo that’s another bottle that’s probably going to end up in landfills or the ocean. Month after month the plastic just piles up.
Now you are just one person but there are millions out there doing the same thing. Cutting down on our plastic use should be a big priority. Luckily bars usually come in paper wrapping which is recyclable.
3) Shampoo Bars Save Money
Typically most people take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to get through a bottle of shampoo. This depends of course on how many people are using it, the size of the bottle and how much hair you have.
Now generally it’s said if you care for them in the right way shampoo bars should do the job of 2-3 normal bottles. This could mean months of use! In fact our first shampoo bar lasted 4 months between 2 people!
The price range varies between 2-15 USD depending on which brand you buy. Providing you stay on the lower end of that scale, you are definitely going to be saving on your bills.
4) Shampoo Bars Last Longer
We use a shampoo bar simply by lathering it up with water and rubbing this on our hair. Due to this nature, they are very hard to overuse. This is a contributing factor as to why they last so long but it also means nothing is going to waste being left at the bottom of the bottle.
However, they can’t go soft if they are going to function correctly. This means don’t leave them for long periods in a puddle of water or next to the shower. This was a factor I had considered before and not being able to properly dry them when traveling was one thing that originally gave me doubts about a purchase.
However, there are options to help deal with this as you can either get a self-draining travel soap dish or you can get/make flannel bags.
The thing I love about the bags is they are super simple to make, cost literally pennies and can be made with seriously limited skill and resources. They also squish up even more as the bars get smaller. You can take the bars out to use them (recommend) or use it as a scrubber. In which case the bag will catch every single bit of the product but is harder for travel and needs to dry quickly.
If you have 15 minutes or are interested in giving it a go happiestcmaper.com offer a step by step flannel soap holder tutorial.
5) Shampoo Bars Are Better For You
Thanks to their gaining popularity Solid shampoo and conditioner bars are relatively easy to get your hands on. They also come in lots of amazing smells and colors just like their liquid counterparts. Plus they scrap some of the additives used in commercial shampoos like sodium lauryl sulfate and ammonium lauryl sulfate. Some people even claim hair feels shiny and voluminous without stripping it of natural moisture and scrap conditioner altogether.
Shampoo bars are also multipurpose. They can be used as soap and to wash clothes and pets and conditioner bars can double as a shaving bar.
Best Shampoo Bars For Beginners
The shampoo bar you choose will come down to personal preference. Different bars will have different oils and fragrances which suit different hair types.
However there are definitely some favourites:
Aspen Kay Naturals Shampoo Bar
The Yellow Bird Peppermint Shampoo Bar
J.R Liggett’s All Natural Shampoo Bar
Give it a go it could change your life. Maybe even change the world a little.
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