Consumer trend in the bathroom: less plastic with shampoo bars

Shampoo has been a liquid consumer product for hair care since 1927. The German inventor Hans Schwarzkopf then devised a liquid alternative for cooking planed soap. Now there is a more environmentally friendly product on the market: shampoo bars.

First of all: hair products are normally not a topic for Bloeise. But the increasing consumer concerns about the environment offer smart entrepreneurs opportunities. As a product, the shampoo bar has been around since the 80's, but in the proposition as an environmentally friendly alternative it is gaining a lot of momentum.

What are shampoo bars?

Shampoo bars are exactly as they sound - shampoo in the form of a bar. They last up to 80 washes, which means that they are equivalent to two to three bottles of liquid shampoo. The vast majority of shampoo bars have no or biodegradable packaging and contain fewer synthetic ingredients. Shampoo bars are more expensive, but they also last longer and therefore cheaper. Consumers who want less plastic in their lives see shampoo bars as a good way to reduce the amount of plastic bottles. That, together with the colorful designs, makes shampoo bars a lifestyle product with a growing decrease.

Use a shampoo bar like normal soap: wet your hands and rub the shampoo bar until you get enough foam. Apply the foam to your hair and rinse. Place the shampoo bar in a dry place such as on a tray, in a soap dish or can. Do not place it directly in the sun again, because it can melt.

No more liquid conditioner required

People with dull or dry hair use a conditioner to give their hair extra nutrition. Liquid shampoos often have hard ingredients and petroleum products that degrease and dry your hair and scalp. However, shampoo bars contain nourishing oils, so many users find that they no longer need a conditioner. If you still need extra hair food, there are also several conditioner bars available. That saves a plastic bottle again.

The switch to shampoo bars

Depending on your hair type, there may be a transition period from a few days to a few weeks or even a month. It mainly depends on how damaged your hair is, how much residue and build-up is present. Your hair may also feel different after use, somewhat waxy. Shampoo bars do not leave residues in your hair like other hair products, so your scalp finds a new balance in the production of skin fat.

Shampoo bars at the forefront of bathroom renewal?

There is also a bar-shaped alternative for body wash: the body bar. Toothbrushes and cotton buds are now available in bamboo, and there are washable cotton buds. Toothpaste itself also has a powdered or tablet-shaped variant and the disposable razor blades naturally have the metal razor as a variant.

Whether we throw all the plastic out of the bathroom en masse is of course the question, because not every environmentally friendly variant is also cheaper or more convenient. And while concerns about the environment may create momentum at the moment, I expect that ultimately it will be about the basic consumer wishes: price and convenience. That means that the shampoo bar scores well and we can expect that this will be the new standard in the bathroom. The reason that the shampoo bar was not so well known and sought after until recently, will mainly be the fact that the Unilevers of this world prefer to sell us liquid shampoo and conditioners. With the consumer trend focused on green, we have to wait for the big brands to sell shampoo bars.