It had never occurred to me to pursue bottle-free beauty, but I'm so glad to be exploring this path now for select beauty products.
Ambitious women live their goals. One of my guiding affirmations right now (a process I teach in my book Stronger Now) is “I love my W.H.I.P. cream life.”
The “I” in whip cream stands for Impact and "P" for Planet. My goal for 2021 was to positively impact people and to lower my hurtful impact on the planet. I’ve been focusing on making sustainable switches where I can and last month I finally tried a conditioner in a bar. A BAR.
I will not pretend that shampoo and conditioner bars have not been around for years, but this was a new concept to me. As I started googling plastic-free beauty products, this came up, and suddenly I was getting ads for different shampoo and conditioner bars.
One, I love this random sustainable beauty ad category because I'm learning a lot from these ads. Two, I manifested an opportunity to try one of these products for free! Love when that happens.
Introducing the Kitsch nourishing conditioner bar, c/o Kitsch and Stackinfluence. This product was received for free and this is my honest opinion.
When I first started writing this post, I was using regular shampoo and then this conditioning bar. Since then, I started using a shampoo bar from another company, while still using this conditioner from Kitsch. I'll let you know an update at the end about the new shampoo.
What is the benefit of using shampoo and conditioner bars?
Shampoo bars minimize plastic waste in your beauty routine and are meant to have more dense ingredients. This means more nutrition for your hair, rather than the 80% water that is in most bottled shampoos and conditioners.
Kitsch’s conditioner bar is said to be equivalent to 100 uses (2 average bottles of conditioner). Bonus, it also works as a leave-in conditioner (just rub a small amount on hair when out of the shower) so you only need one product for both needs.
How do you use beauty bars?
I’m not going to lie, using a bar product on my hair felt weird at first. I’ve used it for over a month now, so I’ve gotten better at figuring out how much to apply.
First, wet the bar under the water and gently rub it over the top layer of your hair. Use your hands to spread the product around and massage it into the other layers. Rinse and repeat as needed.
I am personally using the conditioner bar first, then shampooing using my other bar.
My hair feels just as conditioned as with any other product I’ve used, doesn’t have any more hair shedding than usual (I was worried the rubbing could do that, but so far so good!), and my hair is soft with my waves defined.
I have made a goal for myself to wash my hair only twice a week and these beauty bar products fit well with that goal. I do not have greasy or over-dried hair using these products.
Will I continue using shampoo and conditioner bars?
I am open to trying other similar products from Kitsch, but like with my other routines, I usually try other products in a category before settling on one. This is the first conditioner bar I've used and it did set a good impression. I also love the price point. This is an affordable sustainable option, giving you a great value to align with minimizing plastic use in your life.
You can see Kitch's bottle-free beauty line in full on mykitch.com, with most products under $15. Sustainable and budget-friendly! You can also order a shampoo and conditioner bottle-free beauty set from Amazon.*
Now, after my previous shampoo ran out, I did find and try out a different brand based on an ad. I purchased VIORI based on an ad on Instagram. What drew me to them was their mission.
VIORI works directly with the Red Yao Tribe for their recipes and ingredients, paying them a premium to collaborate together. At least 5% of the profits also go directly back into the Red Yao Tribe community. You can read more about their social responsibility on VIORI.com*. If you decide to purchase, using my link* will also grant you 10% off.
I purchased one of their rice-infused shampoo bars and have loved the experience. Each bar comes in a beautiful design, but the design doesn't stay after the first two washes. It has a luxurious sudsy feel when using and is very moisturizing. I would buy a VIORI product again for the same reasons as outlined above for the conditioner bar I tested.
Both have become an exciting part of my routine and I look forward to washing my hair every week.
Stay tuned for the next hair post on my blog where I'll share other changes to my hair routine and how that has helped my hair grow stronger, healthier, and actually helped it start growing thicker and longer again.
What sustainable swaps have you tried in your beauty routine? I'd love to know! Would you consider a beauty bar?
*Affiliate links used in this post. All profits help support my family.