Beware the Lush solid conditioner. It has a very strong scent. Smell before you buy!
Also, when I ordered Lush stuff on the internet it came wrapped in a plastic bag and a piece of wax paper-so they could definitely cut down on the packaging a little.
Extreme Green: Save Travel Stress and the Planet with Solid Shampoo!
Photo: GP Warlow
Constantly maxing out your liquid toiletries allotment at the airport? Looking for a way to go super green with regards to reduced product packaging? Check this out!
I thought I had researched every space saving cosmetic packing trick a girl could use before we went on our around the world backpacking boondoggle. I thought wrong. The funny thing is, I found out about these things in a completely unrelated way, while researching eco-friendly soaps during a winter plumbing crisis.
Basically, solid shampoos contain everything a liquid counterpart would contain. Everything except the water that is. As I mentioned in one of my earliest posts, while I’m more than willing to make my shampoo do multiple duties, I’ve always drawn the line at using bar soaps to wash my hair. Way too harsh. But with solid shampoo bars, you get the best of both worlds from a traveler’s perspective. Gentle enough to use on your hair, a non liquid form for easier airport transition, smaller to save space when packing, and no excess packaging in the form of plastic containers. Wa. Hoo.
The one I’m currently test driving is J.R. Liggett’s, which retails for $4.79 in this part of the state. It’s sudsier than I expected, rinses very easily, and will last (according to the company documentation) as long as a regular 24 ounce sized bottle of liquid shampoo. I’ve continued to condition according to my normal routine, and haven’t noticed any variation in hair dryness.
I also ran across a company called Lush whose products I’m hoping to review soon as well. They are the only place I found that also makes a solid conditioner, and go the extra mile of selling many of their products without any packaging at all. I was chat-typing with one of their reps who told me that not only does the solid form allow them to sell their shampoos without any plastic containers, it apparently eliminates the need to add preservatives, making for an even more natural product.
So, the next time you are headed to the airport and want to save some of that bag room for other liquid items, consider a solid shampoo bar!
Additional photo credits: Amazon, Paper or Plastic
Best of Wise Bread
Thanks for chiming in. Having never compared purchasing their stuff over the internet versus buying in one of their stores, I'm not certain whether mail order items are wrapped a bit to avoid scratching them up.
Did you have luck with the conditioner? Like I said, I haven't tried their stuff out yet, but the J.R. Liggetts shampoo bar is working way better than I expected.
It made my hair soft but not greasy so I would call it a success but the smell was too much. I think I'm going to send it back. I like the "squeaky green" shampoo and the "hard" shampoo.
I love the solid concept, though.
I. Love. Lush. You pay a premium for their natural igredients, but the products I've tried have been AMAZING. I am especially fond of their dream cream hand lotion.
Grace, I have to admit, their online catalog had me drooling. They are definitely pricey, as you mentioned. But I guess if you are already used to paying a premium for ecologically friendly, high quality shampoo, then it won't be that much of an adjustment. The scent names alone are oh so entertaining.
I'd also like to recommend Chagrin Valley: http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/products.htm
Very natural, huge selection, huge shampoo bars for the price!
Thanks, Sally. I just checked them out. Very yummy sounding selections and you're right, very large per bar compared to some of the other places. And under seven bucks! I wonder if they might be open to a product review.
Keep those other sources coming, everybody!
Lush solid shampoo is pretty good, being a guy and all I went with "Seanic"
I wouldn't call Lush products natural though. Their main ingredient is SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulfate) which is a strong enough detergent to clean oil off the garage floors in mechanic shops.
From what they say, their products are "Handmade", but that does not mean "Natural"
Thanks, Rhyno.
You know, the SLS thing has been coming up a lot in my research. I hadn't had a chance to go the extra mile with the Lush ingredient list, though. But to be fair to them, practially everything has it. It's turning into quite a quest for my hand soaps, shampoos, etc.
I'm learning this stuff is sort of like high fructose corn syrup. . . you just never know how many places it is until you start looking.
I love the idea of these soaps! I am just so jealous, however, as our water is way too hard to use most of them. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until we get a softener system... Thanks for the resources!
I never even knew solid shampoo existed, and now I'm very curious to try it. Hopefully I'll be able to find that J.R. Liggetts at my local health food store.
Will you be posting a review of the Lush when you try it, also? I'm a little leery of a solid conditioner (beyond the smell, which is also a complaint on the Lush website, I see), since I have very fine, TANGLY hair. I could probably get over a strong smell if it really worked!
I have very fine hair, that used to be very tangly as well; until I switched to washing with baking soda and rinsing with apple cider vinegar. No more tangles, ever, and no smell! My hair is stronger, feels thicker, refuses to tangle, and is softer and silkier to the touch than it has ever been. And since baking soda and vinegar are cheap, and you likely already have them in you house, its definitely worth a try. I love it and will never go back to regular shampoo and conditioner.
GOOD LUCK!
Jenny, these solid shampoo bars were news to me too. I am working with the Lush rep right now to see if they are interested in contributing samples for a thorough review. If they go for it, then absolutely, I'll be posting my results.
As far as conditioning goes, one way I go through less is to use the spray conditioning trick I mentioned in this post:
http://www.wisebread.com/ten-budget-beauty-products-you-can-make-at-home
Also, I occasionally put some full strength conditioner on the ends of my hair. One three dollar giant bottle of Suave can last a super long time, as can a regular size bottle you might have picked up free with a coupon. Since your consumption rate goes way down with this strategy, you are saving money and reducing how much packaging you need to toss.
Linsey, sorry about the hard water thing. I wonder if any of the companies have a tip for that . . . I'm with you, though. I love the idea itself. How clever!
Yeah, the initial cost of a Lush shampoo bar is more that a bottle of shampoo. But I've had my bar since October, and I have yet to use half of it (I cut it in half to make it easier to use - it doesn't get stuck in the metal container anymore).
Be sure to keep them dry, though. Otherwise they'll turn into gel, as I found out on my tour of Europe.
The scent can be powerful on a lot of Lush cosmetics. That is my only disappointment with their products.
I even use their bar deodorant, and I've had that for quite a while too. I probably would have gone through at least 4 sticks of Secret at this point - not only cutting down on waste and packaging, it's also saving me money. Plus I don't smell like a baby's butt.
I am a huge fan of Lush products. They are pretty pricey, and their bath and shower products are a "treat" for me, but their shampoo bars (and some of the skin care line) have become everyday products for me.
I have very thick, curly hair, and was going through shampoo like crazy. I picked up a shampoo bar from Lush on a whim, and not only did it clean well, it lasted for months! My hair needs four or five swipes with the bar and I get great lather. The scent doesn't seem to linger, which is good and bad. Overall though, one of my fave products.
You know Megan, I was surprised by how quickly I got great lather from the J.R. Liggetts shampoo bar as well. Although, like someone above mentioned, you really want to keep it somewhere where it will stay dry if you want to get the best bang for your buck.
I am the self-professed Queen of Packing Light and have been blogging about it for some time now. I have sooo been looking for alternative (aka: non-liquid) forms of all my toiletries, and these so totally fit the bill! Thanks!
~Monica
Hi Myscha. In my quest to go plastic-free, I've used several shampoo bars as well as the Lush container-free deodorant. (BTW, if you ever have questions about finding products with zero packaging or plastic-free packaging, I'm your source!)
Right now, I'm using Burt's Bees rosemary mint shampoo bar. I like the way it smells, but it might be a little intense for some folks. The Lush bars I tried were way too strong for me. I've got a bar of J.R. Liggett on my shelf but haven't opened it up yet.
Lush deodorant: when you buy it in the store, they cut off a chunk and give it to you with very little packaging. It works. But once my Aromarant deodorant bar is gone, I'm thinking of trying plain baking soda. Some people swear by it, and it does cost a lot less than pricey Lush products. And speaking of baking soda, some people wash their hair with it too. Haven't tried that yet.
Oh, and by the way, you can buy LOTION bars too. Or make your own:
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2008/01/hand-lotion-is-it-for-bees.html
Oh, and one last thing. Etsy.com is a great resource for all kinds of soap, shampoo, and lotion bars that are handmade by craftspeople. Check it out.
What great information! Ididn't know Burt's Bees had a shampoo bar as well. And that lotion bars even exist! Who knew?
Also, I'm in the process of doing a range of reviews on all natural deodorants. The salt crystal ones seem to work OK, but I've been having trouble finding one of the traditional style ones that works like the chemical laden kind. They don't seem to be holding their own. So, if these bars work, that would be two out of three, at least for types of Earth friendly deodorants. Brands of course, are all open to review.
I can't wait to try a shampoo bar, and maybe some of the other products too.
I'm curious, does anyone have any good strategies for using shampoo bars with less-than-organized children? I'd really hate to find my beautiful shampoo bar slowly mushing its way down the drain.
Thanks for the great post.
I hear you. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is a shower basket that you take out of the bathroom, since it sounds like you have only one? It might be a bit of a pain to do it that way, though.
Or, maybe as a household finance education experiment, have them use some allowance money to buy their own? If they send their own down the drain and have to dip into fun money to repurchase ahead of schedule, it might help speed up the learning curve.
Just a couple thoughts. I'm sure those more experienced with parenthood might have additional, and quite likely better, ideas.
I'm liking this discussion--I followed the link to the Chagrin Valley site and they comment that using natural shampoos without SLS may help with tangly hair--which is a HUGE HUGE issue for my daughter for some reason--she's got very long, thick hair, and she hates to brush it because it's always tangly, and it's always tangly because she hates to brush it. I can send her to school with it all brushed out, and she comes home with it looking like she's been sleeping under a park bench for weeks. Weird.
Anyhow, the only downside is that my sister the hairstylist gave us 1.5 gallons of salon shampoo for Christmas last year, and (a) by "last year" I mean Christmas 2006, and (b) we've still got .5 gallon left to finish! I'm beginning to think I'll never see the end of it.
Just a thought . . .you could use it to mix your own cleaners and also as a body wash / shower gel. If you really want to use it up without wasting it, that might speed up the process.
And interesting tidbit about SLS possibly relating to tangly hair. Hmmnn . . . I wonder if that's so certain companies can sell more of their "formulated to go with the shampoo conditioners"? Just a thought.
I started looking into solid shampoos recently too as a way to cut back on packaging and have been pleased with J.R. Liggetts. It's available at our local Wild Oats. I also bought some dental powder to use while traveling. I think the brand I bought is Eco-Dent (also available at Wild Oats), and it's basically baking soda with a few additions and comes in a small plastic bottle. It works pretty well, but I haven't really mastered it yet....a lot of it tends to end up in the sink when I try to put it on my brush.
You know, I've heard of tooth powders before to, but didn't try them for fear of exactly what you just mentioned. Guess I wasn't concerned in vain.
I too thought J.R. Liggetts was a decent solid shampoo. And the bar is small enough to pack efficiently if you are going on a "one bag" trip.
Myscha, we were so obviously on the same wavelength on this one. I just posted about this myself on my budget travel blog, Less Than a Shoestring.
Solid Recommendations for Travel Beauty Products
For me, the solid lotion is a bigger deal than the solid shampoo, since I could never carry enough lotion in 3 ml containers with everything else I had to tote. Thanks to Beth for leaving a comment with her post on making your own! I am going to try it as soon as I can get the ingredients together.
Glad to see someone else out there is digging the solid shampoo scene. I checked out your budget travel blog. Cool!
I've seen some frugal sites mentioning using old pantyhose to keep soap from mushing (especially when you have several slivers left, and can keep them all together), wouldn't tying a bar in some old (clean) hose help keep it from going soft in a dish? You could hang it to dry.
On this same subject, don't forget bar shaving soap. For those who shave off various body hairs, I've found nothing better (or more TSA approved).
I've been using solid shampoo for over two years now and love it! I travel worldwide for my job and first bought the solid shampoo to cut down on liquids in my luggage, but I like the solid shampoo so much better than liquid I use it even when I'm home. Try basin.com and basinwhite.com (they have stores in Disney World, which is where I first discovered them). Good prices, lots of scents and they last for ages if you keep them dry inbetween...my last bar got me through 5 solid months of travels! They work well in hard or soft water. Thry've got a sale on right now :-).
