Solid Syndets / Non-soap Based Shampoo Bars (mass market)

[poli]

I own L'biotica Aloe one. It's good quality bar and quite gentle wash. "Milky" fragrance is the only thing I'm not a fan of.

[Feral_]

I would not touch Lush with a barge pole! The company’s ethics are as bad as their products. Their anti police campaign. The treatment of their staff. Anyone interested in that side of things just google some of the more reliable news reports from last year.

As for their products - once I used an argan oil shampoo bar. It was bright pink but hey no artificial colours! It smelt like a strong air freshener and it made me sneeze. But the worst part occurred using it - it made my scalp burn and itch while shampooing my hair. I could not wait to rinse that buggar off my head.

I smashed it up and put the bits in a spice jar with holes in the top to use as a room freshener in my clinic. It still smells - 2 years later So yeah a really natural product...

[Siv]

I bought one from N.A.E. recently but I haven't tried it yet! Currently using a LUSH one. It's decent but nothing special. Smells good though!

[Ylva]

Oh, my, Ylva! Thank you! I didn't know that this thread existed. Maybe I should ask the mods to delete my thread.

I think they can definitely coexist! I just thought to link it for utility.

[Obsidian]

I've always called these syndet bars. I actually bought a kit from etsy so I could scent/color the bars as I wanted. The shop doesn't have the kits anymore so I'll have to buy the premade bars for now on.

I don't use them often, I do prefer my liquid shampoo but these ones are nice and I believe sulfate free. The etsy shop is called ScenterSquare.

She also has solid conditioner bars that are nice. Warning though, she scents stuff really strong.

[Neoma]

I would not touch Lush with a barge pole! The company’s ethics are as bad as their products. Their anti police campaign. The treatment of their staff. Anyone interested in that side of things just google some of the more reliable news reports from last year.

As for their products - once I used an argan oil shampoo bar. It was bright pink but hey no artificial colours! It smelt like a strong air freshener and it made me sneeze. But the worst part occurred using it - it made my scalp burn and itch while shampooing my hair. I could not wait to rinse that buggar off my head.

I smashed it up and put the bits in a spice jar with holes in the top to use as a room freshener in my clinic. It still smells - 2 years later So yeah a really natural product...

Feral, thank you for your thoughts about LUSH. I need to do some research.

My experience with their products has been good, with the exception of their American Cream conditioner (liquid), which has lanolin in it. It caused itchy little bumps on my scalp. They refunded my money.

Having said that, their products are very strongly scented. That's one of the reasons that I wanted to start this thread, to find more naturally scented alternatives.

[Neoma]

I've always called these syndet bars. I actually bought a kit from etsy so I could scent/color the bars as I wanted. The shop doesn't have the kits anymore so I'll have to buy the premade bars for now on.

I don't use them often, I do prefer my liquid shampoo but these ones are nice and I believe sulfate free. The etsy shop is called ScenterSquare.

She also has solid conditioner bars that are nice. Warning though, she scents stuff really strong.

Yes, exactly... syndet bars. I should have used the term in my title and opening. I just really wanted everyone to understand that I'm not referring to soap-based bars. Syndet says it perfectly.

I must look for a kit similar to what you're talking about. That would be wonderful. In the meantime, I favorited ScenterSquare.

[Neoma]

I think they can definitely coexist! I just thought to link it for utility.

Ylva, I agree! Thank you.

Especially since a lot of the bars on the list are European and out of reach from my grubby little hands! I would dearly love to find some U.S. syndet bars that are naturally fragranced.

[leafygreens18]

I tried LUSH's original attempts at solid conditioners years ago, and hated them. I understand that they have a new line of "pressed conditioners," but I haven't tried them, yet.

I tried Lush's solid conditioner BIG maybe four years ago? Yuck! Plus I follow a certain Lush YouTuber and she says it's her number one worst Lush product of all time. But I was JUST looking at these pressed conditioners the other day and thinking I needed to ask the people here if they'd used them! I'm excited to see a Lush hair product with no SLS. I probably won't try them because I really dislike that they greenwash so much, and their instore tactics of bothering you and trying to aggressively recommend things - "sorry guys! I'm hair obsessed so I know that for some reason the conditioner you're recommending me is full of SLS and sea salt for no reason! Doesn't sound great for my curly hair." But I love to fantasy window shop. If I was going to buy something from Lush it would probably be to try the American Cream conditioner bar.
I do agree with and appreciate a lot of their political stances and campaigns though.

[Neoma]

I tried Lush's solid conditioner BIG maybe four years ago? Yuck! Plus I follow a certain Lush YouTuber and she says it's her number one worst Lush product of all time. But I was JUST looking at these pressed conditioners the other day and thinking I needed to ask the people here if they'd used them! I'm excited to see a Lush hair product with no SLS. I probably won't try them because I really dislike that they greenwash so much, and their instore tactics of bothering you and trying to aggressively recommend things - "sorry guys! I'm hair obsessed so I know that for some reason the conditioner you're recommending me is full of SLS and sea salt for no reason! Doesn't sound great for my curly hair." But I love to fantasy window shop. If I was going to buy something from Lush it would probably be to try the American Cream conditioner bar.
I do agree with and appreciate a lot of their political stances and campaigns though.

Yeah, I had to stifle laughs several times when I talked to their salespeople about their henna bars. I used henna for decades. There's literally nothing that they could tell me that I didn't know. Or, even worse, that wasn't blatantly wrong!

Having said that, I may purchase their American Cream pressed conditioner. I sniffed it at the store, and it doesn't smell quite as good as the liquid version. But the good news is that it is lanolin-free.

On another note, I was really ticked off when I discovered that they discontinued their Karma Komba shampoo bar. It was one of their best-selling products and it smells just like Karma, which is one of my all-time favorite fragrances.