That Time I Switched to Bar Shampoo...

Yes, I already talked about this in one of my Plastic Free July posts, but I did intentionally go down the rabbit hole on this and wanted to share more. 

This switch is something everyone should do, whether it's to save money, reduce plastic, and/or to have healthier hair. Also, never worry about needing tiny bottles of shampoo and conditioner to travel with!...

First I want to give my advice! 

• Do not follow with conditioner. You will not need it. After shampooing and rinsing, my hair did feel weird, but (without conditioning) after it dries, it's silky and smooth. 
• It will not suds when rubbed in your hands... but it WILL suds A LOT if you rub it on your hair. Husband rubs 3ish times. I hold my hair in a ponytail, rub the bar back and forth over the top of my head and then also under my ponytail. 

After shampooing these did feel like they left a residue, but once dried to be silky and soft. Yes, that's without using conditioner. I know that sounds scary, but just try it. You will probably like it. And like I already said, this is great for traveling. It's fairly small and isn't a liquid (re: air travel). I can just wrap it up in wax paper, throw it in my suitcase, and it's good to go for any trip! 

For reference, I have long thick hair and Husband has short thin hair. So I can't advise about using it on short thick hair or long thin hair. Maybe just try one :)

JR Liggett's Tea Tree & Hemp Oil

As I stated in my other post, I dug through a lot of options on Amazon to find a shampoo bar that had the best reviews fewest bad reviews, and that didn't cost a lot. I picked out two and ordered them: 

JR Liggett's Bar Shampoo: Tea Tree & Hemp Oil, $7 - $2/oz. 

This one was perfect. It has a good scent. It was ~$7 (it fluctuates) which felt a little high, but it's really lasting so it's probably a good price in the end, plus I'm not buying conditioner anymore. 

But then I lost my mind and ordered one of each variety of this brand so I could recommend them appropriately. 

More on the other bars of this brand later...

BRÖÖ Craft Beer Shampoo & Body Bar: Bourbon & Spice, $7.50 - $1.43/oz

I got this one because I thought I might be better for Husband (yes, I'm a sucker for gimmicks), and it was the best price per oz. It had one review that was 5 stars so this was risky. 

We like this one exactly as much as the JR Liggett's bar, and will probably stick with this one permanently going forward since it costs less. It has a good scent that is more "manly" (kind of like Old Spice) but I didn't smell it once I washed it out. 

There are two other formulas that I didn't buy based on price and reviews. I might try them when I use up all the other ones I have: Energizing (more expensive, good reviews) & Hydrating (same price, worse reviews).


The other JR Liggett's Bars: These range $6-$7 depending on the bar.

My biggest complaint is that each was shipped separately in its own package. Even though I ordered them together. I'm putting the blame on Amazon, but wanted to share that that will probably happen if you order one or more. 

I'm also going to check local stores to see if I can avoid buying it online. Yeah, I could have tried this first, but I didn't. #regretsalllifechoices Anyway, you can also just get multi-packs to reduce packaging and cost. 

Anyway, here they all are.
Original Formula: This one's actually my favorite. it not only dried nice, but also felt nice wet. 
Moisturizing Formula: Not recommended unless maybe you have dry hair. It left a bit of a residue.
Jojoba & Peppermint: Loved it equally as much as the Tea Tree one.
Coconut & Argan Oil: Same as the Moisturizing one. I think these will be good for shaving.

I since discovered there is a 6th variety: Herbal Formula. I'm not going to buy it. It's too much. Plus the reason I bought all the other ones was so that I could either recommend ANY JR Liggetts or just that first one. Kind of moot now that I recommended the Broo bar per its value. 

But feel free to try it if it intrigues you and let me know. 


Random bar I bought years ago and didn't use till this year... and couldn't find in my house until mid-July.
Sheaterra: Argan & Ghassool, $10 - $2.5/oz
This one left some oily residue like the Moisturizing and Coconut/Argan JR Liggett's bars. I'd read in reviews that the Argan Oil does this, but then I tried it anyway because the bars I did like also claimed they left a residue. So, as expected I didn't like it and I'll be using it to shave with.

This brand comes in 3 formulas and I only tried the one above. I probably won't try the other two because they're more expensive than the ones I already found that I like. I probably wouldn't have tried it at all if I hadn't already owned it. Guess it depends on if I can get something locally. 


What do you think? Will you try it? You probably should. Just saying.