Last year I was lucky enough to receive a sample pack of Ethique soap bars from a friend I met through Beauty Review. With all the talk about these bars over the last year it sparked my interest in these bars. Although I had heard mixed reviews about these bars this did not deter me from giving these shampoo bars a try. I think having a shampoo bar is innovative and definitely something I had never seen in stores before.
My sample pack came to me in a cute little box that unfolded out nicely. Each bar I had was individually wrapped safely. This bar I had was shaped like a small heart. Very cute. The texture of this bar had a smooth finish with bits of oats or coconut. I'm not quite sure exactly but could feel a slight texture running through it. This scent reminds me of fresh kiwifruit with a pungent twist tangy limes.
At the time that I tried this product my hair was very dry from over straightening and dying my hair. I like to wet my hair beforehand and I gently lathered my hair . I was surprised that such a small bar could lather up a lot without falling apart. I managed to get about six washes out of one bar.
After using this bar my hair felt slightly soft, but felt it definitely needed a conditioner bar afterwards to soften my hair. My hair did feel clean after use. My scalp did loose its dryness I'm not completely sure if it was because of this bar or because I was doing coconut oil hair treatments in between use. I did enjoy trying this shampoo bar it was a nice change from using my normal store brought shampoos. I would happily buy this in full sized.
This was the first shampoo bar from Ethique that I ordered I had an itchy, flakey scalp and this was supposed to help reduce that. This bar claimed to calm irritated scalps, prevent flakiness and kill the microbes that cause the problems. Now I had used anti dandruff shampoos before that helped somewhat but my scalp was always flakey the next day and I didn't want to wash my hair every day. I used this and I actually saw a decrease in flakiness and the itching went away. On top of that I find that when I use Ethique shampoo bars my hair stays clean for longer and I don't need to wash my hair as often. The bar is a cream color with little bits of oat in it. I did have a slight concern that the little bits of oat would stick in my hair but I haven't really had a problem. The scent to me smells like yogurt/kiwi citrus, sort of sour. Not a scent that's my fave I but I don't mind at all because the scent doesn't linger once I rinse it out and the results I get from using this shampoo outweigh the fact that the scent isn't my fave. This bar has good natural ingredients like cocoa butter, coconut, neem, karanja and kiwifruit oil, and ground oats and calendula and coconut milk powder. However this shampoo bar isn't completely natural but it is free of ingredients that irritate your scalp and skin or would completely strip your hair of moisture. It lathers really well despite having no sodium laureth sulfate in it. To say that is my go to shampoo for whenever my hair needs washing and is itchy for me says a lot as I love natural beauty products, so to say that a product that isn't natural is my fave go to for when my hair just needs a wash says a lot. Ethique bars aren't specifically tailored for colored hair and the first few times I wash my hair after dyeing it with L'oreal's casting creme gloss, I do notice some of the color comes out when I wash it but after those few times it doesn't seem to come out in fact I still seem to have hints of tints still in my hair after many repeated hair washes using Ethique's shampoo bars. I find these shampoo bars not as long as the conditioner bar but still I only have to repurchase these like once a year I'm currently going through my third bar. I love the Heali Kiwi and as long as I can get ahold of a bar I will own one. I have gifted samples of this bar to friends and family and every one has really liked it so far.
Tips: There are two ways to use this you can swipe the bar over wet hair and then lather your hair or you can suds it up in your hands and transfer that to your scalp. I'd recommend the second one if you have just a sample of this shampoo as that way you don't have to worry about the bar slipping out of your hands or if you have a lot of hair getting lost in your hair. This product is very concentrated so a little goes a long way and the bar will last you ages. If you are not sure if this product is for you You can request a free sample of this in any online Ethique order.