The best shampoo bars for all hair types, according to experts

Table Of Content

• ‘The bane of retail.’ To prevent theft, many big chains now lock up all kinds of merchandise
• Best overall shampoo bar: Lush Honey I Washed My Hair Shampoo Bar
• selectHow to find the best shampoo to help repair damaged hair
• Davines Shampoo Bar Holder
• How we picked the best shampoo bars
• More From the Los Angeles Times

If you’re new to solid shampoo and looking to try it out, we spoke to experts about the benefits of a shampoo bar and how to shop for the best one for your hair. We also compiled a few expert-recommended options to consider, as well as NBC Select staff favorites. Eventually, items such as Plan B and razors got added and then, a couple years ago, he noticed more people swiping Tide Pods. The report’s author, Magnus Lofstrom, said that rates of reported shoplifting dropped in much of the state, including L.A. But the region saw a steady rise in the summer of 2021, he said, and by late 2022, the most recent data at the time of his report, the rate was at least 10% above the pre-pandemic level.

‘The bane of retail.’ To prevent theft, many big chains now lock up all kinds of merchandise

A shopper looking to grab a box of condoms or a $1.99 set of crayons, ointment to remove calluses or a container of instant coffee, now often has no choice but to hit a button to summon a store employee with a key and wait. Adding to the murkiness, the issue has become more politicized in recent years as some voters and elected officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other city centers clamor for a response to what they see as a worsening problem. There are a few advantages of using a shampoo bar instead of a packaged bottled shampoo. "What I've noticed from just talking to customers, is a lot of people are having a hard time right now in this economy. So they're kind of cutting costs."

Best overall shampoo bar: Lush Honey I Washed My Hair Shampoo Bar

New store opens in Eau Claire that fills need for specific hair care products - WEAU

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It also comes with its own bag for any broken pieces (continued use will eventually cause it to break), so you don’t waste any product, according to the brand. This bar is also highly rated, with a 4.8-star average rating from over 270 reviews at Superzero. “At first, I didn’t love the smell right out of the box, but once you lather the bar up, it’s much more subtle and clean,” says NBC Select editor Cory Fernandez. “The bar soap is easy to lather up in your hands, and I like that you can also use it as a body wash.” Formulated specifically for those with a sensitive scalp, hair and skin, this bar is free of common irritants like fragrances and sulfates, according to the brand. Although it has no added fragrance, the ingredients themselves do give it a slight odor, according to Fernandez. Among beauty rituals shared by Black women worldwide, “wash day” may be among the most common.

selectHow to find the best shampoo to help repair damaged hair

Much like your hair type and texture, you’ll also want to factor in your current scalp condition — dry, oily, sensitive and more, says Jordan. Many shampoo bars will clearly label what scalp type they’re most suitable for and how they can improve your scalp health, according to our experts.. Bars with lightweight ingredients including jojoba oil will be better for people with fine hair or straight textures. Bars that have curl defining ingredients (such as shea butter, coconut or argan oils, glycerin and aloe vera) and hydrating ingredients will be better for people with curly or coily textures, according to Jordan. If you have oily hair, consider this triangular-shaped bar, which uses ingredients like charcoal to detoxify the scalp, reduce excess oil, strengthen hair and maintain scalp health, according to Superzero.

Davines Shampoo Bar Holder

Representatives for several of the region’s largest retailers — Target, Vons, Rite Aid and CVS — either didn’t respond to requests to discuss internal deliberations on stemming theft or sent brief statements about their anti-theft measures. Aside from sulfates, you’ll also want to avoid bars with drying alcohols, such as ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol), isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) and denatured alcohol (SD alcohol), because they’ll remove moisture from your hair. In recent months, several companies, including the 99 Cents Only chain and Target, have cited theft or shrink as a reason that factored into their decisions to shutter locations. The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan research organization, tracked shoplifting trends in 24 cities from 2019 to the middle of 2023 and found that rates were down in more than two-thirds of the cities. But that magnitude — which retail industry groups say has reached “unprecedented” and “epidemic” levels, despite data showing such characterizations are overblown — varies by city.

How we picked the best shampoo bars

This shampoo is also available in a bundle with a hydrating shea butter conditioner bar. We rounded up expert-recommended shampoo bars, NBC Select staff favorites and highly rated bars that align with our experts’ guidance. All of our options are formulated for a range of hair textures and types to best suit your personal needs. If you have a collection of shampoo bottles lining your shower walls, or are simply looking for a more sustainable alternative, you might want to consider a shampoo bar. Instead of the liquid consistency you might be used to, shampoo bars are solid, concentrated shampoos made with natural ingredients and essential oils, says Brooke Jordan, hairstylist and co-founder of The Birdhouse, a salon in New York City. Because shampoo bars are often made with different ingredients than liquid shampoo, it may take your hair and scalp a bit of time to adjust to the change, especially if the bar shampoo has fewer synthetic ingredients than what you were previously using, says Jordan.

The best shampoo bars for all hair types, according to experts

Anti-theft measures like these erode customers’ spirits and our social fabric, even though it’s unclear whether shoplifting has become the national crisis some claim. Applying a solid shampoo isn’t much different from using a regular shampoo, according to our experts. First, ensure your hair is very wet before applying the product, and you’ll need to wet the bar as well.

Lush Honey I Washed My Hair Shampoo Bar

You’ll want to consider shampoo bars that have natural oils, including coconut and argan oil, and other moisturizing ingredients like glycerin and aloe vera, says Jordan. Also, look for options that use gentle surfactants rather than sulfates to cleanse the hair to TK. Some gentle options include apple cider vinegar and sodium cocoyl isethionate, according to experts in our guide to clarifying shampoos. A Times analysis from 2022 found that stores in higher-income areas locked up fewer items even in places where property crime rates were higher, creating an additional burden for shoppers in certain neighborhoods. And inconsistencies in how locked merchandise is released to customers — sometimes workers hand you items to put in your cart, other times they escort merchandise to the register — raise the same questions of racial profiling that have long plagued retail establishments. “First and foremost, I love the shape of this shampoo bar because it fits great in my hand and doesn’t slip,” says NBC Select updates editor Mili Godio.

The scale of merchandise theft, Kubrin added, is sometimes overblown by a retail industry happy to pin its problems, which include market forces such as inflation and a shift to online shopping, on stolen merchandise. More than 40 retailers are testing the Freedom Case in stores, Budano said, including a national chain he declined to name. While the companies work publicly to change California law, they are taciturn about discussing their efforts to stop shoplifters, making it hard to quantify how much more merchandise is now locked up and which stores have embraced the strategy. Using a tactic once reserved for a few pricey, high-demand items — cold medication, electronics, baby formula and razors to name a few — big chains now routinely lock up almost every type of merchandise.

At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also take steps to ensure all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest. "If you have questions, you're just getting started, you know, it's a place where people feel comfortable to ask us pretty much anything from photography," Woodson said. Breaking barriers and stereotypes, Woodson aimed to create a space where everyone felt welcome and inspired to explore photography.

A day dedicated to caring for the curls, coils, locs and other styles many of us wear as our natural and chosen crowns, wash day is both an organic form of self-care and a treasured practice shared across generations. Charis Kubrin, a professor of criminology at UC Irvine who studies retail theft, said that although some stores lock up lots of merchandise, others cage almost nothing. If you live in a building with hard water, meaning it has high levels of calcium and magnesium, you might not get the same lathering effect from your shampoo bar and you could have a harder time distributing it evenly in your hair, says Jordan.