What Is a Shampoo Bar? Pros On Why You May Want to Ditch the Bottle

Swapping a shampoo bar in for your favorite shampoo brand is one way to reduce plastic waste in your daily routine. Shampoo bars are often minimally packaged in recyclable cardboard or reusable containers, which cuts down on packaging waste, and they're more concentrated than their bottled counterparts. "Due to much lower water content, bar shampoos weigh less than their conventional counterparts," says Birnur Aral, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Beauty, Health, and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, adding that this can make shipping the bars more energy-efficient: "On a product basis, less energy is required to ship bar shampoos compared to liquid shampoos due to their smaller weight."

But can shampoo bars deliver the same performance as your favorite bottled shampoo? The chemists in the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty Lab regularly test shampoos, from thickening shampoos to shampoo for colored hair, hydrating shampoo for dry hair, shampoo formulated for oily hair and beyond. When we test shampoo bars, we evaluate lather, cleaning ability, how soft they leave hair and how long they last. All said, we found the best shampoo bars for all hair types, from curly to oily and everything in between. Our list of recommended products consists of GH Beauty Award winners of our award programs, expert-tested picks and editor favorites.

Our top picks:

Here, read all about the ins and outs of the best shampoo bars you can buy, plus how to use and store one for maximum efficacy.