Ethique Shampoo Bar

Ethique makes concentrated shampoo bars that replace 3 bottles of liquid shampoo per bar. Solid, it ships without water, without plastic, in a compostable cardboard box that weighs about 4 ounces. The bar costs $16 and lasts about 2 months, and the math works out to roughly the same price per wash as a mid-range bottled shampoo from the drugstore. Ethique was founded in New Zealand in 2012 and the brand positions itself entirely around eliminating plastic from the bathroom. Commitment shows in details like the soy-based ink on the packaging and the plant-based binding agents in the formula. The bar lathers better than I expected and the scent is clean without being perfumy. I keep it on a wooden soap dish that drains into the shower floor so the bar dries between uses. Putting a premium ingredient in bar form forces you to rethink the assumption that shampoo has to be liquid, because that assumption exists entirely because of packaging conventions rather than chemistry.