The Top Line:

Eh. May not a buy. byHumankind shampoo bars are the zero-waste answer to plastic shampoo bottles. They smell great and lather really, really well despite not having any harmful SLS chemicals. For those who like squeaky clean hair or those whose hair does not knot (yay super short hair), then this bar of shampoo should work well for you. We don’t love that you have to use a vinegar rinse. For us, search for a hydrating, zero-waste shampoo bar goes on.

Read Our Big Zero Waste Shampoo and Conditioner Roundup.

The Breakdown:

• Cost & Products: $15 for one bar

• How ‘Clean’ Is This? As clean as it gets, from packaging to the product. Al- natural ingredients and a few of them organic to boot.

• Packaging: Just like the mouthwash - so light! The bar comes in a recycled paper case, which can also be recycled or composted at home.

• Purchasing & Shipping: Clean design, but some internal links can be buggy. Shopping and shipping were pretty straightforward and very fast for us.

• Good to Know: Zero-waste is one of the central goals of byHumankind. The company tries to use limited and natural ingredients, with a heavy emphasis on plastic reduction via packaging.

  Some people recommend vinegar rinses after with washing hair with bar shampoos.

• Coupons: None that we know of, and subscriptions does not help you save on items but shipping is always free.

• What’s Your Impact? The US consumes over 550 million bottles of shampoo per year. Just shampoo! But based on our own experience and scouring the internet forums, we think the number is higher than just 2 bottles of shampoo per year.

  One bar of shampoo is equivalent to two to three plastic shampoo bottles.

The Efficacy:

Context: We wash every other day (or longer, if we can get away with it). Shampoos on the shelf are natural/SLS-free. Medium length hair that is straight-ish that is conditioned with every wash; currently still using a liquid conditioner to isolate the effects of bar shampoos.

• The rosemary shampoo smells great and is one of the largest we have come across.

• Lathering happens surprisingly easily directly to scalp.

• The rinse is almost too squeaky clean for us and made our hair a bit knotty (unusual) before the conditioner use. Post conditioner, hair was fine.

• Note: you have to use a vinegar rinse with this shampoo bar

The Cost:

Context: We assume you use between 2 to 3 shampoo bottles per year and that each ounce of bar shampoo was created equal. YMMV.

• byHumankind Bar 4oz
  $15 | Yearly Cost: $15

• Lush Shampoo Bar 1.9oz
  $10.95 | Yearly cost: $23

• Chagrin Valley Bar 5.8oz
  $8.95 | Yearly cost: $6

• TRESemmé Moisture Rich bottle
  $3.99 | Yearly cost: $8 to $12

• Pantene Pro-V Daily Moisture bottle
  $6.49 | Yearly cost: $13 to $19

• everyone Shampoo bottle
  $10 | Yearly cost: $20 to $30

Money Thoughts: byHumankind falls somewhere in the middle when it comes to price, both compared to other bar shampoos as well as typical drugstore shampoo brands.

The Good:

✔ Limited, all-natural ingredients

✔ Super light and limited packaging - a big reduction in plastic when it comes to products we use very regularly (we go through more than three bottles per year)

✔ Lightweight means less energy is used in shipping the product from manufacturing facility to your home

✔ Smells lovely and refreshing

✔ Lathers very well

✔ Price is very comparable

The Bad:

✗ Leaves our hair a little too squeaky clean and almost knotty after wash (though, was fine after vinegar + liquid conditioner rinse)

Our Recommendation:

Should you buy byHumankind shampoo bar? Maybe. If your hair is not prone to knotting or you like the squeaky clean feeling of shampoos (without the chemicals!), then this shampoo bar is for you. It is not our favorite for long hair, so we will be on the hunt for a more moisturizing shampoo or vinegar rinse combo.

We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!