The Rice Shampoo Bar: a gentle everyday wash

“My hair feels like straw straight after I wash it.” I hear some version of this in the salon most weeks. Often the client is doing everything else right: good conditioner, heat protection, regular trims. The problem starts earlier, in the shampoo, with a wash that cleans the scalp but leaves the lengths feeling stripped.

The Rice Shampoo Bar is my answer to that. It is the bar I reach for when hair needs a proper clean that still feels kind, and it is the one I would suggest to most people trying a shampoo bar for the first time.

What it is and who it is for

It is a 100g solid shampoo bar that lathers in your hands like a liquid shampoo. It comes with a shampoo bar bag to keep it dry between washes.

It suits most hair types for everyday washing:

• normal hair that just needs a reliable, gentle wash
• dry or rough feeling lengths, including hair that is coloured or heat styled
• fine hair, as it rinses clean and leaves no heavy film
• wavy hair, where a softer wash helps the lengths feel less frizzy

If your scalp gets oily very quickly, you may prefer my French Green Clay or Detox bar on some days and the Rice bar on others.

What is inside, and why I chose it

Sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI). This is the main cleanser, and it is the reason this bar is soap free. SCI is a mild cleanser made from plant fatty acids. It gives a creamy lather and lifts oil and dirt without the tight, squeaky feeling that traditional soap can leave.

Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (SLSa). A second mild cleanser that adds a rich, open lather. Despite the similar sounding name, it is not SLS. More on that below.

Cocamidopropyl betaine. A gentle, partly plant derived cleanser that makes the lather softer and the whole wash feel milder. Cleansers work better as a team, and betaine is the one that rounds the others off.

Kaolin. A soft white clay. It helps absorb excess oil at the scalp, so the roots feel fresh, while the rest of the formula looks after the lengths.

Panthenol (provitamin B5). I use a generous amount in this bar. Panthenol helps hair hold on to moisture, so it comes out of the wash feeling softer and easier to comb, and it helps add shine.

Rice starch. Rice starch absorbs excess oil and gives hair a light, clean feel after washing. It is one of the reasons the bar suits fine hair: the roots feel fresh, not coated.

Rice bran oil. A light plant oil that softens the lengths. It is gentle enough not to weigh fine hair down, which matters in a shampoo.

Pumpkin seed oil. A plant oil rich in fatty acids that I added for softness and shine on the mid lengths and ends.

Melissa (lemon balm) essential oil. This gives the bar its fresh, herbal scent. Melissa is one of my favourite oils to work with, and it makes washing your hair a nicer few minutes.

Vitamin E and a preservative. Vitamin E protects the oils in the bar from going off. Because a bar gets wet every time you use it, it also contains a gentle preservative system (gluconolactone and sodium benzoate) to keep it safe from wash to wash.

What makes it different from a bar of soap

People often tell me they tried a shampoo bar years ago and hated it. Usually what they tried was a soap based bar. Soap is made by reacting oils with an alkali, so it is naturally alkaline. On hair, that can leave the cuticle, the outer layer, roughed up, which feels like tangles and dullness. On hard water, soap can also leave a residue.

This bar contains no soap at all. It is built on mild cleansers that behave much more like a good liquid shampoo, just without the water and the plastic bottle. That is why it lathers easily, rinses clean and does not need a vinegar rinse afterwards.

There is a practical side too. A 100g bar replaces a bottle of liquid shampoo, takes up very little room in a wash bag and cannot leak in your suitcase.

How to use it

1. Wet your hair thoroughly with lukewarm water.
2. Rub the bar between your hands to build a lather, or glide it over wet hair two or three times. That is plenty.
3. Massage the lather into your scalp with your fingertips, then let it run through the lengths as you rinse.
4. Rinse well and follow with conditioner on the lengths.
5. Put the bar back in its bag and hang it somewhere it can dry.

My tip from the chair: wash with lukewarm water, not hot. Hot water can encourage colour to fade faster and leaves the lengths feeling drier, whatever your hair type. And if you wear a lot of styling product, wash twice: the first lather lifts the product, the second actually cleans.

What it is free from, and why

This bar contains no SLS or SLES, no soap and no silicones.

I want to be clear about why. SLS and SLES are not dangerous, and plenty of shampoos use them well. I simply prefer milder cleansers for hair that is washed often, coloured or prone to dryness, because they clean without leaving the lengths feeling stripped. As for SLSa, the name looks similar, but it is a different, milder cleanser.

Silicones are not harmful either, but in a shampoo they can build up on the lengths over time, which is the last thing fine or wavy hair needs. Leaving them out means the bar rinses clean every time.

Looking after your bar

Keep the bar out of standing water and let it dry between washes. The bag it comes with helps, and so does the aluminium Shampoo Bar Box if you travel. A bar that dries properly lasts much longer, and you can use it right down to the last small piece by keeping the end in the bag with your next one.

Try it

If your hair feels dry or rough straight after washing, or you want a gentle bar to start with, the Rice Shampoo Bar is where I would begin. Pair it with the Deep Conditioning Conditioner Bar if your lengths are dry or lightened, or with the Chocolate Conditioner Bar for something lighter.

You will find the full ingredients list on the Rice Shampoo Bar product page. If you are not sure which bar suits your hair, message me and I will help you choose.

Eliz, colourist and founder of ECBEAUTYLAB