Best Conditioner Bars For Curly Hair UK

Shampoo and conditioner bars have seen a sharp rise in popularity over recent years, thanks to the growing number of people now looking to live in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Unlike bottled haircare products, shampoo and conditioner bars eliminate the need for plastic packaging and many, like Friendly Soap’s haircare range, use no harmful preservatives or parabens.

We understand that those of us with naturally curly hair might be a bit more reluctant to make the switch. Considering how difficult it can be for people with curly hair to find non-specialist haircare products that work for them, it’s easy to assume that natural shampoo and conditioner bars wouldn’t cut the mustard – however, this isn’t always the case.

Thanks to their all-natural ingredients, which preserve your hair’s natural oils and maintain its great condition, Friendly Soap’s shampoo and conditioner bars could do wonders for your curly hair!

Are conditioner bars good for curly hair? 

Conditioning your is an essential step within any good curly hair care routine, as this will keep it from tangling and will leave your hair feeling and looking soft and shiny. 

One of the reasons that conditioner bars can be particularly beneficial for your hair is that they make it easier to evenly distribute the product throughout your hair. This is because you hold the bar and swipe it over your hair from top to bottom, allowing for much more consistent distribution than you can achieve with liquid conditioners.

Things to avoid with curly hair 

If you have curly hair, certain shampoo and conditioner ingredients are always best avoided, such as:

• Sulfates – sulfates can strip away moisture, leaving your hair dry and potentially prone to damage
• Parabens – parabens contribute to a number of common hair problems, including dry hair, irritated scalp and fading colour
• Silicone – a common ingredient in liquid shampoo and conditioner, silicone can build up in your hair over time and leave it appearing dull and dry
• Alcohols – alcohol is a drying agent and can trigger allergic reactions or itchy rashes on the scalp
• Salicylic acid – designed to remove dead skin cells from the top layer of the scalp, this ingredient can be very irritating to those with sensitive skin

Co-washing and curly hair 

If you have coily, mid-textured, curly or very dry hair, your haircare routine could benefit from co-washing. This is a haircare technique which uses no shampoo, with only conditioner used to cleanse the hair.

This is ideal for curly hair types as some kinds of shampoo, depending on the ingredients, can be very drying and may strip your hair of its natural oils. Shampoo is also more likely to build up within your hair, leading to dull, looser curls. By exclusively washing with conditioner, you can cleanse your hair whilst lowering excess product build up and preventing your hair from drying out. 

Lavender & Tea Tree Conditioner Bar 

One Lavender & Tea Tree Conditioner Bar is one of our most recommended for those with curly hair. Made with a blend of cocoa butter and castor oil, this bar provides natural frizz control without the need for the chemical ingredients often found in conventional anti-frizz hair products. 

The addition of anti-fungal tea tree and soothing lavender oil means that this conditioner bar smells wonderful and will keep your curly hair in great condition. 

Lavender & Geranium Conditioner Bar 

Another great product for use on curly hair is the Lavender & Geranium Conditioner Bar. This all-natural product has a fresh and soothing scent and feels great on all hair types. 

Lavender and geranium are two ingredients that can be particularly beneficial to curly hair types. Lavender is an anti-microbial, helps to promote hair growth and its anti-inflammatory properties mean it is ideal for even the most sensitive scalps. Meanwhile, geranium is very effective in regulating sebum production, with an imbalance of sebum being a common cause of curls appearing loose, flat, or dull.