Last updated on January 12, 2025.
I have struggled to find a good, plastic-free conditioner for my hair. But I think I’ve discovered one, by a company called Ethique.
Ethique, a New Zealand company, sells plastic-free shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, lotion, body wash, soap, etc. The company also uses non-toxic and sustainably sourced ingredients. Even more exciting is that their products are rated in the low to moderate range of the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.1 Further, the company uses compostable packaging, cruelty-free and vegan ingredients, no palm oil, and is a Certified B Corporation!
Over the last few months, I’ve tried several of their products and now I’m reviewing them!
Conditioner Bar
When I searched Ethique’s site for a conditioner bar, I noticed they also sell conditioner concentrates. The concentrates are bars dissolvable in water to make a liquid conditioner. I bought both a conditioner bar and a conditioner concentrate to try out.
The bar I bought was The Guardian, which is for dry hair. The bar was fine overall, but I have long, thick hair and always have trouble getting thorough conditioning with any conditioner bar I’ve ever tried. Next, I tried the conditioner concentrate.
Â
UPDATE, July 8, 2024: Since writing this article in May 2024, Ethique discontinued its concentrated products, which is super disappointing. I emailed the company to confirm, and they were quick to respond and very nice:
“Unfortunately, we had to make the tough decision to discontinue our concentrates. When certain products don’t sell enough, we’re unable to continue making them in a sustainable cost-effective way. In saying this, like you, we love the concentrate format and offering alternative plastic-free options, so the Product Team are working hard to improve the formula so you may see concentrates again in the future!”
In any case, I’ll have to either use their conditioner bars or switch to another type of conditioner. What are you using?
Turning The Bar Into Liquid Conditioner
Though the instructions didn’t quite work as well as they should, I figured it out. The instructions were to break up the bars into triangles from the forms, pour boiling water over the pieces, and stir them until they dissolved. However, I had to heat the mixture on the stove to melt it completely. Then I had a lovely, creamy conditioner! The second time I made it, I put the triangles from the bars into the boiling water and immediately removed the pan from the stove. This worked better than my first try.
It did make slightly less than the package indicated, but I think that might have been my fault, as I likely lost some of the water to evaporation when I put it on the stove.
Overall, the conditioner is thick and creamy and I enjoy using it in my hair. Though I still have to use a detangler. The one downfall is that because it is thick, it is difficult to transfer to a pump bottle. And it doesn’t pump well either. I could use a pump attachment with a ball jar, but I don’t feel safe keeping a glass jar in the shower. I have to keep it in a container we open and close each shower. Not everyone in my household is happy with this.
The Shampoo Concentrate
I placed another order and purchased the shampoo concentrate and the lotion concentrate (see the next section). Two bars are supposed to make about 12 ounces of liquid shampoo.
I followed the instructions but instead of using a bowl, I boiled the water in a pan on the stove, turned off the eye, and then put the triangles into the water. This worked well, but I again must have lost some of the shampoo to evaporation as I ended up with about 10 ounces instead of 12. I used a funnel (plastic, because it’s a holdover from years ago) to put the shampoo into a reused pump bottle. It made a great liquid shampoo.
The Lotion Concentrate
Last, I made the lotion concentrate – but I forgot to take photos while I dissolved it! It takes a little while to thicken. So here’s what it looks like in a reused container:
I like the lotion so far, though it is not super scented, which is probably a good thing. It absorbs into the skin very well.
Overall Satisfaction
Though I will return to using my favorite shampoo bar – because it is far easier to buy and use – overall, I am pleased with Ethique’s products. I will continue using the conditioner and lotion concentrates because I love that they are plastic-free. It does take a few minutes to turn the concentrates to liquid, but I find the effort worth it. I hope this review helps and encourages you to try any plastic-free products! Thanks for reading, please share and subscribe!
This is an honest review. This article does not contain affiliate links nor was I paid to promote the products in this post.
Footnote:
Hi, I am also another very sad Ethique customer of several years…mostly was a customer for the concentrates. I am still searching for a lotion bar, and here’s why. You and your readers may be interested in my conditioner method. I use The Earthling Co shamp/cond bars, and love them. My only issue with ALL conditioner bars is getting the conditioner on my hair, so I made a solution as a user of Ethique Lotion Concentrates (no longer, I’m still upset). I take a serrated vicky knife (they’re like $4, very common in the commercial fishing world lol) but any serrated knife will do, I chop those conditioner bars up and add boiling water just like the Ethique concentrates, and it makes a slime that is basically a conditioner consistency. I take 1 conditioner bar, and fill 12-16oz boiling water in a mason jar, stir or blend until it’s a slime. It works like a dream. Then, when I couldn’t find a good plastic alternative shower safe jar with a lid (don’t like water getting in my conditioner slime), I just got The Mason Jar Life company or whatever it’s name is, silicone sleeves for the mason jar so if i drop it in the shower i’m not stepping on glass. That’s my solution for all conditioner bars now! I hope this helps someone. Still looking for a lotion bar I can do the same with for my daily lotion, since I dont like scraping it onto my skin from the bar. Cheers!
Wow – what great ideas! I was not aware of the silicone sleeves for mason jars, so I’ve just ordered one. Thank you for sharing your methods and helpful tips!
While this may come too late – considering Ethique has discontinued their concentrate bars – I’m going to share my method of prepping the solutions just in case they ever rerelease this product line.
Instead of using boiling water and trying to mix in some small jar – an absolute nightmare to get to work – I instead used a sharp knife to chop the bars into smaller pieces than just breaking them up, placed them in a small sauce pan (something with tall enough sides that I didn’t have to worry about splashage), poured in the required amount of (very hot, but not boiling water) – I even used a little extra water – and then used my immersion blender to bring it all together. The results were…amazing. Not only did the immersion blender immediately pulverize and mix everything together wicked fast, but it also really whipped the gels to a lovely consistency.
Once thoroughly mixed/blended, I let the mixture cool a bit. When cool enough, I used a rubber spatula and funnel to transfer to my reusable plastic pump bottles.
Once I started using this method, the process became insanely easy and fun enough that my kids actually enjoyed doing it, too.
Sadly, now we have to find a different product. 😢
I love the use of the immersion blender!
Maybe Ethique will bring these back. Thank you for your comment!
Do they still carry the concentrate? I can’t find it anymore!
Hi, I just found out that Ethique has discontinued its concentrate products. I will update the article. Thank you for letting me know!