6 Best Vegan Shampoo Bars For A Cruelty-Free Wash
From saying no to chemicals and animal testing and always sourcing natural and organic ingredients to opting for no packaging at all, these vegan shampoo bars will feed your hair with the best botanicals for a cruelty-free wash.
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The clean beauty industry is changing rapidly as more of us demand products that are not only natural and/or organic but also help to eliminate all those pesky plastic bottles (Blue Beauty). Today we have so much to choose from. There are vegan shampoo bars for curly hair, dry hair damaged hair, you name it!
The concept of harming an aminal in the name of vanity is a pretty hard pill for me to swallow. There is absolutely no need to test any beauty product on any animal in my humble opinion. And if there is an ingredient that needs to be tested, it probably doesn't need to be in anything I am putting on or near my skin.
Today, beauty products can contain an array of animal-derived by-products and ingredients that can include crushed insects and bugs (Carminic acid, carmine, carmine lake, E120, natural red 4), animal urine (urea, carbamide), skin, bones, tendons, and ligaments (Gelatin or collagen) and crushed bones, feathers and even hooves (Keratin, hydrolyzed animal protein, hydrolyzed protein). Nothing pretty about this!
6 Best Vegan Shampoo Bars we recommend
It's great to see so many brands giving us quality vegan ingredients where that CAN claim "no animal was harmed in the making". I'll talk more about how to choose vegan bands later on in the article.
1. Upfront Cosmetics
Don't you just love the name? Upfront is well... upfront about their ingredients and when choosing shampoo bars that's key!
I've used the refreshing shampoo bar. Start your day with uplifting and fresh scents. The rosemary, lemon, and lavender make the perfect combination. This vegan shampoo bar for normal hair is packed with goodies like B5 to help with moisture and oats to help make the hair more manageable. These bars work just like soap, but you lather in your hair and skip the plastic altogether.
Worried about PH, don't. These bars are the bomb! Each one is formulated with PH in mind. They are free from nasties like mineral oil, petroleum, and formaldehyde and of course, are 100% vegan and cruelty-free (Leaping Bunny certified).
This Canadian company manufactures everything by hand in their facility in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. They know where every ingredient comes from and each bar is loaded with 65 grams of nutrient goodness.
2. Buck Naked
Send your hair to heaven with their range of vegan and cruelty-free shampoo bars. Their Mermaid Vegan Shampoo bar will have you dreaming of the ocean in no time. It's brimming with ingredients like Dead Sea Salt which helps to rebalance the scalp. Coconut oil and hemp seed oil give a much-needed boost of hydration in summer and winter.
Buck Naked's soap bars and skincare products are all handcrafted, chemical-free, natural, and vegan. This Canadian Company hails from Cambridge, Ontario, works hard to make sure each ingredient is ethically sourced, and says "if you can't (or shouldn’t) eat it, we won't use it." Ues THEECOHUB10 at checkout.
3. BKIND
The BKIND vegan shampoo bar for all hair will make a great addition to your hair care routine. Made with Ginkgo Biloba which promotes hair growth, plus chia seeds that will give you stronger tresses, and topped off with oats for a little damage control.
BKIND's bars are made thoughtfully in Montreal, Canada, and if free from SLS and silicone. It's both good for you and for your hair.
You can also shop for natural and organic face moisturizers and if you live in Quebec, they even have refill options too. Some of their products do come in plastic packaging but it's made from "recycled plastic collected from locations that lack solid waste management programs." I have reached out to ask about their sourcing and will update you. Use code THEECOHUB for 15% off. 💚
4. Jack59
I know and love this brand well. I have used at least 3 of their vegan shampoo bars. They have a HUGE range of cruelty-free options to choose from. Dry hair, oily hair, frizzy hair (me right now), colored hair, fine hair, etc, there is a bar for you!
I use the Serenity bar, it's formulated for fine hair and sensitive skin. It smells so good thanks to the grapefruit, patchouli, blood orange, and Bergamot. This bar leaves my hair soft and manageable and not weighed down, which is good if you have fine hair.
All of their vegan shampoo and conditioner bars are packed with natural ingredients that are all meant to help your hair. They are sulfate-free, silicone-free, and even have the gluten-free option if that's what you need.
Jack59 is a Canadian brand that takes PH balance seriously. The founder is a chemist and wanted to make sure all her bars work well with your hair's PH and they do. Each Jack bar also eliminates up to 3 plastic shampoo bottles and up to 5 plastic conditioner bottles. You've gotta love that!
All the ingredients are natural and ethically sourced and made in Edmonton, Canada. If you want to save even more take a look at their bigger bars, which allow you to shop less which will reduce your carbon footprint.
5. EcoRoots
Why do I love EcotRoots so much, well, they are 100% vegan, sulfate-free and naked... no plastic bottles to deal with here! Their Morrocona oil zero waste shampoo bar has over 1700 reviews all of them touting its amazingness! It's hand-made with coconut oil and butter and will leave our hair feeling soft and nourished.
If you like a more citrus smell, then give the blood orange a go!
EcoRoots is based in Colorado and is committed to sustainability from how they source all their ingredients and the type of ingredients they use too. They ship 100% plastic-free and offer a wide range of zero waste skincare, zero waste toothpaste, and even reusable organic cotton rounds. They are by far one of my top zero waste online stores. They are also a 1% for the planet member and donate to environmental organizations they love.
6. Odacite
You could call Odacite the OG of green skincare. They are very well known and for good reason. Their 552M Vegan Soap Free Shampoo Bar features skincare-worthy ingredients like argan oil, cupuaçu butter, and coconut oil all working tother in harmony to give you luscious locks the love it deserves. Your hair will feel restored and manageable!
The name pays homage to the 552 million shampoo bottles that end up in landfills every year. If you have not used products from Odacite, I highly recommend you give them a try. They are all vegan, made with certified organic ingredients, and are free of fillers like Parabens, Petrochemicals, Phenoxyethanol, dyes, and perfume. No GMOs and Made in the USA.
Why consider switching to Vegan Shampoo Bars?
As mentioned at the top of this post, skincare companies sometimes use ingredients that are either tested on animals or come from animals. It's an important distinction to make.
Products that are "100% vegan", "vegan-friendly" or "vegan" contain neither. Sometimes companies can have one item in their range that is vegan but that might not be the case for their whole brand. So best to read the labels closely and ask if you are not sure.
Some vegan beauty products may contain ingredients that have been tested on animals, meaning they are not cruelty-free but they still might be vegan, it's confusing I know.
A company might have a range of items that are both vegan and cruelty-free, but other products they sell may still be tested on animals. It's up to you whether you want to support them based on that.
The animal ingredients can come from both dead (animal by-products from the meat and dairy industry) or live animals (the animal is killed for the ingredient). Red lipstick is dyed from crushed beetle shells.
Like everything we talk about here on the eco hub, look for third-party certification.
Vegan Action, Vegan Society, PETA, and The Vegetarian Society.
Leaping Bunny, Cruelty-Free International, and Choose Cruelty-Free only certify brands that don’t test on animals but they don’t have to be vegan.
A final word when choosing vegan shampoo bars
If it's your first time popping into The Eco Hub, I am so glad you are here. I have strict ethical criteria for all the brands I feature and am always looking for companies that are sustainable in every facet of their business including:
- Corporate Responsibility
- Ethical sourcing
- natural or organic ingredients
- Environmentally-conscious packaging (plastic alternatives)
- Corporate responsibility
- Inclusivity
- no animal testing or derivatives
- NO greenwashing
Keep in mind there is a lot of clean beauty that is vegan, not all vegan beauty products are clean. It's best to ask the brand directly if you are not sure. We are seeing a shift as consumers become more conscious and I am thrilled to be part of the ride. How about you?
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