One thing I’ve become more and more aware of this year is trying to reduce not only the amount of waste I create, but also becoming more particular about the products I buy and use. Consumerism is huge, and I know myself I have been so caught up in wanting to buy more and own more and this is something that I’m really trying to work on reducing. When it comes to beauty, I’m now focusing on using a smaller number of products that really produce results, and I’m trying to ensure the products I buy are supporting small or local brands and/or are trying to be more sustainable and green.
A few months ago, I was offered the chance to try out Good Cube Shampoo and Conditioner bars to try and review. These are natural, sustainable, and affordable, so naturally I jumped at the chance. After reading some of the information on the Good Cube site, I was super impressed to see what this Kiwi brand is doing. Not only are they producing a natural safe product, they are also working to eliminate plastic waste from the environment. This is done both through the reduction of plastic bottles, and through their dedication with work with Sustainable Coastlines; removing 1 litre of plastic trash from the coast with every bar sold.
HOW DOES THE GOOD CUBE SOLID SHAMPOO WORK?
So how does a solid shampoo and conditioner work? These magic little bars are packed full of all of the goodies you need to gently clean, condition, and care for your hair – just add water! Each bar contains the equivalent of 100 washes (short-medium hair), and therefore removes the need for 4 x 350ml plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles. The fact that this is a 2-in-1 product also means that it’s a lot quicker and easier to care for your hair – which is a must-have if you are a busy mum like me!
Now, let’s be honest, solid shampoo isn’t anything new. But what makes Good Cube different, is how they are processed and made. Many other shampoo bars use a heat and pour method which traps air into the bar, and means they melt and dissolve quickly, and therefore most of your bar ends up down the drain! Good Cube is incredibly concentrated and is extruded under high pressure, so there is no air trapped in the bar and this means that, as long as it is stored correctly, your bar will not dissolve!
GOOD CUBE 2-IN-1 CONDITIONING SHAMPOO REVIEW
So now that we know how they work, do they work? For the past while, I have been trying out the Good Cube 2-in-1 Conditioning Shampoo for Dry & Damaged Hair and feel like I have used it enough for a full review. Now I have bleached blonde hair which is pretty dry on the ends, so the Dry & Damaged Bar is definitely the option for me.
I’ll be honest, it takes a wee while to get used to using a bar versus a liquid shampoo. I made sure my hair was throughly wet and ran the bar through my hair six times (as stated on the packaging). I probably needed about another six swipes to get enough product to throughly clean my hair since I have a lot of it! The shorter the hair, you would obviously need to use less, and longer hair than mine would need more product.
This bar doesn’t lather up as much as traditional shampoo as it doesn’t contain sodium lauryl sulphate (or SLS) which is the typical foaming agent many shampoos use to get that rich lather. However what I’ve learnt from years of using natural shampoo is that foam isn’t needed for clean hair! These natural alternative still do the trick to leave your hair clean and healthy.
This is a 2-in-1 product, so I didn’t use conditioner afterwards. In hindsight, potentially I should have as I found my hair did get quite tangled and knotted after using this bar. I’ve found my fine bleached hair gets tangled very very easily on the ends, and without the right products becomes a bit of a matted mess! Usually the only thing that will fix this are certain conditioners or leave in conditioners, and I have to be quite particular about what hair care products I do use. Unfortunately the conditioning ingredients in this bar didn’t seem to be enough to stop it from getting tangled, so I did have to use a leave in conditioning spray afterwards.
I feel like this bar is such a great idea, however I don’t feel it quite worked for my bleached, easily tangled hair. I think if my hair was shorter or not dyed, I would really really love this bar as it’s just so easy to use, but I didn’t feel like it was quite the product for me.
I did however start using this product as a body bar/wash and I have to say, it’s amazing! I use the Hemp Exfoliator and a few strokes of the bar is enough to do my whole body. It’s also a fantastic product to use as a shaving bar, and it’s really quite hydrating on the skin. As a body wash/shaving bar I really really like this one, and obviously it’s a tonne better for the environment than plastic bottles of wash. I feel like it will also last me forever too!
GOOD CUBE 5-IN-1 MULTI TASKING BAR
I also tried out the 5-in-1 Multi Tasking Bar too. This is literally the holy grail as it works as a shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face cleanser, and shaving bar. If you are the kind of person who likes a complete beauty solution, then this is the bar for you! It would also be perfect for anyone who travels frequently and doesn’t want to have to take all the above products with them!
Packed with clarifying NZ native kumarahou extract, nutrient-rich spirulina and detoxifying green clay, this bar literally does it all. While I haven’t started using this one personally yet, I can confirm it smells absolutely amazing! To make life extra easy, you can also pair this with the Exfoliator & Bar Saver – a 2-in-1 storage bag and exfoliating mit that allows you to use the cube so easily as a body wash, while also exfoliates your skin. Multi-tasking at it’s finest!
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