Capsule X Ecostore
Welcome to Capsule Considers, where we try out and review the latest products on the market and offer our honest opinions, because if you’re parting with your hard-earned money based on any of our recommendations, we’re gonna make sure it’s damn well worth it. This week, Alice and Kelly see if haircare bars are worth the hype!
When Ecostore asked the Capsule team to try out their new range of solid haircare products, we realised quick smart that we had we had very different set of priorities when it comes to beauty – Alice, a dedicated purchaser of natural products, and Kelly, who just likes to try the newest and hottest beauty trends.
But, we both love those good hair days when our hair just does what it’s actually supposed to do, and if you can combine that with helping out the environment too? That’s #goals. So, we put the bars to the test through both of our priorities and considerations – and here’s what we really thought.
ALICE
When I first made the switch to natural products about four years ago, I had all kinds of preconceptions about what lay ahead. I imagined everything would smell like my high school art teacher (I’m talking patchouli, musk and rose), nothing would work quite so well, or be quite the same experience. Surely nothing would be silky, creamy or sudsy. Or actually work.
Well, heck, I was wrong. Not only do I love the way my products smell and feel, but most of them do a better job than the old chemical-laden ones I used in the past.
After replacing everything in the cleaning cupboards with the Ecostorerange, I moved onto what I was actually putting on my body. That’s when I started using the EcostoreVolumising Shampoo and Conditioner as part of my line-up.
I have the kind of hair that is a bit of a diva in the sense that it likes to be surprised and have some variety in its life. If I use the same product for too long my hair revolts, so I have a few different products in rotation to keep it happy.
As part of that rotation I’ve had solid bars in the mix before – they’re particularly good when you’re travelling so you don’t have to deal with exploded bottles all through your bag – and I gotta say, these new ones are fab.
I loved the Volumising Bar the first time I got my mitts on it – it’s the same experience as what I get from the bottle, except I’m saving the need to actually make a bottle, hurrah! The Nourishing Conditioner Bar I had to give a second go to love – despite the fact I’ve used bars before I managed to forget the concept that you don’t need as much as the liquid product, and basically scrubbed it into my hair. A little seriously goes a long way! It’s been months and my bars are still in the shower looking practically brand new.
The bottom line? I’m converted – these little bars will save you money, do their job, AND save the planet while you’re at it.
KELLY
Ok, let’s get this out on the open now – I’m one of those people with good intentions. I want to be more environmentally friendly, so I do all the stuff you’re supposed to do. I have a keep cup. I use beeswax wraps. I don’t use the little plastic bags at the supermarket for fruit and veges.
But when it comes to beauty, natural stuff has never really appealed to me. I guess my brain is firmly stuck in the 90s – you know, when we thought that chemicals are cool, kids – and I’ve always had slight (mis)apprehensions that surely a natural formulation can’t work as well as ones that contain ingredients you can’t pronounce.
However, I’m also a beauty junkie and I adore trying out what’s new and hot – and after hearing too many positive recommendations, I had to give Ecostore’s new line-up of shampoo and conditioning bars a go. In the name of beauty, after all!
So, I delved into the Normal Hydrating Shampoo bar, and the first thing you notice is the scent. Smell is a massive consideration for me when choosing any beauty product (if you’re a regular reader of Capsule you’ll also know how much we love our scented candles!) so I was pleasantly surprised at the experience – think refreshing and inviting apple, jasmine and vanilla. It smelt like a fancy fruit parfait and from then, I was invested.
Scrubbing a bar into your hair is definitely a different experience – but one I actually enjoyed, like I was working to get my locks looking luscious. Like Alice, the first time I used the Nourishing Conditioner bar I overdid it, which in hindsight was stupid – when do you ever use as much conditioner as shampoo?! – but once I got the balance right, I was sold.
My hair is difficult at the best of times – it’s wavy, not curly; frizzy, not full; long, but not loooong. In the great Goldilocks of hair foibles, I can never seem to find the ‘just right’.
But as I swaggered into a team meeting with my hair looking chic and me feeling smug about both my zeitgeist enhancing, on-trend beauty find and me helping the environment by not buying yet another set of plastic bottles, I was happy.
If you’re like me and you just want to be the newest kid on the solid haircare block, I highly recommend these bars – and you get to be an environment warrior, right in the comfort of your own shower. Winning.
