I'm that person —I wash my hair with a bar of soap (on purpose). My teen self is fully side-eyeing me right now. I used to pile on the products and cook my hair daily with heat. Yikes. It took me forever to try and grow my hair out past my collarbones, and even then, it was like a dry, frizzy mess—no high-end-salon conditioner, serum, or fancy shampoo could fix it.
In my 20s I started feeling like a hypocrite being very nutrition-focused and caring about what I put in my body but heavily disregarding what I put on it. I slowly made shifts towards a more healthy, toxin-aware life. When I got around to hair treatment, I tried every "natural shampoo" and shampoo alternative - from using baking soda water for months (which felt like the weirdest slippery yet also drying watery goo) to those shampoo & conditioner bars that cost more than a fancy lunch.
But nothing stuck for more than a year or two. Either they were packed with ingredients that I needed a chemistry degree to understand, or they made my hair feel like straw and didn’t lather -- and honestly, rubbing a lather-less bar on my head felt as satisfying as petting a rock.
Finally, I found Copa soaps. Spoiler alert: They’re a big deal for my hair. Here’s the breakdown of why I’m all about the Copa life now. (no affiliate links or sponsorships, this is just a 100% honest account of my experience)
My hair 5 years ago:
My hair now (no styling products, air-dried):
(sorry for the low Q, I'm not much of a photo-taker so all of these are video screenshots)
1. Quality: Goodbye, Dry and Lifeless Hair
Self-explanatory: my hair doesn’t feel like stripped straw anymore, despite not using any conditioner with this soap. All shampoo bars I used in the past had to be combined with conditioner bars to make my hair feel even halfway decent, so I don’t know what wizardry goes on here but the Copas just make my hair feel balanced on their own, with a single wash.
My hair is RIDICULOUSLY soft and shiny. These bars do not strip any hydration. I'm one of those "feel how soft my hair is!" people (yes, I know I'm weird), and the reaction is always "okay I didn't expect it to be that soft. how??".
2. Multi-Purpose: One Bar to Rule Them All
Clutter? Not on my Christian minecraft server. Nothing irks me more than having a billion bottles in the shower. I always dreamed of just having one product and a razor in there, and I've finally achieved that life goal!
So I actually use this soap for my body, face (honestly, my skin has never been better but that’s a different discussion), and hair. I don’t shave often because I had laser done years ago, but when I do, I use it as shaving cream too because it’s SO smooth, it lathers, and it doesn’t dry my skin. So I’ve swapped 5 products for one. That’s ridiculous.
3. Affordable: Wallet-Friendly Wonder
These bars are only $6 and last me a good two months, even with all the things I use it for (see above) and my fiancé snagging it for his own routine (and he's not even half as into the health benefits as I am, he just likes the results). We've cut down our shower product expenses big time.
I buy 6 of these at a time, so I pay 36$ to have a full stock of “shower products” for the better part of a year.
4. Wash Cycle: Wash Less, Live More
I used to be a an every-other-day washer. Now, four to five days between washes are super easy. It's the low-maintenance life I very much needed and a lot of products I've tried did not go the distance on this particular aspect.
5. Foam: Lather Love
If you’ve ever washed your hair with any shampoo alternative, you know the sadness of the no lather life. Now is the foam a life-changer? No, I mean, not really. But hey, it does add an additional few happiness points to my morning so imma take it.
6. Ingredients: Ridiculously Simple
Coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, and almond oil are the standard ingredients in these soaps. That's crazy. They also add in some essential oils and some plant powders or clays (depending on the bar), and that’s it. No long, suspicious ingredient lists like the ones on some of those $12 soap bars at Whole Foods.
I'll be honest - when I read that ingredient list before my first purchase I thought it was both too good to be true and also SO weird. My first intuition wouldn't exactly be to wash my hair with a bunch of oils. But although I'm not smart enough to tell you why this works, it just DOES. (Yes, I'm just as confused as you are). Either way, I've never found a soap ingredient list this short and healthy.
7. Variety: The Spice of Life
They've got a soap for every whim and fancy - options on options. I get bored easily so I love trying a new bar each time, but they all smell fantastic. I'm super sensitive to smell and am a huge priss about anything that smells even remotely artificial. These soaps just smell like you stepped out of your cabin into your garden, into the woods, or onto the beach.
Some of their soaps are designed more so for specific skin or hair types (for example they have an absolutely phenomenal charcoal soap), but I’ve just never had a negative experience with any of them, so I just like to try em all.
8. Natural Texture: Embracing My Waves
I had stick straight hair growing up, so when my hair turned to frizz in my early 20s I had no idea what to do with that. Turns out I actually have cute little waves if I just scrunch my hair a little when it’s wet (I haven’t used a blow dryer in a decade, it's always air-dry).
This soap makes it considerably easier to define that texture and structure than when I use traditional shampoo and conditioner (in hotels when I forget my soap).
9. Shapable: Holds Up to Styling
My hair has always held a heatless curl pretty well, and there wasn’t really any room for it to do better with this soap, but it definitely holds styling just as well — no compromise needed.
10. Easy Transport: Travel Buddy of the Century
Travel-sized bottles with spill anxiety, sticky ziplocks, and refill drama? Hard pass. I just toss the bar in its little paper container. No leaks, no hassle, smaller than even travel bottles, and it also happens to make my clothes smell AMAZING. (if you’re not into that sorta thing just bring back that ziplock and throw it in there)
11. Packaging: Eco-Friendly from Start to Finish
The eco game is strong with this one. The soap comes wrapped (and shipped) in only paper and cardboard. I always got so irritated buying soaps at health food stores that had passable ingredients but then had... plastic wrappers? Seriously?
Conclusion
And that's all! Each of the above points comes 100% from years of personal experience. I'm not sponsored by Copa, and this page doesn't contain any affiliate links.
I hope you give a lil $6 bar a shot and see if it happens to be a fit for you! :)