Kitsch Shampoo, From Handmade Hair Ties to Solid Bars

In 2010 Cassandra Thurswell was 25, had savings, and was making hair ties by hand in her Los Angeles apartment. That is how Kitsch started, according to a CNBC profile from earlier this year. For more than a decade the brand sold the things around your hair, like elastics, satin pillowcases, shower caps and towels, before it sold anything that went on it.

When Kitsch did move into hair care, it did it in solid form. Thurswell told Fortune, "We're not the first ones to make solid shampoo and conditioner, but I'd like to think we're the first ones to make true haircare in solid form with the right pH." She has also said the bars were meant to be an upgrade in how hair feels, not only a way to cut plastic bottles, although cutting plastic was a big part of it.

That is what makes Kitsch shampoo worth a look. The bars are small, they last, and they travel well, which anyone who has had a shampoo bottle open in a suitcase will appreciate. In January the brand launched its first liquid shampoos, so there is now a bottle option too.

The first grid is Kitsch's shampoo, from the bars to the liquid shampoos and the Ultra Sensitive line. The second is the matching conditioner bars, and the last gathers my other picks from the brand, from the soap dish to the hair ties it started with.

A tip before you start: rub the bar between wet hands or glide it straight over wet roots, then work the lather through. Bars need more water than bottles.

Each bar is named for the ingredient doing the main work, which makes choosing pretty easy.

The Rice Water Shampoo Bar is the one I would start with for fine or flat hair. It is made with a rice protein the brand says is clinically shown to boost volume and shine in five washes. The Rosemary & Biotin Volumizing bar is the other pick for fine hair, made with an amaranth peptide the brand says thickens strands.

For dry hair there are three. The Coconut Oil bar is made for kinky, curly and coily hair and cleanses without leaving it stripped. The Castor Oil Nourishing bar is for breakage, and the Repairing Argan Oil bar uses a bond technology called Everbond, for damaged hair.

The Purple Toning bar is, according to Kitsch, the first solid purple shampoo bar with biotin, and it is safe for blonde, grey and white hair. The Tea Tree & Mint Clarifying bar has a cooling tingle and an ingredient aimed at visible flakes, which makes it a good once-a-week reset.

If you prefer a bottle, the January liquid launch gives you Rice Water, Castor Oil, Tea Tree & Mint, Coconut Oil and Rosemary & Biotin, so nearly every bar has a bottled twin built on the same ingredient idea.

The Detox Shampoo Bar sits with the Tea Tree bar as a reset. For sensitive skin, the Ultra Sensitive line is fragrance free, with a Shampoo & Body Wash Bar, a Conditioner & Shave Bar and a combo of the two.

What I would skip: leaving any bar sitting in a puddle. A wet bar melts away fast, and that is usually where people decide bars are not for them.

Conditioner bars confuse people more than shampoo bars, so here is how they work. You glide the bar down your wet lengths a few times, as if you were painting on the conditioner, then comb it through with your fingers and rinse.

The Rice Water Conditioner Bar pairs with the rice shampoo for fine hair, and the Rosemary & Biotin Volumizing Conditioner Bar gives fine hair softness without weight. The Castor Oil Nourishing Conditioner Bar and the Coconut Oil Conditioner Bar are for dry, damaged hair, and the coconut one is made for kinky, curly and coily hair. The Purple Toning Conditioner Bar keeps blonde and grey hair cool between washes, and the Tea Tree & Mint Clarifying Conditioner Bar finishes the scalp reset.

Two more join them. The Shea Butter Hydrating Solid Conditioner Bar is the one for very dry ends, and the Repairing Argan Oil Conditioner Bar pairs with the argan shampoo bar.

A pairing tip: if you travel, cut a bar in half and pack one half in a small tin. It is the easiest liquid-free shampoo for a carry-on.

What I would skip: using a conditioner bar at the roots. Keep it from the ears down, especially on fine hair.

Kitsch sold the things around your hair for more than a decade before it sold shampoo, and that part of the line is still where I shop most. The two pieces I would buy alongside any bar are the Terracotta Self-Draining Soap Dish, which keeps a bar dry between showers, and the Shampoo Bar Bag, a mesh pouch that turns a bar into foam fast and hangs to dry. The Self-Draining Shower Caddy and the two Terracotta travel cases do the same job on a bigger shelf or in a suitcase.

Then there are the hair ties the brand started with. The Eucalyptus and Chocolate Seamless elastics, the Blush Petal elastics and the Clear & Black No-Snag set are the everyday ones, and the scrunchies run from the Black Ruffle and the Black & Chocolate Oversized pair to the Garden Bouquet Cloud set and the Cherry Lacquer & Dusty Pink Ruched Lace five-pack. For clips, the Chocolate Cloud Claw Clip, the Chocolate Marble Jumbo claw, the Terracotta Flat Claw Clips and the Banana Clip pair cover most hair lengths, and the Satin Pillowcase in Gingham Blue and the XL Hair Towel Wrap finish the routine at night.

What I would skip: a pile of novelty scrunchies. Two good ones and a claw clip cover most days.

I think Kitsch shampoo is best judged after two weeks, not two washes. Hair often feels different while it adjusts from bottled shampoo, and the bars tend to win you over once you have a routine. Pick the bar for your hair, add the matching conditioner bar, and put both on a draining dish. Bars also take up almost no room. It is a small change from a brand that started with hair ties, and it makes a shower shelf look a lot calmer. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Ethique Solid Shampoo Bars and How to Find the Best Shampoo for Your Hair, Not Someone Else's.