Plastic-Free July can get very all-or-nothing.
We prefer starting with the things you reach for every day: the underwear drawer, the shower, the sink, the deodorant you swipe on before leaving the house.
We caught up with Nora Schaper, Co-Founder of HiBAR — a brand making high-performance personal care without plastic packaging. HiBAR started with salon-quality shampoo and conditioner bars and has since expanded into body care, face wash, and deodorant.
This July, we’re sharing their Natural Deodorant with KENT customers in two scents: Mint + Eucalyptus and Coconut + Vanilla.
Here’s what Nora had to say.
How did HiBAR start?
I co-founded HiBAR with friends who had kids in the same school. We had each been chipping away at plastic waste in different ways before realizing we could make a bigger impact together. After lots of trial and error—and plenty of people saying it couldn’t be done—we created the world’s first salon-quality hair care bars.
You make shampoo, conditioner, body, face, and deodorant bars. Of everything in the HiBAR lineup, what made deodorant the one you wanted in our customers’ hands this July?
Customers love the scents, how easy it glides, and the fact it doesn’t leave a white residue. Of course, the plastic-free tube is a big motivator. We think your customers will love it too.
Plenty of “bars” existed when you started — you set out to make the first salon-quality one, which meant two-plus years of formulating to get high-end performance with no sulfates, no silicones, and a pH that’s safe for color-treated and curly hair. That sounds like a big feat! What wouldn’t you compromise on, and what was harder than you expected to pull off?
We wouldn’t compromise on anything! It starts with the ingredients, so we focused on finding U.S.-based suppliers that offered the finest salon-quality ingredients without artificial anything. Also, when you lose the water, just high-end ingredients are left. That’s the beauty of a bar. The hardest part was designing the equipment that could produce the bars’ unusual shape.
For someone just starting to phase plastic out of their daily routine, where would you tell them to begin?
Start where it’s easiest for you—deodorant, body wash, shampoo. Every little bit helps. We’ve kept over 9 million plastic bottles out of circulation thanks to customers who chose to go plastic-free.
What’s a plastic problem you haven’t cracked yet but really want to?
Body lotion, and we’re really close!
Stacy’s take
HiBAR is exactly the kind of swap I love: useful, well-designed, and works. Their deodorant smells good, glides easy, leaves no white residue, and comes in compostable packaging. No plastic. No weird chalky situation. No “natural deodorant but make it complicated” energy. Just high-performance care, minus the plastic.