Bread’s Latest Wash Day Set Makes My Curls Look Salon-Fresh

In our series Trial Run, TZR editors and writers put the buzziest new beauty products to the test and share their honest reviews. This week, beauty writer Simedar Jackson is testing Bread Beauty Clear + Soft Duo and Scalp-Thigy.

There are few things as heavenly and difficult to recreate than the feeling of your hairstylist reaching into your hair and scrubbing away at your screaming scalp. They somehow always know which spots need extra attention — bonus points if nails are involved — and you finish feeling like the skin on top of your head is anew. It’s one of the many reasons we spend money to go the the salon when we’ve got a bathroom full of products at home. The other major factor is that no matter how hard you try, your hair never seems to look (or feel) as good as right after you leave. While stylists have always exclusively owned this corner of the salon experience, I’m eager to inform everyone there are now at-home solutions that might evenly square up against that just-left-the-chair feeling.

Following the consistently viral Hair Wash and Hair Mask from Bread Beauty Supply, the Australian hair essentials brand recently launched a second wash set complete with a purifying shampoo, a hydrating conditioner, and a ridiculously cute head massager aptly named Scalp-Thingy. Bread teased the shampoo’s pink goo on Instagram for months, leaving fans aimlessly guessing at the mystery product with no launch date in sight. I incorrectly concluded it had to be a hair serum, but was equally excited to learn we were being blessed with a new addition to wash day. Like any law-abiding curly person, I’ve been faithful to Bread’s original shampoo and conditioning mask for years. However, I find myself regularly needing options better suited for post-workout and deep-clean, detox washes. As a recently converted #gymbabe, this launch couldn’t have come at a better time.

Ahead, my honest thoughts on Bread’s Clear-Wash shampoo, Baby-Soft conditioner, and Scalp-Thingy scalp massager.

Fast Facts

• Price: $24 each for Clear-Wash and Baby-Soft ($40 for the set); $18 for Scalp-Thingy
• Size: 10.4 fl oz/ 310 mL each
• Clean/Cruelty-Free: Yes
• Best For: Detox cleansing and detangling
• What We Like: Great value; smells amazing; deeply hydrates; Scalp-thingy is a godsend
• What We Don’t Like: Haven’t experienced any downsides yet!
• Rating: 5/5

How TZR Keeps Score: 1/5: Making a return; 2/5: Keeping as a backup; 3/5: Finishing to the last drop; 4/5: Recommending to my group texts; 5/5: Already on auto-replenish

My Experience & Results

Clear-Wash

After a week of sweaty gym sessions and restyles, I was finally ready to put the wash duo to the test. Clear Wash is described as a rosemary clarifying shampoo that breaks down buildup without stripping hair. Clarifying shampoos contain heavier surfactants that are better suited to lift away sweat, oil, and product buildup resulting from layering styling creams and gels. While particularly necessary for curly and textured hair, these formulas are notorious for leaving hair so brittle even a conditioner fails to fully restore moisture. My first impression of Clear Wash is that the hot pink gel looks so freaking cute in your shower. After applying it to my hair, I was immediately enveloped by the sage, rosemary, and ginger fragrance. It’s energizing but not overpowering and leaves a vaguely tingling feeling on your scalp just shy of mint. If you’ve ever wanted to experience what eucalyptus leaves do to your shower, you could also consider just washing your hair with this. One pump-full gave me a fluffy lather, and although I’m part of the teeny weeny hair team, I feel confident that one or two pumps will work for the vast majority of users.

So far, so good.

Scalp-Thingy

No deep cleanse is complete without a scalp massage, and after this test run, I’ve concluded that you’re not truly having an “everything shower” unless you’ve got Scalp-Thingy with you. After scrubbing my scalp just my with fingers for a few minutes, I felt immediate relief after adding in the stimulating tool. I’ve tried scalp massagers in the past and felt they were always too stiff, too sharp, or uncomfortable to use. Scalp-Thingy solves these problems with a flexible silicone that applies gentle yet firm pressure and offers your hand a perfect surface area for maneuvering it. The bristles mimic fingers so much I had to force myself to back away from Scalp-Thingy or risk massaging myself raw.

Baby-Soft

After rinsing out the shampoo, my hair felt clean but not straw-like. I followed with Baby-Soft, which is described as a ceramide conditioner with ultra slippage for easy detangling. It has a lightly citrus scent, likely due to the added finger lime, and a thick, creamy texture reminiscent of your favorite nighttime moisturizer. Since chopping off my Afro more than three years ago, I initially thought the amount of “slip” a conditioner had wouldn’t matter much to me — I don’t have much to detangle anyway— but I’ve learned how well a conditioner coats your strands is directly related to how well it hydrates. The watermelon hydro-glycerin in Baby-Soft Is definitely putting in work here. I typically avoid washing my conditioner out completely to preserve that deeply hydrated feeling, but even after thoroughly rinsing away Baby-Soft, my curls looked juicy and felt bouncy. I ran my head under the water once more just to make sure I got it all out.

Is Bread Beauty Supply’s Clear + Soft Duo Worth It?

Clear-Wash and Baby-Soft are definitely must-trys for those with curly and natural hair. The price point and amount of product you get makes it highly accessible and likely to last you a while. Bread has once again addressed some of the most common curly hair pain points: deep cleansing that’s nourishing and detangling that doesn’t take forever. Plus, they wrapped it up in feel-good packaging. If I’m honest, they don’t miss.