I decided to start by reviewing Lush Cosmetics' Trichomania Solid Shampoo and Jungle Solid Conditioner. I bought 'em myself, promise ahmiss. This is not a Lush commercial, though they can feel free to send me tons of free stuff because in general I love their products.
If you've never gone into a Lush store, it can be confusing and disappointing, because is set up like the produce section of Whole Foods (warm lighting, faux hand painted price signs, and a general air of "Everything's so fresh and natural!"), and it is full of bath bombs and soaps that look like confections straight out of the original "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or "Babes in Toyland"--I was going to write "look and smell" but I have idea what the confections in those movies smell like because my tv's smell-o-vision has been broken for years (the weather guy can't possibly smell like weed every day). But if you bit into a bath bomb you'd be sad for two reasons: 1, it's soap and so tastes and foams appropriately; and 2, you'd have just wasted a $7 one-time use product. Yes, one bomb=$4.50-$8. Anyway, this is not a complaint, just a description.
So, the reasons I wanted to get a solid shampoo and conditioner are because I usually use Dr. Bronners and it was making my hair dry and crunchy (even someone whose blog is called "Slightly Crunchy" has her limits and crunchy hair is one of them), and I wanted something with little to no packaging and ingredients I mostly recognized. Solid hair products were mysterious and intriguing. And I hate hassles with the TSA agents.
I've been using these products for over a week. Here're my thoughts:
Trichomania Solid Shampoo: Features creamed coconut and vetivert oil. It's supposed to be a good moisturizing shampoo, especially for people with really dry hair or afros. I have neither, but I wanted more moisture in my hair, so I had them carve a little piece for me off the huge shampoo block, about the size of a golf ball. To use, you can either soap it up in your hands like a bar of soap, or wet your hair and run it down your head like a big eraser. Then, you work up a lather in the usual way, and rinse. It smells lightly coconutty, pleasantly so, and your hair comes out clean and smooth. It's a nice, mild shampoo. People on the Lush site rave about it, so I was expecting suddenly glamourous hair, but nope, it's just a nice shampoo. Which goes to show: never confuse a product with a miracle. It's $9.95 for a 3.5 oz. chunk, so I guess I'll append this when my one ounce chunk is all used up, to see if it's cost effective or just twee. Initial rating: 3.5/5.
Jungle Solid Conditioner: it's supposed to be made with five fruits, but it smells like the potpourri my Grandma had in her bathroom in the early '80s. Old lady + early '80s= slightly nauseating. My hair is almost shoulder length, and all day I'm like, "What is that smell? Oh, it's me." sigh. To again cite the reviewers on the Lush site, there are people who loooove the smell, but I think they are either fake reviewers or old ladies full of '80s bathroom nostalgia. Then again, Lush is an English company, and them Europeans like that sort of bouquet. As for the product itself, you break off a piece (it has the waxy consistency of cool butter), work it into a paste in your palm, then run your hands through your hair and rinse. Functionally, it works pretty well. Too bad this is the only solid conditioner Lush makes. It is $7.95 for a 2 oz. puck, and the block itself lasts a month or so--or much, much longer if you can't stand the scent and so hide it from yourself in the back of your supply closet. Final rating (including points off for the smell): 2.25/5.
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