Solid Shampoo and Conditioner

This really should have been the first post that I ever wrote on this blog, because we have been a Lush hair-care household for years now. I can't remember the last time I bought a bottle of shampoo.

As it happens, we like to buy all sorts of things at Lush, but what we really go there for is the shampoo and conditioner. Lush specialises in making normally-liquid things solid and normally-packaged things package-free. They have all manner of body and bath products, the most notable from our perspective being shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, moisture bars, and newly, toothpaste. But let's just stick to the hair-care for now.


The shampoos and conditioners come in two forms: big chunks and little disks. Generally speaking, the little disk varieties cost more per 100g than those that you can buy in a big chunk. For that reason, we pretty much just buy the big chunk types. For shampoo, we have always used TRICHOMANIA. It smells like coconut and works perfectly. For conditioner, until a few weeks ago, we had always used JUNGLE because it was the only solid conditioner available. On our last visit though, there was suddenly a new one on the market, which was a cheaper big chunk style, so we are now a BIG SOLID CONDITIONER household. Again, I find it works great, no complaints.

Since Lush tends to be in malls, and we don't have a car, I tend to visit only a few times a year and stock up on large quantities at once. Lush staff tend to be very receptive to waste reduction since it is part of their niche, and I frequently ask them to just cut off a big chunk and put it in my own bags. When I get it home, I cut it up into usable pieces and store it in a jar in the bathroom.

You can also buy pieces pre-wrapped in paper if you don't remember your own bag.

Although I have never had any complaints about the effectiveness of these products, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when using solid shampoos and conditioners.

• They come across as pricey. I have never cost-compared them to conventional shampoo but Lush claims they are actually cheaper. I think the variables there are how much you use at a time, how often your wash your hair, and how much you let go down the drain.
• That being said, they can end up going down the drain if you let them soak up water. I try to keep mine in a dry tin (which you get a Lush) so that after use, they won't melt into a puddle.
• The chunk varieties can be a bit crumbly at first since they don't have straight sides. That's why I keep them in a jar, so the crumbles fall to the bottom and can be saved for later.
• When you get to the end of a piece, the tiny fragment left can be hard to use. This isn't much different from a piece of soap though...

When I walk into a Lush, the staff quickly identifies me as a "Lushie". If you are sensitive to scents it is probably not the place for you, but otherwise, I can tell you it is basically the only reason I go to malls. I will be posting on them more later.

Do you shop at Lush? Leave a comment!