Turns Out Our Fashion Friends Are All Using This £8 Product to Wash Their Hair
While I have a pretty good steer on what products beauty editors, celebrities and industry insiders are loving right now, the fashion set are altogether more secretive about the beauty products they swear by. Which is why I'm always so excited when I catch wind of an unusual face oil or highlighter fashion girls are swearing by.
This week, I was in luck. When Hannah Almassi, Who What Wear's editor in chief, returned from a breakfast meeting, she rushed straight on over to tell me about a certain £8 product that tons of her fashion friends had been raving about. I'll admit I was totally surprised when she revealed that the product was none other than the humble Lush Shampoo Bar.
Turns out, in a quest to hunt for more sustainable beauty products, many of our fashion friends have been turning to Lush for beauty solutions. The brand is synonymous with its approach to cruelty-free and natural beauty, but it's been making great strides in removing excess packaging from its products recently, which is where the shampoo bars come in.
Totally packaging-free and self-preserving, Lush shampoo bars last for up to 100 washes—the same job as three 250-gram shampoo bottles. Plus, because they take up way less space in transit, they also create a smaller carbon footprint. And even better, the formulations genuinely work.
Before we get into the shopping list of what's on offer, though, I have one top tip for you: Invest in a Shampoo Bar Tin (£3) or some kind of container for your shampoo bar if you're planning on keeping it in the shower. I made the mistake of purchasing one and keeping it loose in the shower, only to find that it had almost disappeared when I was ready to wash my hair again the following week. (Total fail, I know.)
Keep scrolling to discover and shop all of the best Lush shampoo bars.
One of the most popular Lush shampoo bars, this was also the first one I ever tried. Admittedly, I was taken in by the scent (a sweet, toffee-like aroma), but the combination of moisturising honey and shine-boosting bergamot oil also did an amazing job at hydrating my dry strands.
I've always wanted to be the kind of girl with swishy, shiny strands, and this lemon oil–infused shampoo bar goes some way to let me live out my dream. The lemon juice adds the glisten while rosemary and green olives improve strength and deeply cleanse.
Something of a Lush cult product, this is the decidedly unsexy end of the shampoo bar spectrum, but it certainly serves a purpose. During times of stress, my scalp really suffers from psoriasis, so I reached for this after reading rave reviews on the Lush website. It uses cade oil—a strong-smelling but hardworking ingredient—to treat scalp conditions like psoriasis, dandruff and eczema while rose and marigold keep things calm. I wouldn't use this as a regular shampoo, but it's great in case of a scalp emergency.
I've yet to try this shampoo bar, but I know I'll love it from the fact that it has the exact same scent as my favourite Lush product: Rose Jam Shower Gel. Lush says this is also an option for making fair hair appear even brighter.
If you're looking for a shampoo bar that adds volume, this one will be right up your street. It uses fine sea salt to add texture and lift alongside protein-rich nori seaweed to prevent that dried-out feeling. It basically smells like a mimosa, too, so I'm on board.
A 5-star–rated shampoo bar that's formulated for sensitive scalps and hair that needs gentle care. Coloured hair types will love this. It's infused with rose water and ylang-ylang to care for the hair, as well as witch hazel to soothe the scalp.
From thick, curly hair types to bleached strands, this is a shampoo bar suited to any hair type that could benefit from a moisture boost. Organic coconut milk and creamed coconut inject your tresses with nourishing fatty acids to improve softness and moisture.
Not a shampoo bar for the faint-hearted. This is a scalp-stimulating blend of cinnamon, clove and peppermint, and it's certainly strong in scent. It's great for a deep cleanse of your scalp and hair. It's also good for anyone suffering from hair loss, as it boosts blood flow to the scalp to promote healthy hair growth.
This basically gives you great hair in a shampoo bar. As the name suggests, it's deeply conditioning thanks to being jam-packed with nut oils and butters. Cocoa, shea and cupuaçu butter alongside camellia, macadamia and extra virgin coconut oils mean greasy hair types should use caution, but drier hair types will lap it up.
If you regularly use hair spray, serums and dry shampoo in your hair, this shampoo bar will provide a detoxifying clean. I'd use it once a week as a deep-cleansing treatment, as it might be slightly harsh for everyday use. It's packed with lavender oil to help keep things calm though. This is perfect for when your hair needs a really deep clean. Juniper berry gets to work regulating sebum production, clearing the scalp. We've also used calming lavender and antibacterial rosemary essential oils to soothe and cleanse the scalp. Lemon and lime oils give shine, as they help the cuticles on your hair lie flat, enabling them to reflect more light.
One of the newer shampoo bars from Lush, this stuff smells good enough to eat. It uses a cocktail of fruits like cleansing mango and brightening pineapple to flatten the cuticle of your hair for a high-gloss finish.
Another 5-star shampoo bar comes courtesy of this smoothing detangling formula. The next bar on my Lush shopping list, it protects hair with soya yoghurt, cleanses the scalp with ground almonds and dials up shine with orange extract. A great hair care all-rounder.
Next up, I just tried the £300 hair dryer that Rosie Huntington-Whiteley loves.
Mica Ricketts is a freelance beauty editor, copywriter and regular contributor to Who What Wear UK. She also writes for titles including Marie Claire Refinery 29 and Cosmopolitan, and previously worked at Who What Wear UK as Beauty Editor. With experience in both editorial and content management, she also works with beauty brands and small businesses on brand messaging and content strategy. As a busy mum of two, she is passionate about finding efficacious beauty products that can disguise all signs of tiredness with minimal effort.
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