Anyone used Lush Shampoo Bars?

I have used quite a few of them, retro and ones in store. They're really good, but each one is rather colour stripping (as SLS is the main ingredient). But some strip more than others, so depends on your hair type and whatnot too.

To use them - You can either use them like a soap and wet the bar, rub between your hands to lather and then massage into wet hair or thoroughly wet your hair, wet the shampoo bar quickly and rub it into your hair. Don't rub directly onto your scalp, because it's hard to lather that way. Make sure you're rubbing it into your hair. Then put to one side and massage your hair until it begins to lather, like normal shampoo. Then rinse and condition. I prefer to rub it directly into my hair as it seems to lather better that way.

Here's what I've used, hope it helps! And so you know, my hair is fine yet thickish, dry, that's been dyed blonde as a base with Adore blue and purple on top...and dye doesn't stay well in my hair, even when CO washing! :-p

New - Red cinnamon one. Really good for making your hair feel fresh and clean and smells great. I've noticed my hair feeling stronger and thicker since using it for sure. Isn't too stripping actually, and it seems good at removing tangles.

Godiva - Yellow shampoo and conditioner. Used this for the first time last week. Smells unusual, but rather nice. This one seems to strip the colour out my hair a lot though! It's meant to be rather moisturising, but has so far made my hair rather frizzy and dry...

Ultimate shine - White one with sparkles. The glitter doesn't really stay in your hair though. Smells really lovely and doesn't strip colour too much either. Gives a nice lather and my hair has felt very soft afterwards and does have a healthy shine to it.

Gentle lentil - Retro one you can buy online, smells of white chocolate fudge! This comes as a chunk, not a circular bar. It's got a really thick and creamy lather and makes hair feel really soft. This one doesn't seem to strip too much either. I love this one.

Trichomania - White coconutty one that again comes in chunk form. Smells great, can sometimes be rather hard to lather for me and you can feel it on your hair a lot more after rinsing. I find this one leaves too much of a residue, but I find it hard to rinse away coconut oils from my hair generally. And this one stripped my hair colour quite a bit too.

Reincarnate - Brown henna one that's also in retro. This one is rather nice, but only really works well with reddy/browny colours as it enhances the more natural colours. I don't know what it's like in terms of stripping though as it's been a long time since I've used it and that was back when I had naturally brown and dark hair. But from what I remember, it lathered well and made my hair really shiny and healthy.

I haven't used the others, but hope this helps a little.

I'd personally recommend Ultimate shine, New and Gentle Lentil from what I've used as they seem the least stripping from my experience and have given a nice result too 🙂

Wow! Thank you for such a detailed response! You've sold me. I'm gonna try out the ultimate shine and thanks for the advice on how to use it. That's what I was worrying most about, I thought I might be left standing in the shower scrubbing my head with it.

Haha no worries 🙂

As long as you have your hair really ringing wet and just wet the shampoo bar quick before massaging it in, you'll be fine I think.

Unfortunately all of them are pretty stripping, especially when comparing to CO washing and using LS free shampoos. But they do make your hair feel nice and work well. They last ages too! But have a go with Ultimate shine and let me know what you think!

Also, ask for a sample of Trichomania when you're in there if you're interested in giving it a go. They can do samples of the chunk ones as they're cut to size. But the circular bar ones, they can't cut up for samples. If you're buying online, ask for sample of Gentle Lentil and Reincarnate too if they interest you 🙂

You can ask for samples online? I know in store you can ask for samples of certain things because of how they cut them up into weights and measures although i've been too shy to ask for samples.

Yeah, when you order there should be a section for notes when you're either finalising your order or something like that. You can write which samples you'd like, as long as you're actually ordering some items. They're always willing to do samples, as long as it's an item they can cut up and do as a sample  for you. At the end of the day, if you like it, you'll buy it...so ask away! 😉

My local Lush store is pretty good, they're very willing to give samples, even when I've not bought anything because they know I'll come back!

Oh wow I didn't know you could do the online sample thing!

Ultimate shine is the one I used to use a lot and it didn't strip too much. I think my hair really did look it's best when using this. 

I used Seanik a lot too which is actually quite moisturising and gave my hair volume. Only problem is it's full of sea salt so colour doesn't last as long.

I was really disappointed when I found out the lush bars all contain Sodium Lauryl Sulphate....I know it's less harsh than Laureth but I didn't expect Lush to use harsh chemicals - it seems to be at odds with their whole ethos 🙁

The fact is, they're a now huge company selling all over the world. It's probably just not cost effective to not use it. Not saying it's right or wrong, it's just what it most likely is.

I've never used Lush shampoo bars, but I did used to make my own.  I think they are lovely and really miss the ease and convenience of them.  One thing I can offer is that bar soap by nature is quite alkaline.  Most bar soaps run in the 8-10 pH range.  The natural pH of hair and skin is 4.5-5.5, so it is good idea to follow using a shampoo bar with a little vinegar rinse to balance the hair out again.  I used to mix a few drops of lavender and rosemary essential oil in with distilled white vinegar to rinse.  The essential oils weren't necessary as the vinegar smell did go away when the hair was dry... but it made my hair smell so nice.  😀

ETA:  Acids work to shrink/harden the hair as we've learned about it sealing the cuticle.  As an alkaline, the soap will soften the hair and make it swell (hence the fly away hair you might get after using a shampoo bar).

I found a recipe for beer shampoo made with olive oil soap the other day that I'm going to give a try

I found a recipe for beer shampoo made with olive oil soap the other day that I'm going to give a try

Good luck with your shampoo!  I hope it turns out well.  🙂

BTW, if Lush is using Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, then it's likely their shampoo bars are classified as Sydnet and not true soap.  True soap is reacting a fat with an alkali (sodium hydroxide).  Syndet (synthetic detergent) soap bars are composed of synthetic detergents and fillers that contain less than 10% soap and thus are able to have an adjusted pH of 5.5-7.  Even at a pH level of 7, you're hair might experience that flyaway look unless you do a vinegar rinse.

I hope that's not more science than you ever wanted to know... LOL.  It fascinates me.  😀

I used some purple one once and it lasted ages but I didn't have a case for it so it went mucky in my shower! I love the sound of a glittery one tho...

I have used only Trichomania but I liked it. My hair was all natural virgin hair at the time so I don't know how it works with coloured hair. I liked it because it smelled nice, lathered well and left hair super clean. Although sometimes it felt too clean and I had to use more conditioner to get my hair back to feel healthy.

I've used a few shampoo bars from Lush. Love the way they work and easy to take with you when you travel.

Gentle Lentil (retro product), pretty much what was stated before. Makes the hair really soft, and smells lovely. However, I have really straight hair and when my hair is soft and sleek it takes all the volume out of my hair (hence why I don't use conditioners) and my hair looks flat. So I don't use it that much. But that's just my experience with it. It doesn't strip colour that much, so I'm a bit gutted it doesn't work well for me.

Dr. Peppermint (retro product), this is my favourite. It doesn't smell all that strong of peppermint, more like a subtle minty smell. And it makes my hair big, which does mean it doesn't make your hair as soft and sleek as Gentle Lentil. It cleans well, doesn't strip as much as the other shampoo bars I've used. It's a shame it's not always available, because it's awesome.

Ultimate Shine, my husband uses this bar. It's great for his wavy long hair. For me it's the same result as Gentle Lentil. Makes your hair really soft and sleek, smells lovely and cleans well. Don't know how much this strips, since I've only used it a few times.

Soak and Float, this one smells peculiar. A bit like a bonfire. I like it, but I seem to be the odd one out, since many people do not like the smell at all. This one is my second favourite, because it takes care of my sensitive itchy scalp. When I use this a few times in succesion, all the little scabs, wounds and itchiness will dissapear. Regular shampoo makes my skin feel like it's on fire, but Lush doesn't do that, which is awesome. It strips more than the others I've mentioned though, which is a shame.