The idea of making my own beauty products excites me, but at the same time does make me feel a little nervous. Why? Well, let's just say my first experience of embracing a Zero waste bathroom didn't go too well.
When my Argan oil hair conditioner ran out three months ago, instead of purchasing yet another single use plastic bottle, I decided to replace this product with my coconut cooking oil. Before going to bed I liberally applied plenty all over my hair, adding more as I noticed the beautiful coco-nutty smell wafting from my head. I woke in the morning with still slightly damp hair but whisked myself off to work in a hurry. To my horror, at 11am I realised that my hair was still damp - from oil not from water! Even the work bathroom hairdryers wouldn't dry my hair!
This hasn't put me off making and experimenting with my own beauty products completely (and to be honest I think I went a bit OTT with the coconut oil), but since starting my journey to Zero waste, LUSH have really helped wean me off plastic in an achievable affordable way and so far without any disasters!
I first started with solid shampoo bars, specifically soak and float. Why is LUSH solid shampoo so good? Well it's plastic free, which protects our oceans (did you know that approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic enters the sea annually), it's Vegan and guilt free as they don't test on animals and neither do their suppliers! I also have a sensitive scalp and have personally seen better results since using this than medicated shampoo.
How to use? I make a lather in my hands and apply all over my hair and rub the bar on my scalp to sooth and relax my skin. I keep my bar in a metal tin for easy transportation and to make it last longer keep it out of your shower and let it dry out!
Lush Solid Shampoo Soak and Float £6.50 and Round Tin £2.50
I've been so impressed with my shampoo that I went back to LUSH Kingston to purchase a conditioner. As I have fairly dry hair I wanted to compare both 'traditional' liquid conditioner 'Veganese' with solid conditioner.
The results? If i'm honest, I can't say that I prefer one from the other, both leave my hair smooth and tangle free, so if I had to pick between the two, it would be the solid conditioner purely because it's package free. However, LUSH do accept their bottles back and for every 5 pots you return you'll recieve a free face mask. Additionally, I now see that LUSH are selling Veganese as a solid NAKED conditioner for £9.75 so I now have an excuse to head back to my favourite shop!
As an added bonus, I also left with a free sample of 'the hair doctor' hot oil treatment. I love that the instruction for use are printed on a compostable lollypop stick. This treatment is is meant to leave your hair feeling soft for 6 weeks! I haven't used it yet as my LUSH conditioner has been so successful although will need to soon to protect my hair from winter damage and dryness.
Left to Right: Sugar Daddy-O Solid Shampoo £6.50 and Oval Tin £2.50, Hot Oil Treatment Hair Doctor £6.50 and Veganese £9.95 250g
Thank you LUSH for making Zero Waste colourful, fun and disaster free!
