Lush hair care?

[RunOnCaffeine]

So I gave in and bought the American Cream balsam. I have been thinking about it quite a some time now. The smell is so heavenly, ah... I'll probably test is tonight, it's years since last time. If my hair doesn't agree with it, I can always use it for washing my body and shaving.

That sounds so dreamy. I've never used American Cream (other than perfume) but I love the scent .

[leafygreens18]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if any of you ladies use Lush haircare? What are your thoughts on it? Which or their products do you like or dislike?

I'm looking at trying something different, its pretty pricey, which if its decent doesn't bother me - but I'd love it if some of you could weigh in before I drop that sort of money on new haircare.

I appreciate all replies, thank you.

I loved Honey I Washed My Hair before I started paying attention to ingredients and went sulfate free. The Honey I Washed The Kids scent family is divine. Like literally to die for. But I really try my hardest not to buy form them. They have a big issue with adding excessive ingredients they don't need and green washing. I really don't support green washing, but on the other hand I think that it is the responsibility of the consumer to be informed and to research where they buy, so I suppose green washing isn't so bad. I don't use any of their hair products because they're pricey, have sulfates, and they're simply too expensive. I have tried R&B but truthfully I can't say that it did much and I can't say it's bad either because I had sucky hair at the time. I don't use anything like that to style my hair, I just shampoo and condition as well as doing deep treatments, but no gels, custards, leave ins etc etc...

So! Overall I think you just need to consider what ingredients work for you. If sulfate shampoos work for you: go for it. But I would find it hard to believe that having sulfates in a conditioner would work for anyone for any reasons.

[LillyBlossom]

I loved Honey I Washed My Hair before I started paying attention to ingredients and went sulfate free. The Honey I Washed The Kids scent family is divine. Like literally to die for. But I really try my hardest not to buy form them. They have a big issue with adding excessive ingredients they don't need and green washing. I really don't support green washing, but on the other hand I think that it is the responsibility of the consumer to be informed and to research where they buy, so I suppose green washing isn't so bad. I don't use any of their hair products because they're pricey, have sulfates, and they're simply too expensive. I have tried R&B but truthfully I can't say that it did much and I can't say it's bad either because I had sucky hair at the time. I don't use anything like that to style my hair, I just shampoo and condition as well as doing deep treatments, but no gels, custards, leave ins etc etc...

So! Overall I think you just need to consider what ingredients work for you. If sulfate shampoos work for you: go for it. But I would find it hard to believe that having sulfates in a conditioner would work for anyone for any reasons.

I'm going to sound completely uneducated here, but what is 'green washing'?

[leafygreens18]

I'm going to sound completely uneducated here, but what is 'green washing'?

Promoting an image of being very eco-friendly and marketing in such a way to appeal to those who want to use "natural' and "organic" products, despite not really living up to those ideals, so basically trying to get a quick buck off of people who assume the brand is very "natural" "organic" no extra nonsense, but really the ingredients are pretty similar to the typical traditional toiletry products. Appearing to be more environmentally friendly than a company truly is.

I sort of pro con it.

There's some great stuff! Cruelty free, and their commitment to working on being more waste free is amazing! I love the concepts of their naked products and their shampoo bars. I was kind of a lushee for a while though and a big reason I moved away from it was that I was tired of the gimmicky-ness of their products, the jelly bombs, and fidget spinner bubble bars.

In 2009 they made some claims about being palm-free (palm products are controversial because it's best to buy no palm products or conflict free palm products due to unethical business dealings etc etc.) Lush says they won't ever use that label again and are just trying to cut out pal products totally because they believe that a lot of the palm oil and palm product labels and certifications are greenwashed themselves. I love that they're trying to cut out palm oil! Saving orangutans! And I also appreciate that they learned from their mistake as a company.

My main complaint is their use of SLS, parabens, and the way they brush it off when asked. They say they use SLS because customers want their soaps and shampoos to bubble and foam. They use parabens because there's no better alternative (preservatives used in their place are usually things like formaldehyde-releasing preservatives and sodium benzonate and those have their own just as bad impacts on our environment). My main wish is that htey were committed enough to improving and innovating to put money and resources into developing better alternatives. I know it's possible to make products without any SLS type ingredients foam and bubble, it might take more time, more effort, more money, but I know it can happen.

I'm sorry if this is jumbled and there's no real consensus. Really I don't know where I stand. My main thing is that for the expense, I can't compromise for a product with those ingredients. I'm certainly not an angel, but this is just what I know from my fairly shallow research on the Internet. I don't use 100% perfect products or anything so this may seem hypocritical, but I'm trying my best to be an informed consumer. I intend to look into the brands associated with my every day products and maybe I'll write up a similarly long essay on their sustainability.

Overall though, I think it's a better company to support or buy from than many others. Any other former lushees? I love a lot of their scent families. Even though it's sort of the most popular band wagony scent I will always love Twilight or sleepy, and Honey I Washed The Kids. I love Mr. Brightside as well.

[Suortuva]

So I tested the American Cream balsam last night, and it was pretty much what I expected. Nothing really happened, but I can use it. Though I will probably use it for other purposes too, as I mentioned earlier, and not with every wash.

There's was something that initially scared me a bit. This balsam was the only thing I changed in my wash routine (I don't use exactly same products and same combinations every time I wash, but in general it's pretty much the same stuff I know so I know what to expect).

So, when it was time for the last conditioner, my hair was feeling very good after my hair mask. It was silky and tangle free and I was able to run my fingers through the whole length. I was really pleased with that, because my ends are really dry and damaged, and yesterday all my washing/conditioning products happened to be cone free too (I use both cones and cone free products, but I'm usually aware of which is which). Then I proceeded to American Cream and squished it to my hair several minutes while detangling too. And that wonderful feeling disappeared, my hair got tangled and rough again. That scared me a bit... I wonder if it somehow washed out the previous good things from my hair?

But when my hair was air dried, it behaved normally again, I can't see or feel any difference, so that should be good. And there's a faint smell lingering despite my leave in products.

[leafygreens18]

So I tested the American Cream balsam last night, and it was pretty much what I expected. Nothing really happened, but I can use it. Though I will probably use it for other purposes too, as I mentioned earlier, and not with every wash.

There's was something that initially scared me a bit. This balsam was the only thing I changed in my wash routine (I don't use exactly same products and same combinations every time I wash, but in general it's pretty much the same stuff I know so I know what to expect).

So, when it was time for the last conditioner, my hair was feeling very good after my hair mask. It was silky and tangle free and I was able to run my fingers through the whole length. I was really pleased with that, because my ends are really dry and damaged, and yesterday all my washing/conditioning products happened to be cone free too (I use both cones and cone free products, but I'm usually aware of which is which). Then I proceeded to American Cream and squished it to my hair several minutes while detangling too. And that wonderful feeling disappeared, my hair got tangled and rough again. That scared me a bit... I wonder if it somehow washed out the previous good things from my hair?

But when my hair was air dried, it behaved normally again, I can't see or feel any difference, so that should be good. And there's a faint smell lingering despite my leave in products.

I would guess it could be the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate that's in American Cream, detergent in conditioner I think it's okay for most people to use a sulfate shampoo but in a conditioner it seems to be it would be seriously drying.

[Suortuva]

I would guess it could be the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate that's in American Cream, detergent in conditioner I think it's okay for most people to use a sulfate shampoo but in a conditioner it seems to be it would be seriously drying.

Yeah, that's something I really don't understand. Why do they have to put sulfates there, I'm sure it would be better without. Nobody knows what they're thinking...

[renia22]

^ I’ve emailed them before about that and asked. They said SLS is used to help the other ingredients wash out. I’ve also seen that before with isopropyl alcohol in conditioners. If the amount is small, and it’s in a rinse out product, it may be okay for some hair types.

I’ve also seen it used in lotion, with I think is weird (Fruit Of The Earth uses it in lotions), because I thought leaving it on the skin is where people can have an issue. But I’ve heard some chemistry-minded people say that it’s used to help the ingredients stay mixed together, and if the amount is small enough, it’s not necessarily a problem. I do know when they do the irritation patch tests, they use SLS directly on the skin, not diluted with anything, for 24 hours, which isn’t how the ingredient is used in products. Dilution, and the other ingredients used to offset irritation make a huge difference. But I do find it odd to use it in lotion, I can’t seem to wrap my mind around that :/.

[leafygreens18]

Yeah, that's something I really don't understand. Why do they have to put sulfates there, I'm sure it would be better without. Nobody knows what they're thinking...

They've stated a few different reason. One being that "people want their products to lather" and that's honestly probably true. I would assume the general population and particularly people with straight and wavey hair rarely pay much attention to ingredients anyways and just think "oh if it lathers it's working" and their hair is usually coney so it's fine. It's conditioner it so doesn't need SLS.

[Suortuva]

They have listed Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate as one ingredient, and their website says it's some kind of an emulsifier. But, it's the fifth of twenty ingredients in American Cream, I think it's pretty high up...

I don't mind sulfates in shampoos, though I CO wash a lot because I want to wash my hair often, but I really think a conditioner would be nicer without sulfates.

On the other side, I knew this conditioner contains sulfates... But I thought maybe it doesn't matter. Don't know, maybe my hair just needs different kind of products and I'm now used to different kind of results too.