I’ve only recently began using the magic that is the shampoo bar in the past three months. I’ve mentioned a little bit about the dark red mess of hair that plagues me so and as a result of having difficult hair I wasn’t sure how well these SLS heavy bars would work with my thick curly tresses but I’m a risk taker so I did it anyway. For those who aren’t sure SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate) is a powerful surfactant used to create lather and is present in most shampoos, shower gels and anything that produces bubbles. The reason why it is so controversial is because it has been loosely linked to cancer and is proven to agitate problem skin as it is quite drying. Why am I putting this on my head? Because I don’t particularly have a dry scalp, Lush assures us that the amounts of SLS in their products are not enough to be harmful and because it’s pretty damn hard to avoid the stuff. The first bar that I was drawn to was the NEW! bar, packed with spicy cinnamon and fragrant peppermint oil to stimulate the scalp and, in turn, hair growth. I’m trying to grow my hair so the growth stimulating element piqued my interest and I enjoy the smell of cinnamon so I thought I’d give it a shot.

When my Lush parcel arrived I was immediately greeted by a familiar and extremely strong aroma of spicy, medicinal goodness. It dawned on me that this shares its scent with Wiccy Magic Muscles Massage Bar and 93,000 Miles Shower Jelly so I knew to expect a tingling yet cooling sensation upon making contact with my skin. After watching a few tutorials on how to use a shampoo bar (yes really), I wet my hair and rubbed the bar over my hair a few times and a mass of fluffy lather appeared, I popped the bar on the side of the bath (out of the stream of water) and proceeded to massage the suds into my hair. The smell was divine! An uplifting spicy cinnamon dominated smell wafted down from my scalp as soon as I began massaging it in and I have to say I was pretty amazed by the amount of bubbles that this little bar produced. The bar is essentially made from SLS noodles suspended in a solidified blend of oils to nourish the hair and scalp. Unfortunately my hair felt extremely dry after using this bar and I felt I had to double up on conditioner as a result, as I was using American Cream it wasn’t nourishing enough to make up for the moisture lost as a result of using the NEW! bar.

My hands also felt quite dry and puckered after using this bar which I wasn’t a fan of at all. My hair was very shiny but unfortunately it wasn’t anywhere near as nourished as it usually is after washing. I also had a tingly/burning sensation on my scalp for a little while after exiting the shower and wasn’t sure if this was in any way down to the cinnamon/peppermint mixture. Not one to give up easily, I gave this bar another shot and did actually find that it wasn’t so bad the second and third time around but it was still very drying and tingly on my scalp. I’ve never had a problem with itchy scalp or dandruff until using this bar so I’m a little disappointed. I’m not giving up on the shampoo bar idea but I don’t really think this bar is of much use to me and my particular hair type so will only be using this when I feel my hair is oilier than usual. I think this product would suit those with particularly fine or greasy hair to dry it out a little and make it more manageable so by no means should you take my experience as gospel, always try these things out for yourself.

I will say that my hair has grown rather speedily since switching to shampoo bars, I can’t attribute this to the NEW! bar for certain but I do think there is something in the whole scalp stimulation thing! I probably wouldn’t repurchase this as it’s not a great match for my hair type – I think there should be a little more warning of which products don’t suit thicker or curlier hair types where Lush is concerned!