Years ago, I stumbled upon this post on solid shampoo by Alex in Wonderland. As I read a lot of travel blogs, it was just one article among a sea of others. But later in 2015, as I planned my trip to Egypt, I was trying to figure out how to limit the amount of liquids that I’d take to Egypt. On previous trips to Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, I had either checked my main bag, or checked a smaller bag that only contained sunscreen. I didn’t want to do that this time, so I started pouring through the blogs I read to figure what solid products they recommend. I remembered Alex’s post on the Lush Solid Shampoo, so when I found myself in a Lush store in Miami, I decided to pick some up.
Solid Shampoo
I have 3 solid shampoos from Lush: New (red), Brazilliant (orange), and Montalbano (yellow).
In preparation for my trip to Egypt, I tried out New first. It is a spicy clove-cinnamon bar. I thought I’d love it, as I like eating that flavor…but when using this product…it felt like it was burning my hair. Still, I thought maybe I was doing it wrong, or maybe it was the wrong scent for me.
Thankfully, I had picked up Brazilliant, an orange/citrus scent. I brought this to Egypt…but didn’t get the hang of using it. I was also staying in nice hotels that had little hotel shampoo bottles…so ended up not using it.
Now in 2017, I decided to give it another try. (Third times a charm right?) So I picked up a scent I know I like: a citrus-rosemary scent called Montalbano. And finally, I used it how you were supposed to, by wetting the hair, then turning off the water, lather, and then rinse. I loved this scent (so much that I ended up using this as soap…and at one desperate attempt, to help my laundry soap smell a little fresher.) Now that I know how to properly use it I would highly recommend these instead of lugging around liquid shampoo!
A word on storage:
My first few attempts I just had the bars in baggies. These aren’t great in the shower, or for storage. I know Lush sells a metal tin, but I’ve read reviews that it is hard to open. Another option is a medium GoTubb, which fits Lush’s solid shampoo exactly. But I went with a traditional travel soap dish, that could hold a solid shampoo, half of a solid conditioner, and a small bar of hotel soap. Just make sure not to leave any water in it, or the bottom of your bar will turn into liqufied goo.
Solid Conditioner
I’ve had two different solid conditioners from Lush. The first one (which was the only solid option at the time), I hated. It was mush smaller than I expected and felt really waxy. It appears that version of the product is no longer for sale, so for my Panama trip, I tried one of the new solid conditioners, this green one is called Jungle, and it is good for softening and taming wild hair. I liked it. It had a little different smell than I wanted, but it made my hair smooth and tangle free, which is a miracle on a beach vacation! I did feel though that the shampoo bar would last a lot longer than this one, but I usually over use conditioner at home too.
Solid Toothpaste
For my Panama trip, I decided to go all in on solid products. Sink or Swim, I thought. Either this would work, or it would be a complete disaster. But I was determined to only carry-on my luggage. So I picked up Lush’s Miles of Smiles Tooty Tabs. And? No, didn’t like them. The humidity did something weird to these things, and they just didn’t taste right. I’d rather bring real toothpaste next time. I wouldn’t say it was a dissaster, just not a hit with me.
Non-Travel Products
The following products are products I like from Lush, but wouldn’t ever travel with.
The first is a lovely lip sugar scrub called Mint Julips, it just smells and tastes good and makes my lips feel replenished. The middle is a jasmine sea salt shower scrub called Rub Rub Rub. I love jasmine tea, and this smells exactly like it. The salt scrub also leaves a nice moisturizing feeling. And then the last is called Green Fun. Think of modeling clay that smells of lemon-lime and could be used as soap, and that is what Fun is. It’s a weird product, that as it gets wet it can lather up and form green bubbles.
This review is my own thoughts. I was not contacted or paid by Lush. All products were paid for by myself. There are no affiliate links in this post. I make no money if you make any purchases.
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