Skin!

My skin is a bit sensitive. I try to choose toiletries carefully so I thought I’d give you a list here because I’m 39 and to be honest, my skin needs more TLC as I age..... the emphasis here on the TENDER! I've been writing this periodically for months so I can comment on more than just a day or two using each product ;)

Having to wear masks a lot hasn't done much for my skin. I get more spots and dry patches now where the mask touches my cheeks, or steams up my chin. Plus let's face it, I'm nearly 40 and my skin is changing, so recently I've been on a face moisturiser odyssey. Finding something natural is tricksy, but I'm gonna try to give you a good overview of what I've tested in the hope it might be helpful!

Nivea Creme

I had been using the same moisturiser for.... how old am I again?! My God, well over 35 years! My parents used it on me when I was a little girl, on pretty much any bit of skin that needed a little bit of moisture or was a bit sore. Nivea cream was my bae. I have yet to find a part of my skin that this doesn’t soothe. Sore skin, red skin, dry skin, just alllll skin. This was my daily routine in terms of moisture. Straight after a shower I slathered this on to my face, neck and elbows. Often my feet too, then rub the rest into my hands. It was also my night cream. When it comes to a cheap and easy to find cream moisturiser for sensitive and dry skin, I cannot recommend this enough. It has served me well and I will probably always have a pot in my room. Plus you can get it easily in the massive tins now so you don't have to stress about the single use plastic pots. They even have the big metal tins in Poundland right now for £4! I find the smell extremely comforting too and was chuffed to see Nivea make a creme perfume! When I look at the notes I can see why I always loved the smell.... freesia, mandarin and rose are very much in my olfactory wheelhouse. So even if I'm using this less often, I can still enjoy the smell. What I'm saying is that if you have dry skin, are on a budget and don't care about natural ingredients, get Nivea Creme... aka blue nivea. It is a true all-rounder and a classic and frankly, it feels a bit disrespectful to swap to something else because it's got my skin to where I am now! 

Okay so the whole more natural, less chemical thing has turned me away from my one true love. Fine. But I'm not gonna swap it out for just any old shit! I learnt the following in my research; there are lots of "organic" or "natural" moisturisers out there which range from 'well, I guess you can't get more natural than coconut oil' to 'natural my arse!' in terms of ingredients. And they can be £5 or £150. I also learnt that the name indicates the water content, so lotion has a high water content and is therefore good for greasy skin but crap for dry. Cream has a medium water content so is good for combination or average skin. Ointment has a low water content and is great for dry skin but disastrous for greasy. I used to have combination skin but as I've aged it's become drier. My nose can still get greasy but generally speaking, I need some pretty deep and oily cream for my skin!

Lush Skin Drink

The first thing I tried was lush (of course!). Skin drink specifically. It wasn't for me for a number of reasons. Firstly it's so expensive.... £21 for a tiny pot. I wouldn't mind if it worked miracles on my skin, but I actually ended up with little dry patches around my mouth. Possibly the sesame oil wasn't great for me? Not sure, but it seemed to irritate that area so it's a no from me. Plus it smelt and felt like rubbing tahini on my face. Not into it. I returned this for an exchange as it just wasn't the right product for me. On the plus side, makeup stuck to it quite well! Not for me but other people seem to love it. The danger with LUSH though is that they keep discontinuing their products so it's risky to train your skin to love something that might not be available in a years time! I hate their new website too so I'm in a huff with lush right now! I digress! Lush are still using plastic but they used recycled plastic and you can return posts to them when you've finished (or re-purpose them for other things like I do of course!). To be honest I still wish they'd move to glass and metal along with their naked products, because plastic can't be recycled indefinitely!

Lush Dream Cream

Dream cream isn't going anywhere though as it's a best seller! It's really supposed to be a facial moisturiser, but replacing Nivea creme requires a thick and pretty hard-core cream. That actually seems to be pretty hard to find in a cream designed specifically for the face! My dry skin was simply not having it with skin drink (the thickest face cream available at lush and according to reviews, the most oily!) So I thought fuck it! I tried dream cream on my hands and it felt incredible so I bought it. Its £4.50 for a pot the same size as the £21 skin drink, so worth a punt! It's awesome. I can see why it's their best selling item frankly! Quite a similar texture to Nivea when rubbed in but more runny in the pot. Not mad for the smell but it's inoffensive. Some people love it! To me it smells like Lush products before they started to make stuff smell fruity or sugary. This stuff is quite gentle. Genuinely usable on every bit of the body I'd say, but certainly the best thing for the hands I've ever tried. I'm tried using this for my daytime cream and it soaked into the skin enough to add makeup to, but still left the layer of moisture I need to to avoid feeling tight and a bit flaky! I didn't have a ny negative skin reactions to using this on my face for a week or so, even thought it'snot advertised as a face cream. Ps, I accidentally got the old recipe and not the self preserving one (which is more natural!) Because I'm a slap dash doofus when in shops! *UPDATE! I now have the self preserving one. Still great. brilliant on any and every bit of the body. 

Yes to Grapefruit Nourishing Moisturizer

YesTo are a good company if you want more affordable but still slightly more natural products. I love their scrub sticks (even though I wish they would start moving their packing away from plastic) so thought I'd test some moisturisers! 

How to describe this Yesto Grapefruit moisturiser..... the texture is very similar to the E45 you get in the pot. And it feels similar when you rub it in too. Cooling and sort of thick, wet, watery and oily at the same time. It smells very lovely though! Light grapefruit scent. I like it but it stings a bit due to the citrus but it's good for tightening the skin and shrinking the pores. I've been using it occasionally in-between my more oily moisturisers but it's not thick enough for every day use on my thirsty skin!

Yes to Watermelon Super Fresh Gel Moisturizer

I took a bit of a chance with this one as I knew it would be a bit lightweight for my skin in it's current condition, but my god I'm glad I bought it. It smells fabulous.... just like watermelon sweets! It's so fresh and cooling and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be my day moisturiser during the really hot summer days. Let me explain why! *update.... it is great on extremely hot days!

So it's a gel. A thick-ish gel that goes on well, feels watery and leaves a very slightly sticky residue. That makes it a brilliant primer! I tried it with a more matte tinted moisturiser and it looked too matte! I like dewy so I then tried it with my garnier tinted bb cream that I use in summer and it was perfect! This will be wonderful when I'm more sweaty but still want my eyeliner to stay on. Into it. 

Yes to Avocado

This one is harder to find but it might be worth your while tracking a pot down! It's much thicker and sits on the skin more but it's gentle and fragrance free. It also has SPF15! I like this a lot. Ps I originally ordered it from Beauty Bay and it never turned up. I've made a few orders from Beauty Bay and thier customer services are shit so I don't recommend getting any of the Yes To products from them even if thier prices are a tad lower than elsewhere (unless you're cool with a slow "not my fucking problem" sort of response when your delivery gets messed up or the product has exploded all over the parcel!)

This is the thickest Yes To moisturiser I've tried and it's certainly good for dry skin. All the Yes To pots are £10 for a small 50ml pot, which is okay for the quality and cheaper than Lush. I really do hope all these companies trying to be more natural do something about the amount of plastic they use soon though! It sits on the skin and feels more spf-ish but I wore this to Kew Gardens Recently, my make up went on fine and stayed put and I didn't get burnt (although obviously I has a spray SPF for my face too because it was 28 degrees and I'm not a dumb-ass!

Burt's Bees Baby Multipurpose Ointment

I read about this in an article about natural moisturisers recommended by dermatologists. One of the Drs wrote that this was wonderful for people with dry skin. So I ignored the baby element and just focused on the natural lotion. It's a similar price to the other moisturisers I've tried but at £8.99 for 210g (210ml) but is in a much bigger pot, so better value! Oh and it smells wonderful. Sweet and honey-ish (obviously!).

Texture-wise, this is the closest to Vaseline of the bunch. It's thick and unctuous and feels so intensely moisturising. Very gentle. Doesn't sink in for ages so not one to be used in the morning before putting on makeup, but this will be a great night cream when I'm feeling particularly dry. Also will be fabulous on all dry areas of skin that need some tlc, so an all rounder really. Obviously no good for vegans but I think this one is a must have for anyone with dry skin conditions.

Purechimp Natural Face Cream

This is one I found on google when searching for natural moisturisers. There are a number of things to love about this moisturiser. Cheaper than lush. Made in the UK so low carbon footprint. Totally natural ingredients. Glass pot with metal lid. Finally, a face cream without plastic! It's not a large amount for for £10 (60ml), but that's still cheaper than lush face creams and that was what I was aiming for!

This smells delicious, like banana foam sweets! Texture-wise it's actually not too far from nivea. A bit greasier but still quite thick. Somewhere between a cream and a lotion. I wasn't sure how well this would work in the morning after shower / before makeup, because it is pretty oily. Buttery might be the best description! It dries down a bit, but not completely. However my makeup actually went over this without issue! It didn't tingle or sting or itch or irritate me at all, apart from if it got too close to my eyes (which you have to be careful about as it's oil based and can easily get in your lashes and melt down, then it stings!). It's super gentle on the skin though and feels wonderful. This was my new bae for a few months so I got better at not rubbing it into my eyes(!) and my skin liked it a lot. It works with make up if you don't use much of it, but I was using this as a night cream for a month or so and it's very lovely. I even got a second pot to keep at my parents house for when I visit! The only thing I'd say is that the oil forward nature of this cream made my skin more thirsty in-between applications. I would feel pretty dry in the evening and very dry first thing in the morning because the oil had totally soaked in and my skin wanted more. That is where the next product came in handy.....

Purechimp Natural Face Oil

This oil is like a lighter version of the face cream. It's lovely! It actually sinks in and dries amazingly. This is going to come in handy for me when I just feel a bit dry in-between showers. I need something that sits on top of my skin a tiny bit more after a shower, but I really do like this. Like the cream it's gentle so perfect for sensitive skin. It also has a banana scent but it's stronger than the cream and a bit faker. I love it but some may find it a bit odd. The smell doesn't really last long on the face though so I don't think anyone should be put off by this. I've been trying to put my finger on it and I think it smells like banana liqueur! It has that banana candy thing going on, but with more of a tangy hint. Hope that's a helpful description?!

*just a quick note about Purechimp. They seem like a genuinely ethical, natural company who strive for zero waste packaging. They're also super responsive to customers! I contacted them via their website (using my private email address and not mentioning my blog fyi!) to say I love their face cream but wondered if they were planning to produce a day cream with less oil so that people could use it under makeup?. I got a super quick reply from Dean - the Purechimp founder no-less - that said it's hard to produce as adding water to face creams tends to mean that chemicals have to be added too (in order to stabilise it), but he would speak to the UK manufacturer! I really hope they manage it because I already feel like they might be one of my favourite brands..... green tea and all! I think if you are like me, then maybe this one will make your skin too reliant on the oils. It's a bit like some brands of lip-balm in that once you start using it you have to keep topping it up more and more! BUT! if you are already used to oil based products then I think this is the winner of this batch and I highly recommend Pure-chimp for your face cream and oil needs! I love their cleanser too, I use it in the shower between my rougher exfoliating sugar scrub days as it's super soft!

UpCircle Face Moisturiser with Argan Powder

I REALLY wanted this to be my day cream even though at £18.99 for 50ml, it's almost as expensive as Lush face creams!. But it has a glass and metal pot, natural ingredients, recycled argan shells and coffee grounds.... that's amazing in terms of zero waste! VERY sadly it just doesn't seem to be hardcore enough for my dry skin. I felt constantly tight when it dried down. Again, maybe good for super hot days but sadly not the one for my daily moisturiser!

It's a typically creamy texture, not thick but not watery or greasy. I think many people would love this and it would be perfect for combination skin. I'm not at all keen on the scent myself but I suspect that's the argan. I've never liked the smell of argan products, but this also has a citrusy smell that makes me think or Bergamot..... another smell I just don't like! So, great company but not my jam. They've won tons of awards though so this is clearly not how many other people feel about it!

The Good Soap Moisturising Skin Balm

Okay so finally is a discovery that I am sooooo excited about because it has truly ended my search for good! I'm not sure I even remember where I saw the good soap company.... my cookies are pretty much all zero waste / natural moisturisers at the moment so it could have been many places, but thank gawd I found them! This concoction (the base ingredients that are in all their tinned moisturisers) is so wonderful! Metal tin. Amazing price point at £5.50 for 85g (85ml) and only a small amount needed for each application. This stuff is absolutely fucking brilliant!

Let's talk scent! These are properly natural and they smell natural. Very pleasant, not overpowering, but not as yummy or exciting as some of the other creams that have perfume rather than just essential oils or extracts. Having said that, they smell quite like you'd imagine! Orangey, lavenderish, vanillafull! The frankincense one is quite citrusy and the rose one straight up smells like Turkish delight! Rose and tangerine are my favorite smells from this batch although the mint one packs a real punch so might be good for very tired days.... would wake you right up(!), but honestly they're all lovely! The website has info on all the balms and what the individual benefits of the additional ingredients are. 

It's a balm. It's thicccc like me! The closest texture I can think of is a non-greasy lip balm like texture. It's waxy in a very wonderful way. I ordered the lavender and the tangerine & orange balms first and I was instantly impressed. It feels so good on my face. Intensely moisturising but not oily or greasy. It's super smooth and leaves a layer of slightly waxy moisture on the top of the skin. It's absolutely perfect for dry skin. Amazing. I've been using the lavender at night and the tangerine in the morning. I've had no tightness, hardly any dry flaky skin, no irritation, no new or unusual break outs and no stinging eyes.

I loved the first ones I bought so I got over excited and ordered 3 more! One of which is very similar to what I already had. The frankincense balm has the same waxy feel. Its got a nice scent and it's supposedly good for older skin. Oh and my make up goes over this stuff really well! It's almost like putty primer without the quick dry down, now I come to think about it! The vanilla and rose have a slightly different texture due to the addition of cocoa butter. Slightly more greasy but not in a bad way! These are still great on my face (might be ideal for winter!) But I'm using them mainly for other bits of skin. My whole body loves them!

There's no two ways about it, the good soap make my favourite new moisturiser! Natural, non-greasy, great under makeup, gentle, zero waste and deeply nourishing on my face. Only £5.50 for a decent sized pot?! I have all 6 of the tins now and I ordered a pot of the lavender for my mum! I've now got  some of their other products too but I've not tried them yet so won't comment on them all (the lip-balm is brilliant!). They also make moisturiser bars, so 100% zero waste but I struggle with bars as they're just a bit messy no matter how careful you are, so I've not tried those. However, if you want to be a true hero then maybe try one?! The reviews are great. 

So for now it's looking like this. I wash my face in the morning (with Yesto tomatoes charcoal scrub for detoxing, purechimp cleanser for gentle cleaning, or homemade manuka honey and brown sugar scrub for hardcore exfoliation) then moisturise with the good soap tangerine skin balm before doing my makeup. In the evening I remove my makeup with Yesto coconuts micellar water and moisturise with the good soap lavender skin balm! Oh and at the weekend if I don't wanna shower straight away I might use 3 drops of Purechimp face oil to rejuvenate my skin so I can lounge around! My skin is feeling pretty happy right now so I think I have finally found my natural alternatives to Nivea Creme (may she rest in peace!)

Experiments in eco friendly deodorants

 It takes a lot of effort to be ecco friendly. That's not an excuse for not trying but it can be frustrating! I've been trying to use fewer chemicals on my body and in my home for ages, but I've been making more effort recently. Reason being there are far more natural and plastic free products out there nowadays, so it's not quite as pricey or tricky to find what you want and be able to afford it too!

Of course it's hard to argue that you're saving the planet if the products you use have to be flown here, but one step at a time, eh?!.

I've learned a fair bit about armpits doing this, so I'll start by saying that it's worth trying a little armpit detox between going from regular deodorant to natural. Apparently a bentonite clay and cider vinegar mask is great but I used a charcoal soap scrub that I already had and charcoal is also reccomend to remove toxins.

Wild deodorant

So this is the trickiest change so far..... Deodorant. I've been on quite the journey! I saw Sophie Hagen (a comedian I like) talking about Wild Natural Deodorant and I decided to try it. The fact that she had her own discount code didn't put me off because I didn't think she would advertise a productive that didn't work. Fookin' 'ell though..... it didn't work for me! I read all about the transition period but whoa! Two week in and my armpits smelt like curry. Seriously. Onion heavy curry! Horrendous! Even taking two showers per day (which isn't very ecological is it?!) And applying more than once per day, it did nothing to stop body odor. I've never really had B.O before, not unless I've forgotten to use deodorant for a couple of days, but I know that might be from all the chemicals I've been slathering on my pits for most of my life. Wild, unfortunately, just didn't work for my body chemistry. I read this very helpful blog after the 12 days and contacted Wild who kindly refunded me. It must work for lots of other people as the reviews are mainly good. But if you wanna try wild, maybe don't jump in head first (like I did) and buy the smallest pack possible. Or better, go to ebay! I listed the unused bits of my set with the cleaned case cheap, because chucking it in the bin is a waste and not at all eco friendly. I saw a few wild sets on there so worth getting some to try on the cheap as wild don't offer samples or minis.

I think in a very real way this was just too creamy for me. Too sticky even when using a small amount. I have no gap between my body and arms so it does tend to get a bit hot and moist in my pits because of this. I think wild actually created the perfect environment for bacteria. I don't know if it was my skin type not absorbing it (I tried all different amounts!), my pits not getting any air or the fact I don't shave, but it just didn't work. It got increasingly worse until I found myself having to detox my armpits with my yes to tomatos charcoal stick! Before another week of getting them back to a happy place with the next deodorant.....

Salt of the earth crystal

To try and get me back on track I got this little crystal. Well what a bloody genius thing this is! It's a block of natural mineral salt (potassium alum) which is not the same thing as aluminium.... the stuff that blocks pores and stops you sweating. This is just supposed to be a deodorant, not an anti perspirant but it keeps my arm pits drier than anything I've used before. I went for the crystal in a box rather than the one in a plastic caseing. Basically I rub it on my armpits as soon as i get out of the shower because it needs water to transfer to skin. Then dry it off and pop it back in it's box or put it in a little dish. I think this block will last a long time, so it's the best value deodorant I've ever come across. It's fragrance free and it turns out my natural underarm smell is pretty neutral and nice.

A note on specific use. I rub the crystal all over my pits while still wet after a shower and make sure I slide it over the whole area at least three times. Then I rinse the top, dry it on a corner of my towel and pop it back in it's lovely dish. No lid so it drys properly! Once a month I use a fine nail file to take the top layer off the crystal so it's always super fresh. My armpits dry down impressively quickly. I think they are slowly loosing the discolouration that (as it turns out) was caused by my old deodorant and it doesn't seem to stain clothing. As it's not a powder or balm it doesn't get on clothing when you pull stuff over your head. It is really brilliant. I'm so glad I tried it and I think it will be a life long buddy now. Hoping one day my partner will try it out too and we can both go plastic free!

Natural deodorant company

I love the crystal but I read that the lack of chemicals in natural deodorants mean that sometimes your body gets used to them and they stop working, so apparently it's good to switch between different types. That's why I also ordered some balm to try. I got a the mini tester pack to see how I got on with a balm. Drier than wild for sure. The active one is unsurprisingly(!) the most effective of the batch. Unfortunately the company say this one shouldn't be worn everyday, just on particularly active ones, so I also tried the clean one (their regular deodorant) too. It doesn't work for me! After a few days use I sensed B.O by the end of the day. And prolonged use of the clean one gave me the curry smell again. I wonder if that's due to having more moisture under my arms because this is a balm and doesn't dry out the skin the way the crystal does. On the plus side they all smell so yummy! The nice thing about the small pots for these samples is that they're metal (good for the environment!) and the size of a lip balm so easy to take with you places. The gentle one now lives in my work bag and it's very handy in that it will work for a short term use if I have an overnight stay somewhere (or forgot to put my deodorant on in the morning before I left the house!) The regular pots are pretty hefty and are glass. For me personally, I'm not too enamored with deodorant balms. This is way better than wild as it isn't as moist and sticky, but I'm not keen on having to use my hands to get it out the post and rub it into my pits. Works ok with hairy armpits though as it doesn't clump and drys down quite well. felt similar to the Mitcham solid stick deodorants I used to use when on! If the active one was okay for daily use this might have worked better for me? Who knows?!

LUSH Aromaco 

Aromaco from Lush was always going to appeal to me. It's a block that you rub on, it's plastic free and many people swear by it. It's relatively cheap by Lush standards, this block was cut fresh for me and cost around £3. The sticking point for me immediately is the scent. Wow it is pungent! If you like patchouli you won't blink an eye, but if  you don't then you might actively dislike the very strong smell. So first application and I was surprised by how soft this was. Texture-wise it reminded a lot of the wild deodorant.... I ended up having to rub it in with my hands like a balm. I wasn't expecting that because I watched some reviews of people using this before buying it and some said you should hold it against your skin to warm it up so it glides on easily. I didn't need to do that, it went on super quickly and thickly!

The scent didn't give me a headache but it was very noticeable everytime I moved my arms. The problem for me is that patchouli just isn't in my personal sphere of perfume notes! Basically it fights against my hair and skin products and my perfume. And wins most of the time! But oddly it started to grow on me as the first day went on. It reminds me of old school lush products. The stuff that always smelt like the 60s. Hippy smells! I love Karma products from Lush and that has patchouli in it (along with  a fizz that makes me think of jaffa oranges and cola!). What I can say is that I think this would be a wonderful smell on more masculine folk..... it would be a bit like a cologne and deodorant in one.

LUSH The Greench

Lush the Greench powder deodorant had to be on my list to test. I love lush and much prefer the idea of rubbing a bit of dry powder into to my pits rather than a balm! I also liked the sound of the herbal smell so I had to try it out. The other thing that appealed to me with this was that it should be easy to use anywhere that gets sweaty. And for many plus size women, that's more than just the armpits! I don't know if people use it for under-boobs and other areas and if it's gentle enough to do so, but I thought it might work! I was sooooo excited about the Greench! I read some reviews and they were interesting. When I bought it I tried a bit on my hands and suddenly knew exactly what the reviewer who said she smelt like a roast chicken meant! The thyme really comes through and my hands did have a savoury sorta vibe, so I was a bit worried about what my armpits would smell like after putting this on them!

So then, first application. It felt wonderful on my skin! I loved how it made my dry armpits feel silky and smooth. And the smell? There wasn't really much of a smell. Certainly no roast chicken for me! I was really into this one at first. My pits felt good. I did sweat, but not much. I didn't have much of an aroma for most of the day so I was excited that this might be my 2nd effective natural deodorant! The plastic bottle wasn't ideal but I know Lush use recycled plastic and there is a lot of product in here considering how little you need to use per day (it will last for quite some time I think!) However, by the end of the day I could definitely smell some B.O. Not loads, but enough to notice if I gave my pits a good sniff! By the morning there was a proper funk. Interestingly though, it was a very different sort of smell to the curry like hell I experienced with the more balmy natural deodorants. It was a nice musk. The sort of musky sweat that's full of pheromones and is oddly comforting! I'm torn on this one. I wanted it to work but as a deodorant it wasn't very effective. I didn't know if I should just keep going with it to see if I just needed to get used to it. One day doesn't seem like a fair fight really. God who knew my armpits would be this hard to please?!

My final thoughts are thus; sticky, balmy, natural deodorants don't work for me. I suspect that a powdered deodorant would work eventually if I detoxed and retrained my armpits, but frankly I don't have the inclination to go through another transition period when it comes to B.O. I wish I'd started with the Greench rather than suffering through wild, then the natural deodorant co. A month of curry pits put me right off trying again for a while! 

I'm super happy with my salt of the earth crystal. Now look..... I am hyper aware that many people give up regular deodorant to avoid aluminium and may think that a more natural equivalent like potassium alum will still block pores (because it definitely works as an anti perspirant compared to the other things I've tried) BUT it is honestly the easiest transition. It's been used for many years all over the world as a deodorant and it's definitely more body safe than store bought deodorants. Even better is that you can buy just the crystal. Zero plastic, zero waste. It's a fiver and it's probably going to last for a year!

So that's my recommendation. Salt of the earth deodorant crystal. The plastic free one! It doesn't need a plastic holder I promise you. The second in line (if you can take the time to transition!) is the Greench from Lush. It felt lovely and I suspect when my body got used to it I wouldn't have b.o by the end of the day. And I do feel like the more musky smell from this one was a good sign as it didn't make me wrinkle my nose or feel paranoid. It felt like a cleaner sweat if that makes sense? 

I hope this is helpful to someone out there trying to go a bit less toxic!

UPDATE!

Just a heads up, I finally found a natural spray deodorant that contains Potassium alum (and therefore works!). Salt of the earth make sprays but they come in plastic bottles. To be fair they also make really big refills to save you buying a new little spray every time, but still.... tons of plastic waste. Cowshead comes in a glass bottle. I have to say that this is easy to use and effective, but it's also very masculine smelling to my nose - It must be the ceder-wood?! The scent didn't work for me but it's now in the bathroom and my partner is using it, the fragrance suits him much better than it does me!

LUSH Hair

 In most situations I look for a bargain. I tend to steer away from luxury brands when it comes to cosmetics and toiletries. I used to be a head and shoulders 2-in-1 kinda girl (because I had some dandruff once when I was a teenager) and washed my hair every day. 

Hair dried naturally and then styled in mini buns for a few hours, after using daddy-o & angel hair shampoo then aga's conditioner. Plus increasing white hairs!

My hair has changed a lot.... When I was young it was hella straight, very fine hairs but lots of them! Over the years I permed it, dyed it, straightened it, tonged and bleached it. Now it's got a bit of a frizzy waves thing going on if dried naturally, and the white hairs are much thicker and coarser than the dark brown ones, so I've had to change with it. People have been telling me for many years that I should stop washing my hair everyday. The thing that persuaded me was Jonathan Van Ness (bless him!), when he said Imagine what your favourite t-shirt would look like if you washed it every day. Yep. That one sank in! Plus long hair takes forever to dry and style and as I said, my hair has changed. If I just let it dry naturally nowadays I look like I've been dragged through a bush backwards! I don't want to spend an hour on my hair every friggin' day! So a few years ago I started washing it every 2 days, then 3, then 4. Nowadays I have wash day where it's washed and freshly styled, day two where I can just brush it and wear it down again, day three when I use dry shampoo and wear it down, then day 4 when I create an up-do. The bonus being that clean hair won't stay up in a do, but unwashed hair is great for plaits and buns etc! Sometimes I do an extra up-do day if I know I want fresh hair for a special occasion.

Angel Hair Shampoo Bar - The most gentle shampoo you'll ever find

So anyway, if you're washing your hair less often, the products you use and how you use them are extremely important. I knew re-training my scalp was going to mean having gross hair for a while, so I also accepted that stopping using head and shoulders would make my scalp an itchy, flaky nightmare too! Obviously when your scalp gets reliant on anti dandruff shampoo, you're gonna get dandruff when you stop using it, but honestly.... I don't have bad dandruff and I probably never did. The first month of changing products was greasy, itchy and flaky as fuck! But worth the pain to get past the reliance on a bottle of chemicals, right?!

Daddy-O shampoo - For White and blond hair to get rid of brassy tones (but works on really dark hair too!)

Now then. Let's not mess around. LUSH is everything and everything is LUSH! Lush isn't cheap, but when you find the right products for you, it's worth every single penny! I'm not sponsored by lush btw, I just absolutely love a lot of what they make. In fact, my bathroom is (almost!) entirely lush. I'll write more about the body stuff in my skin post, but for now, lets just say that I have tried almost every hair product they make and I know what works for me. I'm gonna tell you about it now!

Stage 1

Brush hair before getting it wet!

Flyway Hair Shampoo Bar - Gives body to fine hair

Stage 2 & 3

Lather, rinse, repeat! Not necessary if you wash your hair every day or every other day, but after 4 days, shampoo it twice dude! The first wash takes off the grease and build up. The second really washes and cleans the hair. If you think your shampoo isn't lathering up very well, that's probably because it's just taking a layer of grease off. repeat it and you will notice a massive difference in the lather, I promise!. Now then, LUSH shampoo bars are the dogs bollocks. As with most products you have to find the best ones for you and I use two that contain sodium coco sulphate. I actually don't have anything against sodium lauryl sulphate (the liquid shampoo's I use contain it!) it's just that I really like Angel hair and Flyway hair. For the record, before these were released New was my favourite and it was EXCELLENT for getting me through the rough patches when my scalp was confused! 

Wasabi Shan Kui Shampoo - stimulating and generally a great all rounder!

The liquid ones I use are Daddy-O and Wasabi Shan Kui. What I use depends on how I want to style my hair because they all have different qualities, but generally speaking it goes angel hair followed by Wasabi or Daddy-O followed by Flyway. Angel and flyway have very subtle fragrances that don't really stick around, Wasabi has a delicious citrusy smell that stays fresh, but Daddy-O is STRONG! It leaves hair smelling like a less sugary parma violet. It's amazing, but not for the faint of heart! 

Angel hair & wasabi shampoo, then glory conditioner. Blow dry and hot brush.

Notes - for gods sake don't shampoo the ends of your hair! They're already dry enough without stripping them of even more moisture and remember, they'll get some shampoo when you rinse out what you've used on your scalp. Concentrate on the scalp and a few inches of hair from the roots. Make sure it's all properly rinsed out!

Glory conditioner - Hardcore conditioning

Stage 4

Conditioners from LUSH are basically hair fragrances. I can tell you which ones are fabulous conditioners, but in terms of scent it will be very much personal to what you like! On the plus side Lush will give refunds or exchanges for products if you don't like them, they're amazing like that. I'm super fussy about scent, so some of their best products are smells that I can't deal with because they don't suit me, but I'll shout them out anyway! For instance Power is the best conditioner they make. perfect for every styling option you ever want for your hair. It used to be called hair necessities and I loved it. It smelt like maple syrup and cake to me, but it was recently re-branded as an afro hair product and the scent was changed. Heart broken to report that I hate the new scent.... dunno what it is. Jasmine maybe? Whatever it is I couldn't deal with it on my hair so I had to exchange it. The conditioning though, is still amazing. World changing! Softening without the build up of silicone that high street brands leave on hair. If you dig more floral scents then I recommend this above all others. I'm sure it's wonderful on afro hair, but it's also brilliant on my hair which is fine and relatively straight, so you know it's an all-round banger of a product!

 The other conditioner I love but sometimes the scent can be a bit much, is Candy Rain. Fantastic conditioner with a super sweet candy smell. If you like scents that some others may consider sickly sweet then this is their 2nd best conditioner after Power! Particularly good scent combo with daddy-o as it makes me smell like a sweet shop! I am currently also using the following..... Aga's is good for natural days as it doesn't seem to be the best for styling, but it smells fruity, like sweet plums and Ilove the scent! It's not going to work if you need quite intensive conditioning but if you want a light conditioner that smalls amazing then this is for you. Glory is the deepest conditioner and it's my new favourite. It's so good for wavy days where I use a hot brush or straighteners to make my hair a bit Jessica Rabbity! How to describe the scent..... there is definitely a lime-vibe along with some florals, so it's great with Wasabi shampoo. All the other conditioners I’ve tried from lush (most of them now!) haven’t given me the softness I like, so the ones above are the only one’s I’d recommend.

Aga's silver conditioner - Another anti-brassy product

Notes - Slather generously (depending on length of hair!) on to the ends and lengths of hair, and massage in to the hairs. NEVER THE ROOTS! If you want flat hair and greasy roots then go ahead, but honestly, conditioner is not made for all over the head! I leave it on for a minimum of 3 minutes while I wash my face and clean my body, then I use a brush that I keep in the shower to brush the conditioner through and remove the tangles. The conditioner helps the brush to move through the hair and also gets rid of knots that would be problematic when styling. I leave it for another minute or so then rinse rinse rinse!

Day one of a good hair wash! My hair needs a trim so split ends are my fault, not Lushes!

Honorable mentions!

Damaged Hot oil treatment. If I want a deep conditioning I'll use one of these bad boys. All over the head and scalp once in a blue moon and it feels like my hair has been on a spa day!

Revive hair moisturiser (used to be called R&B!). I cannot explain how surprised I was by this product. I have tried SO many things to tame the bottom of my hair and make it smoother and less frizzy, when I brush it the day after styling. I was sure that this would be heavy, greasy, sticky..... but it just works wonders! You only need a TINY amount. rub between your hands and then smooth over the ends of your hair and it just calms it down. It has a floral smell that people often notice and (positively!) comment on. It's so good for wavy or curly hair. a Miracle product! If your hair goes frizzy at the bottom when you brush it (or you want defined curls!) Then this might change your life!

No drought dry shampoo powder. This smells like sherbet! I used to use batiste (didn’t everyone?!) But wanted something a little less toxic. The lush dry shampoo isn't for everyone though. If you have dark hair then this might be too noticeable. It's fine on me thanks the all the greys. It's also a bit heavy. Needs to brushed regularly to keep it looking fresh, but I've found that with most dry shampoo to be honest. 

I tried this once before and was like.... errr how do I use this?! It comes loose in a bottle so how do I avoid chunks and lumps if I just put it on to my head? You shouldn’t really use hands or the oils from there make a paste right? Thankfully a reviewer on lush fixed everything. Kabuki powder brush! I’m considering putting some in an old loose face powder tub too. Best smelling dry shampoo and pretty dang natural!

Whoop, there it is! The day three greasy crown.

So here is my day three greasy hair. I just dust the powder on the use the dense brush to buff it into the hair. It's pretty effective. 

Just try not to use too much or it will get a bit cakey! For those of you who don't want the faff then I use a spray dry shampoo too and that will be in my next hair post!

So to sum up, lush has helped me completely revitalise my hair routine and made my hair fabulous again. It seems hard to believe that a four day old unwashed head of hair could still smell lovely, but it does! My hair just doesn't smell dirty. If I wear it up to bed or when cooking ect, I can smell the lovely scents the moment I take it down. I know my scalp still smells good too because my partner is always sniffing my hair when we're snuggling! 

So then.... day by day shots!

Day 1- wash day! Daddy-o and angel shampoo then candy rain. Blow dried, lower section curled with straighteners and diffused at the roots. I have accepted that my white hairs are pretty wild and like to stick up and out.... I don't try to tame them as it helps with the volume. Big hair that smells like a sweet shop!

Day 2 - just wake up and brush! I sleep with it down on the first night as I find it stops my scalp getting a bit hot and therefore a tad greasy overnight. I put it in a bun and wear a (super sexy.... you know it!) Shower cap while showering so it doesn't get wet or steamed. This way I get a slightly less bouncy but very similar style as the day before.

Day 3. Dry shampoo on the roots and a good brushing!

Day 4. Up do day! My hair is a bit more solid on day 4 so it lends itself to styles that wouldn't hold well if it was all silky! Ponytails are always better with greasy hair (in my humble opinion!).

Big post about a small thing. Some things in life you just have to be evangelical about.... one of those things for me, is LUSH hair care!

I'll do another post asap with the non-lush products I use on my hair because as much as I'd love to be full lush, there are still a few things that they haven't perfected for my sort of hair. Only a few though!