Lush! Travel Toiletries

Okay, so yes, another post on travel beauty supplies. Today, it's all about hair care: shampoo and conditioner. Last weekend, I went to the grand opening of Lush at the Short Hills Mall and bought a bunch of nice things (so this post will also be sharing my little haul).


If you've never been to Lush, I highly recommend you try and find a store near you and if you can't get to one, just browse online. The prices may be intimidating but the products are natural and handmade with little or NO preservatives, they are adamantly against animal testing (which is something that hits me hard when I think about my own dog, George Michael), and they use recycled packaging but many of their products require no packaging (like the solid shampoo I'm about to share).

Solid shampoo and conditioner are great for travel because 1) you do not have to adhere to the 3 oz. liquid limit and 2) it will not explode in your luggage and ruin your clothing. Lush will tell you "this product is good for this because it contains this," but honestly, I just went in and smelled each solid shampoo and conditioner that was available and settled on these two because I just loved how they smelled.

I'm the type of person that prefers "yummy" smells like coconut and vanilla over anything that is overly fruity or herbal (at least for my hair) so you can see, I chose a shampoo that smells like coconut (because it contains hydrating coconut cream), called Trichomania Shampoo, and a solid conditioner that smells like vanilla, called Big Conditioner. The store staff will cut these for you and wrap them up in paper and once you take the product home, you can cut pieces off to use at your leisure and to take with you when you travel. The directions on the website (and in the store) were to wet the product and rub into the hair but what I do is just break off a small piece (the size of 3 or 4 peas) and take them into the shower and just use up those chunks. I prefer this method because the products don't get drenched in the bath. The shampoo is super cleansing but doesn't leave my hair feeling squeaky, just pure clean. The conditioner has bits of salt in it, which give my hair great texture (as it is slightly wavy) yet leaves it feeling soft and not weighed down.

I also purchased a dry shampoo, called No Drought, and this is travel friendly as well. It has a v. subtle smell and it's great for in between washes. Not to gross you out, but I only wash my hair on Sundays and Wednesdays. I had to wean myself off of washing my hair daily nice and slow. I started by just washing it every other day and now I'm down to just twice a week. My hair would get greasy rather quickly but now, it's gotten to a point where I just need dry shampoo on third day hair (and fourth day hair). You see, like the skin on your face, if your scalp feels dry, it will produce more oil. So if you wash your hair everyday and strip your hair and scalp of those natural oils, your body will be in the habit of just producing oils and you will likely have greasy hair unless you wash it everyday. Washing your hair less and less will tell your scalp, "Hey! I'm not washing my hair as often so you don't have to overcompensate with the oil production," and you will be less of a grease monster. I'm not saying that you shouldn't wash your hair everyday BUT personally, I am a little lazy, I don't like to use product in my hair and like its texture as is, and I tend to get lots of split ends so this is just something I do for the benefit of my hair's health.

Now onto a few items I bought in order to treat myself:

The first fun product I want to share is this bubble bar, called Ma Bar. It smells like chocolate and vanilla - just really delicious. The girl who was helping me out said that most of the bubble bars are good for at least 3 baths so that's what made me splurge. I expect it will make lots of fluffy bubbles and pamper my skin. Bonus: this would definitely be travel friendly and it would be a nice way to treat yourself while you are on the road.

I also splurged on this vanilla-scented perfume. I knew I wanted a solid perfume, which is amazing for travel, and this one caught my eye because of the little bits of vanilla bean. It smells really delicious on my neck and wrists - makes me feel like I'm just hanging out a bakery - and the scent lasts a long time.

These next two products, Ro's Argan body conditioner and Lovely Jubblies, are both skin pampering products. I tested both out in the store and I was sold. The body conditioner is something you use in the shower, after you've soaped/used a loofah (whatever you do), and it moisturizes your skin really nicely. And you do this in lieu of using a moisturizer after you've hopped out of the shower. The firming cream, which was made to firm up the skin around your chest, can also be used for any jiggly arm fat, jiggly butts, jiggly thighs, etc. I tested it on my wrist in the store and about 5 minutes later, when I flexed both my wrists, I could compare both and feel a noticeable difference in the tightness of my skin. Neither of these is travel friendly, because they are creams, BUT can be scooped out into smaller containers if need be.

Lastly, I'd like to say something about the customer service at Lush. My sister was unsure about a few of the face products (cleanser, toner, and moisturizer) so the helpful staff offered to make up samples of each (about a week's worth of product) so she could try everything before she made a commitment. I thought that was so nice and it made us want to come back here again and again.

I'd just like to end this post by saying that even though this post seemed more like an advertisement for Lush than anything else, the main message is that solid shampoo, solid conditioner, dry shampoo, and solid perfumes are all great for travel. Also, smelling nice is great for travel as well (and it benefits your fellow travelers too).