I thought I'd share this ... I used to have to pass the Lush shop every day on my way to work and used to curse its ponginess, but thanks to a couple of washes with their products I now have shiny hair for the first time in years :)
Here is the background. I have thick, wiry hair that varies in texture: some bits are quite ringletty, some bits are almost straight, and some bits are in between. It's always been pretty dry, despite doing lots of deep conditioning treatments, but after two pregnancies it was so dry that I couldn't do anything with it, and every day was a bad hair day. In fact I got so fed up with it that a couple of weeks ago, I had a go at cutting it myself, thinking that I couldn't make it much worse than it was. (I should say that I do have reasonably regular cuts with a decent hairdresser, but even so, he's not a miracle worker.)
I probably didn't make it worse, but it still (predictably) looks awful, and it's much shorter than I intended (it was between jaw and shoulder length before). After sulking about it I decided I'd try to draw something positive from it all by tackling the condition so that it might at least grow back less hideously dry. After doing some research online I decided to find an SLS-free (sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate) shampoo, and to lay off all the anti-frizz and styling gunk and instead only use olive oil to tame it. A couple of people I know love Lush stuff, so I went to my local branch and after asking the advice of one of the staff, I came out with Curly Wurly shampoo and Retread conditioner. Each cost nearly a tenner for a smallish tub, which is way more than I normally pay for hair stuff.
I've now done two washes with both, and I'm so pleased with the results. My hair feels soft and shiny, and parts of it are even formed into smooth curls, as if I'd tonged it. This has never happened before! After washing I scrunched in a tiny bit of olive oil then dried it with a diffuser, then used a little bit more oil to calm it down. Before my hatchet job I was using serum followed by large-ish dollop of styling creme mixed with gel, plus a bit more styling creme on the days I didn't wash it. If I'd diffuser-dried it without the styling products in the past, I just ended up with wire wool. So, I'm thinking that maybe the extra cash I fork out on the shampoo and conditioner might be saved by not using as many styling products. I might even be able to grow my hair past my shoulders this time - previously my hair has been too unmanageable to have it longer than that.
I have to say that the Curly Wurly shampoo is a weird texture: it's thick and difficult to spread around, it doesn't lather that much, and it's full of bits of coconut. I've found it useful to spread it between my hands with a little water, spread it as best I can over my head, then splash on a bit more water as I'm rubbing it in to help emulsify it a bit. The coconut bits wash out quite easily and I was surprised at how clean my hair felt afterwards. The conditioner is a more conventional texture, although it does smell a bit weird while you're using it. But once it's rinsed out my hair smelt really nice.
I don't normally review or rave about products, but since I've benefited in the past couple of weeks by reading other people's dry hair tips online, I thought I'd be a good citizen and share mine! :)