I’ve known about LUSH Solid Shampoo Bars for a long time now, but I’ve never had the guts to try one out. To be honest, they most of them really just looked like rabbit food and smelled weird to me. That was, until I tried out the LUSH Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar ($10.95 USD / $10.95 CDN)…okay, maybe it doesn’t look any prettier than the others, but at least it smells great!

The Packaging

LUSH prides themselves on selling their products “naked”, as they like to say. With no packaging (except a small yellow paper bag that doubles as an amazing sock-drawer freshener after the product is long gone).

However, they do offer re-usable metal tins for some of their body products like massage bars, body butters and these, the solid shampoos ($3.95 each, but I believe they are free with the purchase of 2+ items for that tin). Not only are the tins great for storing in the shower, but they make traveling with your LUSH goodies a breeze.  They can get a little gross because there are no hole drains in it, but overall its a favourable solution.  I also found Karma Komba to be very fragrant, so keeping it in its little tin helped to reduce scenting my entire apartment.

LUSH Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar & Tin

The Product

So why on earth would you want to switch from traditional shampoos to a solid one?  These small little hockey pucks contain no preservatives yet provide the same amount of shampoos as a regular 250g bottle of liquid shampoo. They are also amazing for traveling and space saving, and even camping (they can double as detergent for muddy pants or dirty socks). Overall they are incredibly useful and while cutting out all the unnecessary ingredients, these fresh shampoo bars leave you with only the essentials.

The Karma Komba bar in particular is formulated with patchouli and citrus to soften hair and detangle (and it does an incredible job of doing so)!  It’s scented with the famous LUSH Karma scent, an invigorating orange citrus fragrance that is supposed to boost your mood and it really leaves a lingering smell on your hair too.  I was surprised at how well it detangled my hair, and how soft it left my locks!  Another bonus? They help at keeping dandruff at bay.

To use, the product is extremely simple. Wet your hair, rub it a bit on your head and then lather.  It’s really concentrated and potent, so you’ll notice it lathers really well right away!  It rinses easily, however since I found it to be so clarifying I definitely needed to use a conditioner afterwards at least on the ends of my hair.

LUSH Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar

LUSH Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar

LUSH Karma Komba Solid Shampoo Bar

Summary

• Price: $10.95 USD / $10.95 CDN
• Availability: LUSH
• Selection: About 15 solid shampoo bars total- see them all here.
• Overall: I’m really glad I got up the courage to try one of these out, because I was pleasantly surprised and I’m definitely going to continue to use it.  It leaves my hair so soft and it makes detangling a dream!  It’s quite clarifying, so I may not use it everyday, but I love the whole concept of these solid shampoo bars.  The Karma fragrance is really nice, but very strong so you might have to keep it in a tin to prevent scenting your whole bathroom!
• Rating: A