LUSH R&B - Revive & Balance Hair Moisturizer

In honor of this past Sunday’s monthly trip to LUSH, I’ve decided to do a little run of LUSH products, starting with R&B.  R&B is short for Revive & Balance Hair Moisturizer.  It is a creamy product, applied to towel-dried hair before blow drying.  Honestly I’m pretty lazy about blow drying these days and love to use this product even when I don’t blow dry.  It still provides a measure of control without stiffness or heaviness.   

The scent of R&B is absolutely lovely.  I guess I would describe it as a lightly flowery citrusy orange blossom.  (I could be wrong about this, but at any rate it’s seriously compelling.)  I don’t usually like to wear citrus or floral scents but for some reason this combination is just the right balance and just the right amount of subtleness and permeation to be addictive.  And it also seems to compliment whatever scents I already had in my hair from my shampoo, conditioner or any other products.  It just adds a little bit of an overtone of delicious citrus to the whole salad of scents already going on.    

No matter how delicious a hair product may smell, the most important thing is how well it works!  I’ve definitely found R&B to improve my how my hair behaves on a daily basis.  I can definitely tell if I’ve forgotten to use it.  It provides moisture and smoothes strands to help combat frizz and dryness.  And you only need a little tiny bit to make a difference.  I usually swipe a fingertip in and grab less than half of a dime-sized amount.  And I’ve had this tub for like 3 months now, and it’s still over a third full.  And if you’re not aware my hair is down to my bar line on my back.  I smooth the little dollop into my palms, flip my head over, and concentrate the application to my ends and then smooth my hands through the rest of my hair.

Overall, I love this product.  Like I do most things I pick up from LUSH.  It’s got a great scent, and works to help tame hair that would go a little wild if left to its own devices.  I think everyone could use a little R&B. 

Scent: 4.75 (The only thing I like better is a sweet but not too sweet vanilla.)
Health: 4.75 (I don’t believe it contains any parabens and some of the ingredients are organic.)
Ethics: 4.75 (Lush is a pretty great company, as I’ve mentioned before, but they still do use parabens in some products.)
Price/Value: 4.25 (It is a big chunk to drop on one product ($20.95 on http://www.lushusa.com/shop) but it’s totally worth it because it is fabulous and that little container will last you a long while.)
Does what it says: 4.5 (Pretty great moisturizer and smoother.)

Overall: 4.75 (Lovely product, totally worth the money!) 

Rainforest Radiance Detangling Spray by The Body Shop

I don't know about any other long-haired girls out there, but I cannot survive without detangling spray.  It is essential for life.  Lol.  Or for convenience anyway.

When showering, I have a specific routine.  I usually shampoo, rinse thoroughly, apply conditioner, and then when I'm done doing everyone else, I slightly wet my conditioned hair and comb the conditioner through it with a wide-toothed comb.  After detangling this way, I rinse, and wrap up my hair to get out of the shower.  Even though I take that extra step to help detangle, by the time my hair has towel dried a little bit in my wrap and I'm ready to comb out and style my hair, there is no way I can just easily glide a comb through it. 

As a result, over the years I've tried many different detanglers.  Most of the ones that you come across for instance in your local grocery store or "superstore" (i.e. Walmart or Target) are really designed for kids and do an okay job without anything fancy involved.  They are pretty much interchangeable and I would usually end up just dumping one into the other as I went and hoping for the best.  But four or five years ago I discovered the Rainforest Radiance Detangling Spray at The Body Shop. 

It actually used to be "Bilberry Detangler" but was reformulated in the last year along with the products that now have become the Rainforest Hair Collection.  The Body Shop has created its own Eco-Responsible, Eco-Conscious product label for items that it specially formats with health and the environment in mind.  The Rainforest Hair Collection has no sulfates, no silicones, no colorants, and no parabens. 

They created their own eco and health-conscious label because there is no set of universal international standards for beauty products.  So they started their own label to put on new or reformulated items that they took special care with to reflect those values.   They don't have many products with the label yet, but I feel that means they are respecting what they've created and aren't just throwing it on anything they feel might look or sound better with it. 

So yeah, back to the Rainforest Radiance Detangling Spray.  It was great when I had it and it was known as the Bilberry Detangler.  I thought that with the reformulation and the elimination of sulfates, silicones, colorants, and/or parabens from that collection that it would probably not work nearly as good and might go back to being just like any other detangler. 

I was honestly really impressed with the new formula.  It definitely works extremely well, and it only takes a few spritzes to make a difference.  Two sprays on top, two with my head flipped over to cover the underneath, and my wide-toothed comb slips right through.  It's amazing.  I highly recommend it for anyone who takes longer then thirty seconds to comb through their hair after towel drying it. 

Scent: 4 (Good, but very faint.  Can't really smell much.)
Health: 4.75 (The only thing it doesn't have going for it is organic ingredients.)
Ethics: 4.5 (The Body Shop is a pretty decent company as discussed in previous posts.)
Does what it says: 5 (An absolutely fabulous detangler & light conditioner.)

Overall: 4.75 (Does a terrific job!)