Solid goodness

I've been using Lush's solid shampoo for quite a few years...it's really easy to use, and takes up a lot less room in my wash bag than a normal bottle of shampoo, oh and it weighs less too. So when planning for this holiday, I've gone to Lush for quite a few of my cosmetic products as they do quite a good range of "should be liquid but we've made them solid" items.

I've added the items to a list on Pinterest - click on any of them above and you'll be taken through to the lush website for more info on the item.

• Toothy Tabs - small pellets of tooth cleaning paste which you chew to turn in to toothpaste for brushing. Now, I've not actually used this yet so watch this space for updates. I bought the Sparkle one...vanilla and pepper flavour!!! I'll let you know what it's like once I try them. 

• Number 1 on my list is the shampoo - I've used quite a few of the different bars. I think they must have a dozen or so different types for all your hair washing requirements. I keep going back to 'Ultimate Shine' as it just seems to work for me! Pros: Small, light, lasts for ages. Cons: If you leave it in water it'll melt and go soggy. If you go to the lush website people have all sorts of ingenious ideas for drying it off before putting it away, but I actually keep mine (and use it) in one of those little mesh bags which were popular a few years ago for putting your washing tablets in the washing machine. This means that I can hang it up to dry in the shower, AND, when the soap bar is too small to use, I pop the next one in the bag and the small one gets used up alongside it

• Metal tins - originally designed by lush to keep the round solid shampoo bars in, and then they expanded to square ones for things like the conditioner and the deodorant bars, and oval ones for the massage bars. They're little stainless steel tins which can be used for everything. Not cheap, but I got mine free when I bought 3 shampoos! They work for loads of things. On this trip I have the conditioner in one, and I'm now going to keep the shampoo just in its net bag, so I can use the shampoo tin for my hand cream bar! Pros: light, reusable, protects the bars from the other contents of your wash bag. Cons: can be difficult to open with went hands!!! (Solution to that is to take the shampoo/conditioner out BEFORE getting into the shower.)

• Next on the list is the solid conditioner block. This is their 2nd solid conditioner. The first was 'Jungle' which I didn't really get on with. There's a bit of a learning curve for some of these products, and Jungle and I just couldn't get along. Now they've brought out 'Big Solid' conditioner, and I'm sold! It's a cream bar which you rub in your hands a bit until there's a creamy residue on your hands, just like a conditioner, which you then rub into your hair. Done! Pros: Smells lovely, leaves my hair very soft. Cons: when you rub it in to your hair, unlike liquid conditioners, you don't get the slippy, detangling feeling you're used to, so initially it can be easy to apply too much. You get the hang of it quite quickly though.

• Finally there's the 'tiny hands' hand cream / moisture cream - a small bar the shape of a tiny hand - which you hold between your palms until a bit melts. It's a satisfying experience. Takes about 10 seconds. You then rub this into your hands, legs and whatever you think needs some moisture. Pros: Lasts for ages, smells nice, disappears into your skin very quickly   Cons: The bar is often a little too greasy to go immediately back in your handbag. So at the moment I'm keeping it in the lush paper bag, but I have just read on the website that people often keep it in one of the shampoo tins, so I'll try that next.

Let me know if you try any of these products. I'm a convert. What do you think?