Lush H'Suan Wen Hua

I've been meaning to buy H'suan Wen Hua for a long time, ever since reading a review of it here back in the day. A few weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and treated myself, mainly due to my dissatisfaction with my shampoo and conditioner and wanting to put a bit of life and gloss back into my hair. Here are my experiences:

THE PRODUCT AND ITS PROMISES
H'Suan Wen Hua is one of Lush's hair conditioning products. This one describes itself as a hair moisturiser - moisture is something most hair craves, as showers and baths are actually quite dehydrating to our skin and hair, and my hair especially really benefits from products with moisturising properties.

The moisturising treatment comes in quite a large pot by Lush standards - 225g in total - however, apart from the size, the packaging will be familiar to regular Lush shoppers. As packaging go, it's simple and to the point - it's no larger than it needs to be, refreshingly the pot it filled to the top and lid screws on securely. I've travelled no further with this than from the shop to my home, but this will travel well, I believe. Of course, I would never take the chance with this and would definitely put it in a plastic bag to protect the rest of my belongings if I were to travel with this.

From an environmental standpoint, this packaging is as friendly as possible, with no unnecessary extras. Lush also offer a free face mask to anyone who returns 5 black pots to store, which is a great initiative.

A full list of ingredients is clearly displayed on the label, so you can be 100% sure of what goes into the product and all other important relevant information can also be found. A neat little touch is the inclusion of the date the product was made, the name (and a pictorial impression) of the person who made it and the use-by date. Mine has a use-by of around 2.5-3 months, which I think is reasonable.

The product doesn't really make any huge claims or promises, which I guess is refreshing - it merely claims to be a 'mega treat' from the 'God of hair'. Ok, you could say that Lush claiming the product is 'god of hair' is a bit of a claim, but this is apparently due to the product's name, which apparently means 'God of Hair' in Cantonese.

WHAT'S IN IT
Since the ingredients are listed in full both on the packaging and on the internet site, I don't feel the need to give it here.

There are only 5 listed synthetic ingredients contained in this product, and several of the natural ingredients are also organic. Some interesting ingredients include fresh free range eggs, which contain loads of proteins and are great for your hair, bay leaf infusion which is 'stimulating, toning and clarifying for the scalp' and balsamic vinegar which adds shine.

The product is suitable for vegetarians, although not in this case for vegans. The product has not been tested on animals and as Lush actively campaign against testing for animals, they won't use ingredients that have either.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
When you first open the pot, you'll be greeted by quite an overwhelming scent. The product doesn't look anything special. To my mind, it looks like some kind of baby food, like puréed bananas or something. The smell is much stronger though, if you really stick your nose in it makes me think of some kind of cold remedy, something that will unblock your airways, without smelling minty. It's quite a Christmassy smell to my mind, very spicy and there's definitely a strong whiff of cinnamon in there. I couldn't make up my mind whether I liked the smell to begin with, but I have decided that I do, it's a real blend and I like its complexity. If this is a product you're considering trying, you definitely need to get your nose in a pot before you do...

USE
The directions for use are incredibly simple. Massage loads into dry hair, leave for 20 minutes, then wash and condition your hair as normal.

The first time I used this I was a bit frugal and only applied enough that all my hair was coated, since then I've been much more generous and really piled it on. It's a bit messy to apply, you just have to get your hands in there. It might seem quite runny but I find that it's only messy in that your hands get covered. I didn't really think to put a towel on my shoulders the first time I used it and it was only afterwards I realised I'd been quite lucky that the treatment didn't drip and make a huge mess everywhere. Indeed, once it's on my hair, it stays there and even getting it from the pot to my hair I've always managed to do it without a single drip. If you touch your hair though it will transfer, so be careful about letting your head come into contact with pillows, cushions etc. Since I've not made a mess with it (yet), I can't really comment too much on how easy it would be to remove any staining. The odd few traces on my towel from wiping my hand all came away without any fuss in the wash, and I certainly don't think it's a product that is likely to ruin anything in your house.

So a big thumbs up from me for the simple, hassle-free application. The smell while it's working its magic is pretty evident once you have it on your hair, for these reason it's a good idea to make sure you like the scent. Of course, you could always take the risk that it's just a case of putting up with it for 20 minutes and then washing it away...

THE RESULTS
...no such luck I'm afraid. The product washes away with ease and you can feel the results straight away. I wasn't blown away, but I was happy to see that my hair felt smoother as I washed it out than it would normally. It does feel like there's a product in my hair (which I guess is logical because there is) but not in a heavy way. I wash and condition my hair as normal and find the effect of the treatment can still be felt - for example, my current shampoo leaves my hair feeling quite dry when I rinse it out, with H'Suan Wen Hua on my hair before I shampoo, I can feel the difference. It's definitely not as good as my John Frieda Brilliant Brunette experience (and that's WITHOUT H'Suan Wen Hua) but it's still better than any other shampoo I've used.

I leave my hair to dry naturally as normal and straighten my hair when it's completely dry. There is a definite glossier element to my hair, it looks healthy and shiny. Again, not by as much as I might have hoped, but it's still a notable difference and I'm happy with the result.

The one thing that really has stuck me though, is that the scent stays very noticeably for at least 3 days I would say. And I do wash my hair every day. For this reason, I have to stress again that it is REALLY important to make sure you at least can stand the smell.

Another thing that I have noticed is that my scalp has calmed down a little. I've found my current shampoo does irritate my scalp a little bit and that has certainly decreased thanks to this treatment.

PRICE & AVAILABILITY
I paid £5.75 by recollection for mine but having just checked on the website the price is listed as £7.99. I can only assume that the price has gone up since Christmas (I bought mine at the end of December) - this is something I will investigate further next time I pop into store.

It does seem like a lot, but you can get as much or as little out of the product as you want, since it's easy to control how much you use. I reckon I could get at least 8 treatments out of my pot, if you have shorter hair you could almost certainly get 10. Obviously longer hair will use more of the product, but you could just apply it to the roots or just the ends of your hair, wherever you feel its needed and see how that works. The packaging allows you to get every last drop of the product, so you don't feel like you're being cheated. You get what you pay for, and in this instance, I think it's worth it.

Based on my estimate of 8 treatments and the fact that I try to use this once a week, I should be able to get this product to last me 8 weeks, which is not too far out on the use-by date.

RECOMMENDATION
I would definitely recommend this product to someone in need of a moisture boost for their hair. There might be better products out there on the market, I've yet to try any others, but this one does give noticeable results and penetrates really well in a relatively short amount of time. I was really surprised to find I could still catch a whiff of this on my hair even days afterwards (and that's with washing my hair daily). It wasn't overpowering but it says a lot that I could smell it on my own hair, as I find it's normally difficult to pick up on your own scent.

For this reason, I also recommend that you do smell this product before you buy it - if you can't stand the smell then you're not going to get any enjoyment from the product. I wasn't won over by it when I first smelt it, but I didn't hate it and I've got on fine with the product, so don't be put off too easily, but if you really cannot stand it then this probably isn't for you.

FOUR STARS ****