Lush Hair doctor pre-wash hair and scalp treatment
- Lush’s description
“Cleansing, stimulating, reviving hair moisturiser for mending poorly heads. Hair Doctor will make house calls to inspire sad scalps and revive hair in need of help. There's Fuller's earth, a clay which degreases your hair and scalp, stimulating peppermint and rosemary, and chamomile to soothe sore scalps.”
- Ingredients
Water, Irish Moss Powder, Fullers Earth, Cetearyl Alcohol, Perfume, Irish Moss Decoction, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Almond Oil, Peppermint Oil, Rosemary Absolute, Chamomile Blue Oil, Soya Lecithin, Glycerine, Yeast, Red Henna, Lanolin, Cetrimonium Bromide, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG 100 Stearate, Eugenol, Limonene, Linalool.
- Scent
I expected the scent to be very herbal as in my experience a lot of lush products do smell quite herbal and I also expected the scent to be not very nice, if I am honest. But it smells really nice! It smells to me like mouthwash - minty, fresh and clean - it does not smell herbal really to me and it does smell really quite pleasant (which was a little surprising). The scent is fairly strong but it is not overpowering and while the product is on my head I can not really smell it too strongly. - Consistency/Texture of the treatment
The consistency of the treatment is quite strange. I expect it to be fairly hard and difficult to apply but it wasn’t. If you have ever had an Aero chocolate mouse then you will know the consistency and texture of this as it has the exact same consistency/texture as the Aero chocolate mouse. It has a really smooth soft texture, which I did not expect.
- Appearance
It looks like the concrete to me - it is a dull grey colour so it is safe to say that it does not look very nice and if it wasn’t a product from lush then I would not be putting it on my hair as it does look a little bit disgusting - but if it works I don’t mind! The colour of the product does look quite uniform, all of the same colour, but it does have some slightly darker/ lighter grains mixed in.
- Storing the treatment
In the lush store this treatment was sitting in a bowl of ice, as this treatment has to be kept chilled/cool - I think this is because of the natural ingredients within the product and also to make the treatment feel cooling/soothing on the scalp when it is applied. I keep mine in the fridge at the top with a label on so no one mistakes it for a new chocolate mouse at eats it!
- Applying the product
Before applying the product I brush my hair thoroughly, as the treatment makes my hair quite matted so the smoother it is to start with the easier it will be to apply the treatment (although it is not difficult to apply anyway). The first time I used this product I changed into an old t-shirt but it was not really necessary as I did not really get any on my clothing - although you may want to put a towel over your shoulders just in case. I then take the treatment out of the fridge at the last minute, as it has to be kept chilled and I then start to apply it to my scalp and hair.
I start applying the product where my parting is. I just take a small amount (about a 20 pence size amount) for the length my parting and then I just run the product using my fingertip along my parting and then I rub it into my scalp gently. If there is any treatment left in my hair after I have covered that one section I just rub the product into my hair at the sides of my parting to make everything a little bit neater and tidier. After I have done that parting I take a tail comb and make another parting about 1cm or so away from the one I had just covered (or you can just use your finger to make a new parting - you don’t really need a tail comb but it does help).
I repeat this process until I have covered all of the area I want to cover - I do not do a full scalp treatment as I do not need to use it everywhere. I just covered the areas of my scalp that can get flaky, dry and slightly irritated - mainly the top of my head and the front, near my hair line. The process of covering my scalp with the treatment does not take very long, it probably only takes about ten minutes to cover the areas of my scalp that I want to cover and then I just massage it in (which probably takes about another five minutes or so).
After I have finish the application of the treatment to my scalp I then move onto my hair. I don’t put a lot of the treatment onto my hair - as my hair is really long so I would probably end up using half a tub on my hair alone! So I just use it on the areas of my hair which get really dry, I use it on the mid lengths and the ends of my hair. I just take some of the treatment, a lot more than I use on my each section of my scalp, and I run it through my hair until it is smoothed through out the mid lengths and ends of my hair. Applying the treatment through my hair does not take too long as it is very easy to do and it probably only takes about five minutes.
When all of the areas of my hair/scalp are covered with a thin layer of the treatment I then just massage the treatment into my hair for a couple of minutes - which makes sure that the treatment is smoothly evenly through my hair/scalp. Also scalp massage increases the blood flow to the scalp which is supposed to make your hair grow longer - my hair is long anyway but I would like it longer so this treatment is a two in one fix for me.
Then it is just a waiting game, it is stated that you should leave the treatment on your hair/scalp for 20 minutes, I did this the first time and this time I have left it on for about 40 minutes. While the treatment is on my head I can smell it slightly but it is not too noticeable and it is quite a pleasant smell any way, in my opinion. Also while the treatment is on, it has a cooling/soothing effect on my scalp which is great as my scalp is a bit sunburnt from holiday and this treatment does feel really nice on my scalp as it is cool (a positive point for keeping the treatment chilled/cool). Also the treatment does not burn, string or irritate my scalp while it is on.
- I gotta wash that...treatment...right out of my hair
When I used this treatment the first time (I used it the first time about two weeks ago, a day before my holiday) I thought it would be really difficult to wash out. As while it is in my hair it makes my hair feel quite matted, a bit stiff and not very nice but I was wrong - this treatment is very easy to wash out.
It does not say on the tub if you are supposed to wash your hair with your shampoo/conditioner after using this treatment, so I just didn’t as it leaves my hair really smooth and mostly tangle free. I just rinse the treatment out of my hair and it only takes about five minutes - although it will take longer to wash out if you do a full scalp treatment. I just did the areas of my scalp and hair which needed the treatment so it would not take as long to wash out.
It was very easy to wash out in a few minutes, the water did not change colour as it passed though my hair and I did not shampoo my hair afterwards (I did shampoo my hair the first time I used this treatment but I did not really notice any difference when compared to not shampooing my hair after the treatment really). If you are unsure I would just shampoo my hair as normal after using this treatment.
Overall, this treatment was very easy to apply and it was also very easy to wash out, which I was not expecting. It does not leave any residue in my hair (it will do if you don’t rinse the treatment out fully though) and it only takes about five minutes to wash it all out of my hair - if you do a full scalp treatment then it will take longer to wash out (if you do this it would probably be best to shampoo your hair after too).
- Lets see how it worked out...
I have long hair and it gets tangled really easily so I always have to use a conditioner after I wash my hair but after using this treatment I did not have to use a conditioner as it makes my hair incredibly smooth! I did not expect the results that I got with this product. It makes my hair really smooth, fairly soft and it makes my hair look and feel healthier too.
As for my scalp I find that it completely stops any irritation that I get and it also stops any flakiness that I get too. I used this treatment the day before I when on a cruise (about two weeks ago) and through out the eight day cruise my scalp was irritation free and I did not get any dandruff too! I am really impressed with this results from this scalp and hair treatment, I did not expect it to work out as well as it has done. And I did not experience any irritation after I used this product and when my hair is wet I can smell the treatment but only very slightly - and when my hair is dry I can not smell the product at all. Overall my hair just feels really nice after using this product, although I find that my hair gets greasier a little bit quicker than normal after using this treatment - but the positives effects for the treatment last for about a week (for me anyway).
- How long will one tub last?
I am going to keep using this as a treatment only on the areas that I need to apply it to - I use it only on the front of my scalp and at my hair line and I also use it through out the mid lengths and the ends of my hair too.
I have used this treatment twice and I am not even half the way through the tub - so if you were to use it like me then I would say that one tub would last you a month or two depending on how often you use the treatment. But if you are going to do a full scalp and hair treatment I would say that you could get two uses out of it. I have long hair and if I was going to use it all over my scalp and hair then I would probably end up using about half a tub in once use.
- Additional information
One thing about this product that was a pleasant surprise is the expiry date. On most lush products there is an expiry date, as a lot of the ingredients are natural, but in my experience the expiry date runs out before I use all of the product (this was the case with the angels on bare skin cleanser - which is amazing but I was left with product after it had expired). This product lasts for three to four months, so the expiry date is quite long for a lush product. Also if you collect five black pots from lush (you don’t have to just have five cleanser pots, they can be from any lush range) you can take them back to lush and get a free fresh face mask!
- Overall positives
The main positives about this product, for me, include: the ease of applying the product as I thought it was going to be hard to apply it to my scalp but it was very easy to apply (as the treatment has a soft, smooth and mouse like consistency). Another positive point is the ease of washing the treatment out - again I did not expect it to be as easy as it was. The scent and soft/smooth consistency was another unexpected bonus.
- Overall negatives
I can not really think of any negatives for this product really - but I guess one negative point could be that when the treatment is in my hair, it makes my hair look and feel quite matted/stiff but this effect washes away easily. I also find that after using this treatment my hair gets greasier a little but quicker than normal.
- Price and availability
I bought this product about three weeks ago and I love it! I bought it from a lush store, but it can be bought online too (link below) and one 95g tub cost me £6.50. This product can only be bought from a lush store or lush online. Lush says that “If you live outside of the UK, you might prefer to pop to your local Lush shop to pick up your fresh mask to make sure it lasts as long as possible.”
Conclusions
Positives
- Natural ingredients, no animal testing, suitable for vegetarians to use (I don’t think this product is vegan friendly though as I think it contains milk)
- Easy to use and apply to my hair/scalp
- Cooling/soothing feeling - great for sunburnt scalps like mine
- Smells really nice, to me anyway - a peppermint/spearmint scent which is very refreshing
- Easy to wash out and the scent does to stay in my hair (this last point could be a positive or negative, depending on whether you like the scent or not)
- Leaves me with a flake and irritation free scalp
- Makes my hair incredibly smooth, fairly soft and mostly tangle free
Negatives*None really for me
Thank you for reading my review - this review will also be posted on dooyoo under my username tigger199x
For more information: www.lush.co.uk
Emergency! Call the Hair Doctor! 
Well written as always. E.