Valkyrie Liquid Conditioner

While Lush may be slaying the industry with the variations and sheer number of different hair products they have produced, the one area they seemed to be lacking in was their conditioners. Although the naked movement has seen a bigger range come into stores, my experience has not quite convinced me that Lush have perfected their solid conditioners enough for me to use them exclusively. 

For this reason, when the company released their five brand new vegan liquid conditioners, I dived in headfirst and began using them immediately. Valkyrie happened to be the first one I selected to try out, for no particular reason, and it set a precedence that some of the other conditioners may find hard to match.

I should probably start by saying that this beautiful limited edition shares its scent with the Rose Jam family, which alone is probably the reason why this Lush Labs exclusive sold out so quickly in the first place. With rose, geranium and lemon oils, not to mention an extra helping of rose absolute, this conditioner offers a rich and rather sweet but equally natural rose aroma. 

There is all the muskiness and natural dry notes of the rose itself, but with an added sticky-sweet jammy layer that gives this scent family its name. In addition, the inclusion of the lemon oil helps to elevate the smell a little further whilst adding its own subtle fruity tones alongside this as well.

What I will say is that there is a difference in scent when you compare the likes of Rose Jam Shower Gel or Rose Bombshell Bath Bomb to this conditioner. If anything, there is something slightly more fruity about the aroma in the bottle. However, it is still distinctively the Rose Jam fragrance, and will appeal to those who cannot get enough of one of Lush's biggest scent families.

Firstly, I should probably point out that you don't need to use a lot of this conditioner to heed the results that you want. With most conditioners, I usually have to use almost triple the amount that I used of the shampoo, and I find my bottles disappear faster than I can say 'bring out some more please, Lush.' However, while everybody will select the amount that's right for them, I found that using a drop equivalent to an average slice of mandarin, was enough to give my hair all that it needed.

Starting with the tips and working up, this conditioner settles on the hair really quickly, and may initially feel as if there isn't any product there to begin with. Yet once you begin to brush your hair whilst you're still in the shower, you'll find that Valkyrie gets to work immediately at softening your hair, and removing any tangles that you may have at the time.

During the drying process, I found that this conditioner won't inspire you to think that it's working, as I found my hair began to feel rather rough and damaged almost. However, as soon as it had completely dried, and I brushed it one final time, I began to notice how soft it felt between my fingers. Furthermore, there was a gentle shine to my locks that hadn't been there before.

As if this wasn't enough, the smell is super strong during and after application, and I was still able to smell remnants of this conditioner some two days after I had applied it in the shower. Why Lush are unable to use whatever they have with this conditioner, to make their perfumes as long-lasting, I have no idea, but they should.

What I will say about Valkyrie is that this is not really a conditioner that inspires volume. As someone who has quite dry and damaged hair, I didn't find that the condition of my locks improved vastly over time. This conditioner works well on an immediate basis, but doesn't really work on any level of permanence.

Overall, I was super impressed with this limited edition, and I hope that Lush release this as a regular member of their hair care range. Not only will the scent entice many Lushies to try it for this reason alone, but the results will quickly establish somewhat of a fanbase because of how well it works as well. 

A bottle of this size would probably last me a good 2-3 months - this is with me washing my hair every other day. While perhaps a little on the expensive side, especially when compared to other brands that work equally as effectively, the lack of 'junk ingredients' and the level of fair trade that has gone into making this, makes it worth every penny. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Cetearyl Alcohol, Chickpea Cream, Ethyl Macadamiate, Perfume, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Propylene Glycol, Behentrimonium chloride, Fresh Grapefruit Juice, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Rose Absolute, Rose Oil, Geranium Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Aquafaba, Arginine HCL Leucine, Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Citronellol, Coumarin, Geraniol, *Limonene, Colour 17200, Colour 45380:3.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £7.95 for 100g, £15.95 for 250g, £26.95 for 500g, £43.95 for 1kg

Year Of Original Release: 2019.