Cafe Vegan Protein Shampoo

If there is anyone on the planet that needs a protein boost for her hair, it's yours truly. There hasn't been a day over the last few years where I can honestly say that I haven't battled to get my hair to retain at least some volume and at least some shine. My hair seems to be destined to remain a glorified bird's nest for the foreseeable future  and I'm not in the slightest bit comfortable about that fact.  

When Lush first announced their four brand new vegan protein shampoos, I was excited not only because of the fact that they were specially labelled as vegan, but because they also had the word protein in the title as well. Having lived a plant-based lifestyle for close to fifteen years, I cannot even begin to count the hundreds of times someone has tried to convince me that the two cannot coexist together.

Cafe Vegan Protein Shampoo was probably the one I was most excited about out of the four variations, if only for the fact that it came in a bright green colour. When I found that it was one of the best protein shampoos to foam up under the water as well, this limited edition solid bar won me over for good.   

Containing fresh mint water, menthol crystals and caffeine powder, I was expecting the smell to hit me like a tonne bricks, and knock me for six back into my twenties. However, I was intrigued to find that the fragrance of this is very mild to begin with, and only really makes its presence known when it's being used under warm/hot water.

Having said this, when the scent does make itself a little more prominent, it certainly isn't anywhere near as potent as I as assuming it would be; and it also doesn't smell anything like what the ingredients list might suggest. As many people to come before me have stated, the smell of Cafe Shampoo reminds me almost of those banana foam sweets that you used to get in your bag of pick 'n' mix. There is something rather creamy about the combination of the vanilla, lemon oil and geranium that makes it smell very foody and delicious.

One of four limited edition vegan protein shampoos that Lush released a couple of months ago in their Lush Labs, Cafe also boasts a large helping of aquafaba, which is the protein-rich liquid that chickpeas reside in. This shampoo not only promises to strengthen and rebuild your hair, but also features a large dosage of caffeine to help stimulate the scalp and encourage hair growth.

What I found after using this shampoo bar for a couple of weeks was that my hair did look and feel noticeably thicker, and the ends of my hair - which tend to appear thin and scraggly - seemed to settle against my shoulders a little more comfortably. It's usually a sign of greatness when I'm able to wear my hair down without doing much to my locks, and there were times when I was able to do that whilst using this every other day.

Impressively, I found that when I rinsed Cafe out of my hair, the lather appeared a little softer than it had done applying it in the first place, and I could feel the shampoo getting to work at softening my hair as well. While it's not strong enough to replace a conditioner by any means, I found that I could use this without using a conditioner, and my hair didn't seem to mind this at all.

Ultimately, this is yet another great success for Lush hair care, and is perhaps my favourite vegan protein shampoo so far. Lush would do well to invest in bringing out more of these than their original shampoo disc bars, as I find these appear as if they're going to last longer, and the results are much more successful than some of the original bars I've tried.

Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Coco Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Aquafaba, Fresh Mint Water (Aqua), Ethyl Macadamiate, Perfume, Lycopodium Powder, Guar Gum, Clove Bud Oil, Geranium Oil, Brazilian Orange Oil, Sicilian Lemon Oil, Vanilla Absolute, Menthol Crystals, Caffeine Powder, Cetrimonium Bromide, *Anise Alcohol, *Citral, *Citronellol, *Eugenol, *Geraniol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45350, Colour 42053.

Vegan?: Yes.

2019 Price: £15 for.

Year Of Original Release: 2019.