The world often works in mysterious ways, and nothing says that more to me than finding a shampoo bar that works wonders for my hair, even though it's designed for those that have the complete opposite of mine. Either Lush are mixing up their product labels, or my hair simply doesn't understand English.
When I tried Aga out for the first time, there was never any doubt in my mind that this hair conditioner would work wonders for my locks. Having seen it happen with the classic Daddy-O Liquid Shampoo, I just knew that my hair would respond so quickly and offer an improvement that would be noticeable from the very first use.
Designed for those with fair hair, this limited edition conditioner has been packed full of ingredients to not only brighten somebody's natural blonde locks, but to remove the yellow tones and brassiness of their hair as well. As somebody with more of a chestnut brown-coloured mop, this conditioner seemed very alien for what my hair seems to need.
Yet, from the very first use, I noticed a vast improvement of many things. Firstly, this conditioner almost eradicated the need for me to brush my hair after using it. While I still did out of habit, I found that I could run my fingers through my hair without a single tangle. This was a huge deal for me, as I'm normally breaking brushes every month trying to make my hair look at the very least presentable. (This last statement may well have been a slight exaggeration.)
Secondly, I found that the natural frizziness of my hair seemed to calm quite dramatically, and I was able to wear my hair down with minimal 'tweaking'. Aside from adding a little coconut oil myself, Aga helped to bring some much-needed moisture to my hair, and I could see the beginnings of a little shine that I hadn't seen in such a long time. In fact, out of the five new vegan conditioners from Lush, this one was easily my favourite, and I can really see myself using this over a longer period of time.
As if the results weren't good enough already, the fact that this limited edition shares its scent with one of my favourite fragrances: Plum Rain, only makes it more desirable. Plum, petitgrain and mandarin oils, as well as osmanthus absolute, go into making this conditioner super fruity but with green, grassy undertones. Imagine a pot of sweet, freshly stewed plums, with a splash of grassiness thrown in for good measure, and you may begin to understand how delicious this conditioner smells like from the bottle.
Unfortunately, the one aspect of Aga that let itself down was the fact that the fragrance didn't linger much passed washing it out in the shower. Whereas all four of the other conditioners had strong, resilient scents that lasted hours after having a shower, this one barely lasted ten minutes. While ultimately it doesn't really matter, as long as the conditioner works itself, it would have been nice to smell this all day long in my hair.
Out of the five conditioners, this also happens to be the thinnest of the lot, which meant that I tended to use a little more of Aga than I did with each of the other conditioners. For this reason, a 250g bottle of this would probably last a couple of weeks less than any of the other conditioners, which does make it a little more expensive in my eyes.
Ultimately, this is still my favourite Lush conditioner - perhaps more so than Veganese right now. It gave my hair shine and helped to improve the condition of my locks, with noticeable changes happening from the very first use. While the scent doesn't last, it does offer warm bursts of fruity goodness whilst you're in the shower, and the results do last until you need to condition your hair once more. I only hope that this isn't the last we see of this conditioner, as it would certainly be my number one choice of Lush hair care right now.
Quantitative Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Linseed Gel, Glycerine, Cetearyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Perfume, Organic Virgin Plum Oil, Argan Oil, Ethyl Macadamiate, Cupuaçu Butter, Fresh Plum Juice, Behentrimonium chloride, Plum Balsamic Vinegar, Osmanthus Absolute, Petitgrain Oil, Sicilian Red Mandarin Oil, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Cetrimonium Chloride, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Alcohol, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 60725.
Vegan?: Yes.
2019 Price: £8.95 for 100g, £17.95 for 250g, £29.95 for 500g, £50.95 for 1kg.
Year Of Original Release: 2019.
As I've said time and time again, just when you think Lush cannot possibly come up with anything weirder or more interesting, they go ahead and prove you wrong. Such is the case with these brand new hair marshmallows, that have only currently made an appearance during the Lush Showcase event earlier this year.
The Black Stuff is one of six hair marshmallows to appear in very limited amounts back in September, and it's taken me a good month to get into the swing of using these new concepts in the correct and most effective manner. What I will say in each of these reviews, is that while you get a lot of 'product' for your money, these early renditions are still slightly crumbly, and it may be a problem if you decide that you want to travel with them.
While at first I simply assumed that these were just an alternative to the regular shampoo bars - and another naked way to replace the liquid hair care range - there is far more here than meets the eye. As someone who has always maintained that you should never judge a book by its cover, this can safely be said for these rather messy looking bricks.
When I first picked up The Black Stuff, I couldn't believe just how light the product was: it's very much like holding a polystyrene block. And it's thanks to the inclusion of the aqua faba that allows it to be this way. For those unfamiliar with what this ingredient is, it's just the water that beans and chickpeas have been cooked in - which myself and many other vegan bakers use as a replacement for eggs in our cakes. After a little whisking, aqua faba creates a light, fluffy foam that Lush have managed to adapt and use to create these super airy blocks of shampoo.
Aside from how light the components is, aqua faba is also known for being high in protein, which alongside the inclusion of the hydrolysed wheat protein in The Black Stuff, makes this shampoo super effective at maintaining, strengthening, thickening and generally helping to make your hair even healthier.
The inclusion of the molasses in this limited edition then offers a wonderfully rich supplement to soften your locks, and give it a wonderful shiny to carry with you throughout the day. I was super impressed by just how quickly this product got to work at conditioning my hair, and I didn't even need to use an actual conditioner afterwards.
While this blocks work really well, with minimal amount of product, they are definitely very crumbly, so you'd need to consider how to store these in between uses. Furthermore, left out in the open, the marshmallows tend to turn a little sticky, and this means that you're left trying to scrape the product off the paper. Given that Lush haven't offered anything to hold them in between uses means that you'll have to use your imagination, or simply allow the block to leave sticky marks for you to clean away.
However, after only using a small grape's worth of The Black Stuff, I was able to heed enough foam to washed my whole head with, and I could probably have gotten away with using a little less as well. To use, I simply crumbled the piece in my hand; added a little water to start the lather off; and then massaged it between my hands, and then across my whole head, to create a generous amount of silky foam.
Unlike a lot of shampoos, Lush and otherwise, I found that this one felt really softening when it was in my hair, so I knew straight away that I was going to be left with silky locks afterwards. As if to prove this, I chose my condition my hair at all for the few days I used this and found that my hair still looked and felt really smooth and shiny.
Unfortunately, my hair is rather stubborn when it comes to my attempts to add volume, so I didn't really notice much change in how thick my hair felt over time. However, my dry ends and the rest of my hair did feel more manageable, and certainly appeared more tame, without looking or feeling thin and lifeless.
In terms of the smell of this hair marshmallow, the myrrh and molasses make the biggest impression. The Black Stuff shares its scent with R&B Hair Moisturiser, and offers a prominent sweet smell with subtle balsamic qualities underneath. However, there are also little notes of both the yeast and the stout as well, which aren't exactly pleasant, but definitely isn't strong enough to put many people off using this.
As an estimate, I would probably say that a 100g block of this shampoo would probably last me about three months, which is a little less than that of a regular disc-shaped bar. Given the price tag, it does appear to work out a tad more expensive in the long run. However, I do like how this worked on my hair; how quickly it improved my hair's condition and shine; and I figure that if I can use this without a conditioner, I'm saving money in the long run.
Quantitative Ingredients: Sodium Coco Sulfate, Glyceryl Stearate, Propylene Glycol, Aquafaba, Molasses, Perfume, Activated Charcoal, Water (Aqua), Stout, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Organic Balsamic Vinegar, Yeast, Guar Gum, Orange Flower Absolute, Jasmine Absolute, Titanium Dioxide, Cetrimonium Chloride, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, *Benzyl Benzoate Butyl, Methoxydibenzoylmethane, *Eugenol, *Farnesol, *Geraniol, *Hydroxycitronellal, *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 77491, Colour 77266, Colour 17200, Colour 42090.
Vegan?: Yes.
2018 Price: £12 for 100g.
2019 Price: £15 for 100g.
Year Of Original Release: 2018 as a Hair Marshmallow; 2019 as a Protein Shampoo.
UP
When I tried Aga out for the first time, there was never any doubt in my mind that this hair conditioner would work wonders for my locks. Having seen it happen with the classic Daddy-O Liquid Shampoo, I just knew that my hair would respond so quickly and offer an improvement that would be noticeable from the very first use. 
Out of the five conditioners, this also happens to be the thinnest of the lot, which meant that I tended to use a little more of Aga than I did with each of the other conditioners. For this reason, a 250g bottle of this would probably last a couple of weeks less than any of the other conditioners, which does make it a little more expensive in my eyes. 
