Continuing in my quest to find the ultimate holy grail shampoo bar, my most recent discovery was Love Beauty and Planet’s Coconut water & Mimosa flower volume and bounty shampoo bar.
Love Beauty and Planet are driven by the vision that brands should be able to develop products that reliably deliver great beauty results, and all the while, do not have a negative impact on the planet. Or in Love Beauty and Planet’s own words…
We want to leave the planet more beautiful than we found it
Love Beauty and Planet – Brand proposition
A sentiment we can all get behind, I think you’ll agree.
All of their products are vegan (V-label certified), cruelty free (PETA cruelty-free certified), paraben and silicone free, and are safe to use during pregnancy. They are also committed to sustainability, from how they source their ingredients, through to the packaging their products are stored in. Sounds right up my street! If this sounds like a company you could get on board with, go check them out!
I had never used any of Love Beauty and Planet’s products prior to buying this shampoo bar, so I purchased with no specific expectations, but as always, with high hopes.
Now, a little bit about my specific hair type before I delve in. I colour my hair with semi-permanent colour every 6-8 weeks at the salon, and the texture is very thick. I am regularly told by hairstylists it’s like “a horses mane”. That may sound great in theory, but trust me, in the heat of summer, or when trying to style my own hair at home, it’s not as ideal as it sounds!
The Coconut water & Mimosa flower shampoo bar is actually formulated for fine hair requiring a volume boost. But I’ll be honest, I fell for the beautifully calming blue aesthetic of the packaging, and the scent just sounded divine. It’s fine to judge me. I judge myself!
The shampoo bar cost £5.99 for a whopping 90g of product, which made it the most affordable shampoo bar reviewed to date #winning! Love Beauty and Planet claim that the bar should deliver in the region of 50 washes.
First Impressions…
Firstly, in line with their goals and mission, Love Beauty and Planet do package the bars sustainably. No erroneous cellophane here! Say it with me…. ”WE. LOVE. TO. SEE. IT!”.
The bar itself was a beautiful heart shape with a minimalistic version of the company logo etched in. And not to mention, how ADORABLE is it?? So cute! The bar itself was huge. It felt the most substantial and weighty in comparison to all the other bars I have tried to date.
Now onto the scent. OH. MY. GOD. This was the single most delicious shampoo bar scent I have ever smelt. It was super fresh, balanced with a subtle sweetness that in no way overtook the overall scent profile. When I first opened the little cardboard box, no word of a lie, I just sat inhaling it for a good few minutes. Good work Love Beauty and Planet!
One thing I did wonder, was how the shape of the bar would impact it’s usability. As mentioned, I found the bar to be of a very generous size, so I wasn’t necessarily concerned about it accidentally slipping from my grasp when it was wet. But I did wonder if the heart shape would require me to hold the bar in a specific way or if it would in any way snag my hair during use. Luckily this was not the case. The bar performed similarly to other bars I have tried.
Now onto latherability. This is where I found the bar let me down… I had to work super hard to work up a lather on the top and back of my head. I tried running the bar directly over my hair, which I found produced a limited lather, and I also tried to lather the bar in my hands first and then apply the lather to my hair. This proved to be no more successful. Ironically, when I swung my hair over my shoulder and massaged the bar into the lengths, I got a pretty generous lather, so I’m not sure why the top and back of my head made it such hard work. If any of you have had a similar experience, please let me know in the comments, as this has driven me crazy!
Finals thoughts…
Before jumping into my final thoughts, I’d like to address the elephant in the room based on my experience. The bar I purchased was not for my hair type, and I have since found that Love Beauty and Planet do a bar specifically for coloured hair.
All things said, there was much that I liked about this bar. The price point was fab, the size of the bar is great, the values of the company really speak to me and everything that I want from a responsible and sustainable brand, and the scent… Well the scent was amazing. If someone could walk around in front of me spritzing that scent everywhere I go, I would be very happy!
And despite the challenges working up a generous lather, I did find that the bar cleansed my hair pretty well. My hair always looked shiny and clean after use, and I was even told by my other half that my hair smelled nice. Another fan of the scent evidently!
At the time of writing this review, I am still using the Coconut water & Mimosa flower bar, and I will continue to use it until it is finished, which I can reliably inform you, has a way to go. Hopefully as I use it some more, I might be able to figure out the lather issue. I won’t lie, this one issue does make me think twice about ordering the bar specifically formulated for coloured hair, because I can’t help it, I LOVE a generous lather! Although at the price point, I still think it’s worth a punt.
If you think the Love Beauty and Planet Coconut water & Mimosa flower might work for your hair type, they helpfully list some of their stockists on their website. In the interest of transparency, I purchased my bar from Feel Unique.