I went to LUSH last week and one of the things that I came out with was this unattractive looking lump.
Looks like something I’d need a poopa scoopa for to be quite honest.
It smells foul too… whenever I have this anywhere near me, I keep getting flashbacks of when I used to empty my ashtrays. I’m really selling it to you aren’t I?
I can forgive it all this though if it helps my scalp as it claims…
[stextbox id=”custom” bcolor=”b0c4de” bgcolor=”e6e6fa”]Snake Oil treats dandruff and it smells like it means business. Melt it on to your fingertips, then massage it right into your scalp. Leave the lavender, tea tree and peppermint oils to do their work for twenty minutes or so, and then wash it off with Soak and Float shampoo.[/stextbox]
My hair is coloured, if it strips the colour… it’s going in the bin. I was told in the store that it would be fine with coloured hair… but the SA was a male student with dreads and a vacant expression. I’m trying really hard not to discriminate.
Have any of you guys tried the LUSH Snake Oil Scalp Massage Bar? I’m usually a bit rubbish with anything that I need to put on my scalp. When you have hair longer than a buzz cut, how the hell do you actually get the product onto your scalp and not just all over your hair?
You can buy the LUSH Snake Oil Scalp Massage bar instore or online. I paid £4.15.
.
By the way, I’m on the 4th wash with the Body Shop SLS Free shampoo/conditioner combo and I’ve promised myself 7 washes minimum with each new brand to give it a fair trial. So far, it’s not looking that amazing…
It really does stink doesn’t it!
Might sort the scalp but the smell is so headache inducing.
I miss the Bodyshop scalp oil that they did years back – loved that!
Ooh I’ve never heard of the TBS scalp oil? Sounds intriguing!
ahhhh can’t wait to see how you get on with this, I think I have the same issue as you as I seem to suffer from an ithy/flaky scalp that anti-dandruff shampoo’s don’t seem to help.
I couldn’t get on with that body shop shampoo, it was so drying my hair fell out and it felt horrible to touch, I had to smother it with leave in conditioner.
xx
I wonder if we have got the same thing. I know my brother has EXACTLY the same thing as me. It’s like a build up… I can use all the lovely high street stuff for a bit.. but I know deep down that it’s gonna get worse.
And now it’s completely shit.
TBS shampoo is making my hair coarse. When I pull my ponytail out… the toggle really drags and then the hair stays stuck in the ponytail shape!
I combined it with my Philip Kingsley Elasticizer today to see if it made a difference. It didn’t.
No breakages or hair falling out here though!
i’ve tried this and it didn’t really make a difference. then again, i have psoriasis in my scalp and not dandruff so that’s probably why.
also, it smells gross and was a pain and a half to apply (rub product onto fingers, part hair, apply to scalp). it might help to blow dry the product so it melts faster and then just scooping the liquid up. i do that with my concealer sometimes.
good luck with this! hope it works 🙂
Do you mind me asking if you get psoriasis anywhere else?
Thank you xx
not at all!
thankfully, my psoriasis outbreak is concentrated in the scalp area. fingers crossed i don’t get an outbreak anywhere else 🙂
I love this stuff and did a bit of a rave review on it (exc. the smell of course!) My hair is nearly waist length so I just section my hair (just with my fingers) and then rub the bar into my finger tips and then onto the scalp! 🙂
I think it was you that urged me to go get it! xx
I’ll give it a good go in the next few days, thanks!
I would give the new shampoo more than 7 washes. it can take up to a month for hair to get used to going from silicones to without them. Also, did you make sure to do a clarifying wash before switching? that can make the transition a little quicker, and a little less painful
It’s not my hair that I’m too concerned about though. It’s just my scalp.
7 washes (for me) = 21 days. I think that’s enough time to know if I’m seeing any improvement, if I think it’s having an effect… then I’m happy to keep going and see it through for a bit longer…
… but if after 21 days it’s not doing anything to relieve the scalp issues, I need to try something else. Perhaps I may even have to look at proper medicated shampoos to fix the initial problem and then see if going SLS-Free can maintain a healthy scalp.
What ya reckon?
xxx
I really like this bar–my hair is itch-free for a few days, and it’s a lovely conditioner! The downside is, no matter how hard you wash afterward, my hair ALWAYS smells like mothballs for a day. Some perfume covers it up well enough, but still. Eugh.
Ugh! Great, I’m gonna smell all foisty! x
I’ve tried it and loved it! The smell might be unpleasant but it really did the trick for my flaky and itchy scalp. Didn’t really have any dandruff though, my scalp was just really dry and had little rashes.
I melted it a little with my hairdryer (speeds it up a lot) and then just tried to rub it in all over my scalp (holding my head upside down). Then left it in for as long as I could bare the tar-ish smell and washed it out with my regular Redken schampoo. Even though the oil got all over my hair it didn’t remain greasy once I’ve washed.
That’s really good to hear… my scalp kinda gets um.. *whispers* scales… I can actually pick great chunks off when it’s at it’s worst.
But it can be fine for months…. it’s nearly always triggered by me swapping shampoo to something new.
I’m looking forward to seeing if this brings it back under control and if I can maintain with SLS free x
I bought this for my mum ageeeeeeeeeeeees ago and she used it a few times, now it’s languishing in her bathroom cabinet.
The smell isn’t the worst thing I’ve had a whiff off but it does smell a bit dodge.
I didn’t think it did much apart from dry my hands out, I just lathered it in my hands like a soap, combed my hands through my hair and then rubbed the palms on my scalp.
Re. the SLS free shampoos, I’ve been using the Body Shop one and I find you need to use it a few times and also that I only really see the difference when I straighten my hair. When I leave it curly, it just looks the same as it normally does but when I straighten it, it becomes a glossy marvel!
I really think that if I’m gonna get on with SLS Free shampoos then I need to be tolerant and not expect the same kinda results after shampooing as I would with normal shampoos.
My hair is really nice and shiny with the Body Shop’s new range, it’s just gone very coarse.
But as I said, I couldn’t really give a chuff if my hair feels a bit dry (aslong as it improves my scalp). That’s my major motivation x
I haven’t tried this, but I know about herbs and stuff, and there’s no reason it should harm your color. ;p
Tea tree oil is really what does it. I had a bottle and I’d put 2 drops in my bathwater. Yes, just -two- drops and it would clear my dandruff and make my hair nice. It doesn’t smell great in the bottle, but because it’s such a small amount you won’t smell it in the bathwater or on you/in your hair.
I ran out and I haven’t gotten around to buying a new bottle. ;p It’s pretty cheap though.
That’s really good to know, thanks PonPon!
I do love tea-tree oil!
Sounds like a bit of a faff, but might be worth it if the results are good… looking forward to hearing how you get on! x
You’re right… I’m so ANTI-FAFF too lol!
Thank you xx
If you’re looking for something that’s not an Rx, you might want to try the rene furterer (I probably the botched the spelling of that) scalp spray.
Hooray for the convenience of saving lots of old sephora order confirmation e-mails…
$25.00 Rene Furterer/Melaleuca Deep-Cleansing Spray/3.3 oz
It’s pretty decent stuff and if I remember correctly, doesn’t smell horribly putrid.
Meh. No Sephora here 🙁
I’ve just found it on HQMan (UK website) but it’s all out of stock 🙁
Will keep looking, thank you x
Hi there,
Just a occasional reader and I don’t ted to read the comments so this may have been mentioned, but I had a similar scalp issue to yours and sorted it out with Nizoral Shampoo. You basically massage it in like a normal shampoo, leave it for about 5 minutes and then you can shampoo and condition as normal. A couple of applications over a week or so cleared my scalp, and now I keep a bottle to use whenever I feel a bit flaky. Worked wonders!
I’ve used Nizoral in the past and it worked well, but tried it again earlier in the year during a flare up and had no success.
If this doesn’t work, I may head back down the chemist!
Thank you! xx
I don’t have dandruff, but I do have an itchy scalp – I found a weekly treatment with coconut oil/castor oil (3:1) worked wonders, and makes my hair really soft too.
To apply – You can get squeezy bottles like the kind used to put die on in beauty supply stores or on ebay – they look a little like those red/brown bottles for ketchup and brown sauce respectively which they slap on your table along with your fry-up in a greasy spoon (or is that just me?!)
I know what you mean about the lush smells – I seem to have a really strong sense of smell and find it hard to even physically go into a lush store! The scents I dislike always overpower the ones I love! It’d be ashtray central for me if they had that by the door in my local store!
That’s really interesting! So you find that relieves the itch?
Sounds messy though!
I think the signature stench is from coal tar, a common anti-dandruff ingredient. I did a little searching and it looks like it’s not listed, but many other people have reported the same smell and think it might be listed as something else. Stinks like hell, doesn’t it? I have to use regular shampoo afterward so I don’t smell like my grandmother all day.
I need to go smell some old fashioned coal tar soap and see if it’s the same thing xx
Ugh, the total stench of snake oil stops me ever wanting to put it anywhere near my scalp!
lol I don’t care if it works! xx
looks and sounds pretty nasty!
i’ve tried this and you’re right – it does smell of something burnt. It becomes bearable after a while though. Does it work? Hmmm… yes and no. I think it does, but because of the bar design and long hair issue it is quite hard to get it to apply anywhere other than about an inch around the hairline. It’s quite a chore to get it to ‘melt’ in your hands too – I want it to melt onto my finger tips to apply all over the scalp, but it only really ends up all over my palms – which makes it hard to apply. It works, but takes effort – and who can be bothered with that?!
Ugh, what’s effort? *slouch*
I don’t understand why the SA having dreads has anything to do with your opinion on his advice, the vacant look, yes, the dreads? I don’t get :/
You’re ok with the student bit though? lol
I just assumed that he wouldn’t be that aufait with the needs of coloured hair… I always think of dreads as being quite a natural choice. Having said that… if the SA had been a woman with bright red dreads, it wouldn’t have even crossed my mind to doubt her on her knowledge of products suitable for coloured hair. I’m clearly sexist.
By including it in my post, I was mocking my own ability (at times) to be swayed by first impressions. Hence me drawing attention to the fact that I WAS clearly discriminating against someone based on their appearance. I’m not perfect and this blog highlights that in SO many ways.
I’m sorry if I caused offence though x
I buy one about once a year and use a bit every couple of weeks. Doesn’t last a year, but I get bored after a few months!
Easiest method of application that I’ve found is to cut off a bit (or even better, “shave” some off with a knife) into a small bowl, then microwave it until it’s liquid. Ta-da! Once liquified it’s super-easy to rub directly to your scalp with your fingers.
I think someone told me this trick years and years ago on the Lush forums and it’s been very useful!
I love this. I did stop using it when I started colouring my hair in case it stripped the colour so I can’t help you on that front.
It’s really hard to work with at first. I found that rinsing my hands in hot water made it melt more. I then just rubbed it into my scalp, popped on a shower cap and left it for 20 mins or so. I was scared it would make my ends oily but I washed it out well and it really works.
xxx