Review: American Cream Conditioner by LUSH Cosmetics

A few months ago I purchased a small bottle of American Cream unsniffed on a whim (as you do!) as it was recommended to me. It contains Vanilla Absolute, my favourite scent!

This is what LUSH says about American Cream:-

"Double-strength conditioning cocktail. American Cream was inspired by a vision of 1950s US milk bars, bright red-leather-and-chrome, neon-lit cafes, where teenagers would meet and drink frothy, fruity milkshakes. Our creamy conditioner is what the girls would have used to make their hair soft before going out on a date, dressed up in their bobby socks and circular skirts. The scent of honey, vanilla, strawberries and oranges is so sexy and sweet that dates can’t stay away."

What does it smell like?

It's gorgeous! :-)

I found the scent a little strange at first, probably as I was expecting it to be mostly vanilla with a bit of strawberry mixed in. I hadn't really taken much notice of the advertising copy. All I heard was "VANILLA", which I am obsessed with. I woke up from my vanilla dream & read the description, the scent made more sense. Yes, you smell vanilla, but you also get a hint of strawberry, honey & a lot of orange. There's also another twist in the scent, which I'm guessing is the Lavender.

American Cream is very aromatic & one of the best smelling conditioners I've ever used. My favourite thing about it, is that the scent remains in the hair when it dries, & lasts until I wash my hair again! I love the whiffs of fragrance I smell during the day.

How does it perform?

To be honest, I was expecting a lot more from this conditioner considering that it's meant to be double strength. Don't get me wrong, it works well, but I find that I have to use a big blob of it to get the softness I want in my hair.

Considering the price (see below) I don't want to use too much each time. The bottle would be finished in no time! So what I do is, make sure I use a gentle shampoo - I usually pair it with LUSH's Curly Wurly which is quite conditioning on its own - & smooth on a small blob of American Cream just for the scent.

The bottle is similar to LUSH's other bottles, and one good thing is that it's clear so you can actually see how much you have left. I find that some of their bottles are black plastic which makes it hard to guess how much is left.

Cost

American Cream is quite pricey & costs more than drugstore conditioners. The best value size is the bigger bottle (500g). The prices are as follows:

100g $13.95
250g $23.50
500g $33.95

SLS in a Conditioner????

One thing that confused me is the addition of SLS. I know that this ingredient is in some shampoos (and others advertise the fact that they are SLS free) however I didn't realise that it was used in Conditioners too! I immediately looked at all my other conditioners - none of them had SLS. From my limited knowledge about chemicals, what I understand about this ingredient, it allows a shampoo to to sud/foam up. But why is it in a conditioner? If anyone can shed light on that, please let me know!

Verdict:

I do enjoy using American Cream but don't class it as a necessary product. As a conditioner, it doesn't perform better than any basic conditioners. The one thing I really love about American Cream is the scent, especially as it lasts until you wash your hair again. So I guess I'm using it as hair perfume. If the scent disappeared after washing, I wouldn't have even considered a re-purchase.

If you fall in love with the scent, it's more economical to purchase the big bottle. The small bottle is tiny & almost half the price of the biggest one.

I have to say, I'm not sure if I will repurchase American Cream when I run out of my 500g bottle, but I expect it to last a long time due to the fact that I just smooth a small amount on simply for the scent.

Pros & Cons Summary:

Pros: Scent, Clear bottle & simple packaging
Cons: Cost, Only a "double" conditioner if you use a lot, contains SLS?

My Rating: 7 out of 10 (all points for the scent)

Ingredients:

Honey Water (Aqua), Vanilla Pod Infusion (Vanilla planifolia), Propylene Glycol (Propylene Glycol), Fresh Organic Oranges (Citrus aurantium dulcis), Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), Fresh Strawberries (Fragaria vesca), Perfume (Perfume), Lanolin (Lanolin), Cetrimonium Bromide (Cetrimonium Bromide), Cetearyl Alcohol (Cetearyl Alcohol), Vanilla Absolute (Vanilla planifolia), Clary Sage Oil (Salvia sclarea), Lavender Oil (Lavandula angustifolia), Benzoin Resinoid (Styrax tonkinensis pierre), Linalool (Linalool), Coumarin (Coumarin)