Lush Cynthia Sylvia Stout

I've always heard how beer is fantastic for giving you shiny locks, but I prefer to drink mine than pour it on my head and risk smelling like a brewery! I was excited to find that Lush had created Cynthia Sylvia Stout which incorporated the magic of beer in a more useable shampoo format, and had debated buying it for awhile before picking it up on sale.

To provide a background into my hair type I had medium-length, fairly thick coloured hair which tends towards an oily scalp and dry, damaged ends. I usually shampoo my hair every 3 days or so.

The packaging of the shampoo is the simplistic plastic bottle with one of those 'press' caps making it easy to use and see exactly how much shampoo you have left. Keeping with Lush's environmental ethics the bottle is made from recycled plastic and isn't tested on animals, gotta love an eco-friendly product!

The first thing I noticed was how different the shampoo smelled from any other beauty product I have tried. It wasn't just a straight beery stout smell, instead it was laced with the heady scent of cognac oil (for smoothness) with a hint of lemongrass. This is a really nice unisex fragrance and I will be buying some from my partner to try!

The formula itself is a lot more runny than standard shampoos, purely liquid with no hint of creaminess in consistency. I found that a good squirt of shampoo was ample to create a nice lather and it was easy to work through my hair. I then conditioned my ends separately as I normally would as even though this shampoo is conditioning I do have very dry ends.

The results? I always have knotty hair when it's wet, no matter what I use, and found it was no worse (maybe even a bit better!) than it normally would be. The scent of the shampoo lingered in my hair which was really subtle and nice. My hair itself felt clean and manageable and the roots which weren't conditioned were still soft and didn't have that squeakiness some shampoos leave. And the shine! Normally I rely on hair oils for shine, but with Cynthia Sylvia Stout my hair had a lovely glossy shine all on it's own.

The price like most lush products is a lot more expensive than I normally would pay for shampoo but I do love the effects and am now making an effort to purchase more eco-friendly products, which a lot of the common supermarket brands are famously not. I will be repurchasing this for both myself and for my partner.

I bought this a while ago from my local Lush store in the 100g size for $14.90. I thought I would get the smaller size to try it out before committing to a bigger size, even though the bigger size is more economical per gram. I'm glad I did this as I am not the biggest fan of this, and would recommend doing this with any lush product as really they are quite expensive. The packaging is the usual clear container (great for seeing how much is left), with the black lid.

Unfortunately the thing that I don't like about this is next, the smell. This is made with beer in it which I don't like the smell of, but also mixed with lemon. For me, who is sensitive to smell, it is just not pleasant. Also the colour looks just like beer also.

The product says it is to add condition, body and shine to frizzy hair. For me I have found that this seems to strip my hair of any natural oils. I use this more as a clarifying shampoo to take out all the product if I have been using dry shampoo etc to get it all out.

Overall I just can't get over the smell, and it doesn't make my hair look particularly nice, so I won't be repurchasing.

After reading such rave reviews on the ability of this shampoo at smoothing and taming unruly hair from frizz knotty messes to sleekness I looked into the mirror at the frizzy mass atop my head and in the next second I had ordered it off of Lush's website.

I was very excited to get it into my hair as soon as I got it in my hands so was very disappointed when after washing it never lived up to the reviews for me.

The formula of this shampoo is very fluid, the liquid is a brown running consistency that resembled stout beer to keep true to its name I guess. However its state mean't that it was easy to run though my hair and build a little lather action but nothing over the top which was good as lathering agents seem to strip my overly dry hair as it is. Fragrance wise it was what you would expect a beer shampoo to smell off, a brewery!! or a flat bottle of beer that has been left open in the sunlight, very malty and hoppy!

Once rinsed out my hair felt nice and clean even giving a little squeak to confirm that. I then continued with my normal routine of conditioner and then curl crème to style. My hair is thick, curly, dry and out of control on good days but I found that once air dried my hair was a lot softer than normal, but the wrong kind of soft it was all patchy with frizz where the curls in my hair had fallen and created knotted mess. Even trying to rescue with a palm full of serum did nothing but make that area look flat and horrible. A little deflated I gave it the benefit of doubt that it could be atmospheric reason for the messy mane to be out of control so I perceived for another 2 days over the weekend where I found it just made it softer and softer.

I was glad I only got the smaller of the sizes available as I don't think this suits my hair, maybe for those with less thick or less dryness would benefit from it but for me personally I'm going to have to give it a miss now perhaps the hubby can use it up for me or I can pass onto someone else who would be better suited to it.

Hi my name is Sarah and I have an addiction to Lush, so its no surprise to those that know me that I have to try like every Lush product and this includes this one. I was a bit sceptical to be honest because I'm not a huge Stout fan. Is Stout the same as beer? always get confused lol.

The bottle is a standard bottle with a click down type lid that allows the pouring of the product, its user friendly but can come out quite quickly. See my tip down the bottom on how to manage this.

The smell is very strange and I must admit I'm not a fan but I just had to tell myself to carry it through but for some it could be quite off putting.

The formula is of a brown consistency and unfortunately is a bit runny and comes out quite quickly.

It lathers up so well and I really enjoyed massaging it and rubbing it into my hair, it was quite therapeutic actually as the smell by then had subsided and wasn't overpowering as it was when I first poured it out.

Now with some Lush products I find that I don't have to use conditioner, so I did the same test of using it without it. So when I initially rinsed it out, it made my hair feel really dry and I really didn't like it as it felt a bit like straw, but then when it had started to dry, all I can say is Wow, completely surprised. It made my hair feel so soft and silky, I couldn't stop putting my hands through it, even my friend put her hand through it and was amazed when I said that there was no conditioner in it he he he.

Overall I really do like this, and apart from the smell and runny formula, I would most definitely buy this again. This will be one of my favourites.

If you have frizzy dull hair, then this shampoo is for you. Don't be fooled by the name, this shampoo will not make you stink of beer (more like lemon), but it will make your hair beautiful and shinny, as well as frizz free.

This shampoo is really thick, and will provide great moisture for dry hair. It also smooths the hair down, meaning that frizzy waves are no longer a problem.

I like to use this shampoo when I know that it's going to be a humid day in order to stop the frizz. I wouldn't recommend it for people who have oily roots, or a lack of volume to their hair as it will makes these problems worse.

I love Lush products so was always going to like this. I usually use the violet shampoo as I have blonde hair but wanted to try something different; and liked the sound of a boozy shampoo! It does smell lovely coming out of the bottle and goes on well giving a good lather. Definitely gave me hair the softness but unsure of the volume I as looking for. Good to try and may have again if I get bored of my purple shampoo.

Pretty good stuff. Cleans better than a sulfate-free but leaves my hair nice and shiny. I use this as my "deep clean" after I've used hairspray and siliconey products for a couple days. I bought it for the lemon tea smell but it definitely is nicer to my hair than other Lush shampoos, which I find generally drying. I use it in conjunction with the fantastic Retread conditioner and my hair is really nice and healthy.

It's seems to be almost every order I make with lush they send me samples of this to try and they just keep getting stashed in the bathroom cupboard. I had been using solid shampoo and my darling children thought it was soap so before it all went down the drain I put it in my bedroom for safe keeping... Then time for my shower and forgot the shampoo bar! Until I remembered I had these stashed away.

I can't comment on the packaging but the samples I have lasts 2 washes out of one sample pot. The scent of this smells like ginger beer and it's quite in your face ginger beer scented. It was ok for a start then it kind of made me gag, the colour does look like an ale a deep dark brown colour. The consistency of it is very runny, definitely the most runny shampoo I have used. It doesn't lather up much and thankfully the scent didn't last in my hair after I had dried it.

As for stopping fizz and fly aways nope didn't notice any difference and think the solid shampoo bars do a better job. Overall I'm glad Lush sent me so many of these samples as I know I won't be buying the full size product. Not a fan of the scent and didn't find it work so great in my hair.

I got this from Lush as a free sample. It comes in a small clear container. It has enough for several washes, as you only need a small amount of the product each time.

It looks like thick beer, and the smell is delicious, and very Lush-like.

I found a small amount lathered quite well for me.

The product claims is that it is excellent for hair which goes frizzy in the damp, and even makes curly hair shiny. It did make my hair soft and shiny. What I didn’t like, was when my hair was still wet, it felt kind of crunchy, with a texture like it had been soaked in lemon juice. It was a little too drying for my hair.

I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it. It may be better suited to oily hair, but my dry hair didn’t really love it.