Kit review #1 - Hair-washing on tour

...maybe later, I'm washing my hair tonight...
Washing my hair on tour might not sound like anything exciting, but it was something I had to give a bit of thought to before setting off.  As my hair is rather thick it can take a while to dry without a hairdryer, so to make things as easy as possible for myself I got it cut as short as I can manage (without looking tooo different from normal..) a week or so before leaving for touring.  Thankfully it's usually still quite warm in the evenings and it has been getting dried quite easily.  I had to also give some thought to how I would manage with carrying shampoo on tour - I didn't particularly want to take a big bottle that might leak and that I'd still have to carry around half empty, and I didn't want to buy small travel bottles as they're expensive and never last very long.  So, I remembered hearing that Lush (the bath stuff shop equivalent of Subway - the one you can smell from miles down the street) did shampoo bars (?! what are these I though..) so went to check them out.  The lady in the shop gave me a demonstration of how just using the bar (circular block more like) like a normal bar of soap in water created foam similar to that of any liquid shampoo.  I wasn't sure as it was 5 (help, there's no pound sign on this European keyboard!) a bar, but decided to chance it when the lady told me she'd been using the same bar for 2 months (so it would certainly last me on tour!).  I tested it out for a few weeks before going touring and think it might be something I'm permanently converted to once I'm back.  They sell a variety of smells (supposed to be good for/do different things) and mine has lasted a while already so I'm pleased.  They're fairly easy to use - wet the hair and the bar, rub the bar all over your head (whoa, a bubbly head!) and wash as normal!  I'd recommend getting a tin or box to keep it in for travelling, but obviously as you've wet it it's best to leave the lid off for a while to let it dry out a bit (or it may turn to mush...ok, I made that up, but I'm not going to find out myself just in case!).  So aye, give it a try if you're going on holiday (but pick a smell you like as they're quite strong and follow you around a bit..) or fancy being more environmentally friendly (no plastic bottle!) - it leaves my hair as good as, if not better than, many liquid shampoos I've tried.  My bar?  I'd give it a 9/10 - a point off for airing requirements.
A final brief note on my other hair-wash-time necessity, the BioEars (Google them..)!  I get problems with ear infections/sore ears etc so have to be careful with them, especially about things like making sure I don't get water, particularly dirty, soapy hair water, in them.  I came across BioEars when looking for earplugs for going swimming.  Pricey again at five pounds a box (3 pairs per box though..), but I haven't seen anything better.  Rather than the usual earplug which you shove into your ear, the BioEar covers the opening to your ear so the water doesn't get in.  They're also pretty good at blocking out sound.  Still don't understand what they're like?  Imagine a ball of blue-tac, about the size of.. erm.. a hazelnut? (had to think for a while there).  It's pliable, so squash it out flat, and press it around your ear (but not into it) to cover.  They're slightly sticky too so don't just fall out.  They mold to your ear, but are reusable (about 7 or 8 times per pair for me) so you can just roll them back into a ball and pop them back in the plastic box they come in!  I've brought two boxes on tour but am still on box 1 pair 1 (from use every few days) so they are lasting me quite well, and guess what - dry ears!  8/10 I think for these - they're great, but once they start to dry out after several uses they lose their stick and pliability.