Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (Aussie Real Volume Shampoo)

Member Name: SooticaPMonster

Product:	Aussie Real Volume Shampoo
Date:	14/07/02 (833 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It leaves your hair soft and shiny

Disadvantages: It makes you smell funny

I am the owner of really dumb hair. There's loads of it but it's really fine so it just looks a bit mad and unkempt most of the time. As a result I was easily seduced by the Aussie 'Real Volume Shampoo' bottle's promise to 'dramatically increase body and fullness'. The fact the shampoo was on offer in Boots encouraged me further, and I even bought the accompanying 'Real Volume Conditioner'.

So I happily took my new shampoo home, looking forward to trying out it's 'revolutionary, patent-pending formula with Australian hops'. The first thing I noticed was the smell-I immediately thought of Professor Burp's Bubble works. And for those of you who have not experienced Chessington World of Adventures (and are no doubt entirely bemused by this comparison) try this: imagine taking a huge bag of the cheapest, sickliest most synthetic jelly beans you can find and melting them down in a saucepan, then standing over them and inhaling deeply. That's what it smells like. And the smell stays with you all day, and you have to suffer this scenario every where you go:

Person A: [wrinkling nose] Ooh-what on earth is that funny smell?
You: [sighing] It's me.

It wears a bit thin after a while believe me. At work, at university, in the bus queue... AAAAAAAAARGH.

Aside from the rather er... overpowering smell, the shampoo works into a lather well enough and does all the stuff it's meant to leaving your hair feeling nice and squeaky. According to the bottle for best results you are meant to follow with 'Real Volume' conditioner, though shampoo bottles always say that so whether there is any truth in it I have no idea. Well, as the conditioner was also on special offer that's what I did.

Because I naively believe everything the packaging tells me I had expected a small miracle and was a bit disappointed to find I didn't end up with the gorgeous princess hair
I had hoped for. I found that instead I ended up with pretty much my usual hair, only I smelt a bit funny too.

To be honest, it's not a bad shampoo-after the first wash it made my hair very shiny and easy to brush, and it stayed shiny and clean looking all day. And from a certain angle and in a certain light my hair did indeed look slightly thicker, but at first it was so subtle it might well have been in my imagination. However I did notice that after several washes my hair did appear to have a bit more volume to it. I suspect that by itself the shampoo would have negligible volumising effect on your hair, but combining it with the conditioner seemed to give my hair slightly more body than usual.

The shampoo comes in 300ml bottles, and costs about £3.95. This is quite expensive, as although it is a perfectly good shampoo it does nothing more exciting than the cheaper ones. However, as the shampoo has quite a thick consistency it lathers well, and so the bottle lasts quite a long time.

Anyway, all in all Aussie 'Real Volume' shampoo is very average. It makes your hair shiny and soft, but leaves you smelling like a fruit pastille. I probably would buy it again if it was on special offer, but because it leaves my hair feeling nice-not for it's volumising properties.

Summary: