The earth didn't move (Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo/Replenisher)

Member Name: sleepytigercub

Product:	Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo/Replenisher
Date:	07/12/02 (272 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: leaves hair soft

Disadvantages: cap badly constructed, smells horrid, dried my scalp

A few of weeks ago I was cruising the aisles at Tesco looking for my usual shampoo, when I happened upon their latest BOGOF offer - two 250ml bottles of Clairol?s Herbal Essences 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner for £1.99. I had never tried Herbal Essences before, despite being very suggestible to anything that has natural sounding ingredients. Perhaps it was the stupid advert that turned me off. However, these particular bottles were calling me, claiming to be replenishing for dry/damaged hair. My hair and scalp are seriously dry. If you've ever been a bit run down, you will probably have noticed your hair suffers. Well, after a 10 year illness, you can imagine what my hair is like. If I didn't keep it so short it would resemble straw. The Clairol shampoo sounded promising, so into the trolley it went.

On reflection, I should have read the bottle a bit more carefully, or at least sniffed the stuff. Then again, if I'd popped the cap to sniff it I would have had more than one reason to put it back on the shelf. But no, the first time I ventured further into Herbal Essences territory was at home in my bathroom. The lid of the bottle is one of those which can screw off, but also has a flip top. I flipped, and the bottle flipped its lid? right off the cap and into the bath. Strike one against Clairol. The bottle is made from 25% recycled plastic, which ought to be a good thing, but not if it isn't up to the job! Now every time it gets knocked over, which is surprisingly often between me and the cat, some of the shampoo gets launched into the bath, and the rest leaks out slowly to form a congealed pool until someone notices and sets it upright again. This is irritating enough, but travelling with this particular bottle is now impossible too.

I'm not sure if I actually read that this shampoo has Peony, Hibiscus and Vitamin E in Mountain Spring Water in it but, if I had, I'm pretty certain I wouldn?t have imagined it
smelling like this. It is sickeningly floral in an overpowering way. The bottle assures me that all the botanicals in there are natural and organically grown, but it sure doesn't smell like it to me. I'm not sure I would recognise a peony if one danced the can-can in front of me, but I used to grow hibiscuses (hibisci?) and none of them smelled remotely like this. And guess what? The smell lasts.. for days! With my hair being so dry, I can only get away with washing it twice a week, so I consoled myself with the thought it wouldn't last the day. Nope. I could still smell it when my next hair washing session came round.

The shampoo itself is a pale peach colour, and has quite an oily texture in the hand. Despite this feel, it lathers well, and rinses cleanly. After several weeks of use, I can report that it does leave my hair feeling softer and less straw-like. However, my scalp is a mess. It's much drier than it was before, and every time I shake my head the cat thinks it's snowing. This is not an experiment I shall be repeating. Sorry, Clairol, but the earth most definitely didn't move for me.

If you really want to try it, it's available in most supermarkets and chemists, and if you want more information get in touch with:

Proctor and Gamble, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0XP, UK.

Summary: