Oooh....Aaah....Hmmmm. ... (Clairol Herbal Essences Normal Shampoo)

Member Name: Blurbubble

Product:	Clairol Herbal Essences Normal Shampoo
Date:	27/11/02 (432 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Efficient at its job, average price

Disadvantages: Nothing special, horrible TV ads

Here we go...if it's not wine it's hair products isn't it?! Given that I've had some new goodies to try lately I thought I may as well write something about one of them at last as it's been a while!

As one of the free (online ordered) samples I received last week plonked heavily through my letterbox I thought "too heavy for another sachet, too small for another box of Tampax". I went to collect my postal offerings from the doormat and this plain jiffy bag contained two small bottles of Clairol Herbal Essences, one shampoo and one conditioner. I'll tell you about the shampoo in this opinion.

I must admit I had misgivings about this as firstly I hate those TV adverts, then I opened the bottle and took a sniff to be hit by a strong chemically herbal smell and lastly because the shampoo is meant for normal hair. NORMAL HAIR?! MINE??? Well that's a laugh, it's as far from normal as you can get really! Still, there was no option on which variety to order and I find the conditioner more important than the shampoo so I gave it a go anyway.

The sample bottle contained 50ml and was just a mini version of the full-size (200ml?) bottles. I liked the design where the back of the label showed through the clear plastic bottle displaying a picture of flowers/herbs (don't ask me what they are!)
Oh, I just looked at the label, the picture must be of the Camomile, Aloe Vera and Passion Flower it professes to contain - that'll be the "herbal" bit then?!

So, on to the hair washing ceremony - I splurged a small blob of shampoo into the palm of my hand. It was a very pale translucent yellow and notably thick so it was easy to control the amount I wanted to dispense. Once in my hand the smell didn't seem quite so overpowering and was sweeter than when I took my first sniff from the bottle (a bit like wine really!) It lathered easily and well - very well, forming a huge white foamy mass o
n my head which plopped into the bath. Due to the bright red colouring in my hair this tends to turn the shampoo pink so I was faced with what looked like a giant blancmange looming towards me in the bath. Although it can be reassuring to see a good lather it also often means such shampoos can take a long time to rinse out thoroughly and indeed this appeared to be the case with this one. It took a few minutes more rinsing than usual but then it felt "squeaky clean" although it DID feel very rough and stiff but you have to bear in mind I normally use products for dry/coloured hair.

I have to confess, with disappointment, that I didn't feel inclined to exclaim "ooooh!, aaaaaah!" as they do in the adverts and I wasn't brought to orgasmic levels with this shampoo so I had to fake it. In all honesty, this wasn't much different to any other shampoo in this price range, no cheap thrills here then. Well, it was a free sample so I guess I couldn't hope for too much. Normally this seems to retail at around £2 for a full size bottle from supermarkets and large chemists.

So the final verdict is simple really - does its job, not sub-standard but nothing special. If it's on offer then I may buy it again, if not I'll more than likely stick to my usual brands.

Summary: