Taking the shine off things.... (Nicky Clarke Colour Therapy Shampoo)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Nicky Clarke Colour Therapy Shampoo
Date:	15/10/07 (277 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The bottle has a great dispensing lid!

Disadvantages: The smell and the results

I’m one of those rare females who have never coloured their hair. I have naturally shiny dark brown hair and have never really felt the need. However, I’m open to products that will enhance the natural colour of my hair and make it work for me.

In recent years shampoos and conditioners designed for certain colours and types of hair have been hitting the shelves with increasing regularity. Celebrity hairdressers have been lending their names to products aimed at the mid-consumer end of the market in an attempt to make people think that they are getting salon quality and experience at a good price.

One of the first of these shampoos to hit the market was John Frieda’s Brilliant Brunette range, a wonderful chocolate smelling collection that really did seem to lift the multi-faceted colours that occur naturally in hair. At a shade under £5 this is not cheap shampoo but I liked it. However I’m not a brand loyal shopper and when I saw the equivalent product in Nicky Clarke’s range on special offer in Waitrose I decided that that was to be my next bottle. I’m half way through it and it’s likely to stay that way for a long time.

The Nicky Clarke range consists/ed (see later note) of shampoos for browns, blondes, redheads and greys together with associated conditioners and finishing crèmes. My bottle is “Sweet Like Chocolate” designed for brunettes.

First the plus points:

The bottle – the shampoo dispenses through a flip lid top that is great for use in the shower as there is no danger of spillage or water getting into the bottle when you’re in the shower.

um… that’s about it.

The shampoo appears to have a colourant in it as it lathers with a slight reddish tint and after the lather rinses out of your hair the water still comes off a slightly red colour. To my mind this is not a colour enhancing shampoo but a colouring shampoo (albeit feint). This is in contrast to the Frieda version that has no colour.

Where the Frieda product smelt wonderfully chocolatey the Clarke shampoo smells of chemicals. It’s meant to smell of chocolate with a citrus hint but I just can’t detect it! Chocolate smells are actually relatively easy to recreate (ask any VI form chemistry student and they should be able to do it) and should be even easier if there is cocoa bean extract in the product but somehow Clarke has lost it. I found that the smell of the Frieda product lingered by the Clarke one didn’t (just as well seeing as I didn’t like it!).

The results from a wash are acceptable although I often feel like there is residue from the shampoo that doesn’t rinse out. I have the kind of hair that requires daily washing (yes, I’ve tried the leave it and see method but it just doesn’t work) and the shampoo doesn’t seem to dry out my hair but it’s not left looking that glossy and healthy either. When using the Frieda product I felt really good after washing my hair, my hair was light and glossy and looked really cared for. With the Clarke variant my hair looks fairly lifeless, the ends do look a little dry and the result just doesn’t make me smile.

I did try to look up further details of this shampoo to see what the manufacturer’s had to say about it but couldn’t find it listed on the P&G site (save for some safety notes which were the same as other shampoos). Waitrose and Ocado no longer seem to stock it, nor do Boots. I can only assume that it’s been discontinued but in case you see it somewhere or find it at a discounters you know what I think. If anyone’s desperate to try it I have half a bottle sitting in my bathroom!

Not recommended.

Summary: Possibly discontinued, it's no wonder from the results....