Olive Some More, Please (The Body Shop Olive Glossing Conditioner)

Member Name: venice105

Product:	The Body Shop Olive Glossing Conditioner
Date:	28/11/06 (293 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rich, moisturising conditioner

Disadvantages: Bottle design, and will it be around for long?

The Body Shop Olive Glossing Conditioner is one of three conditioners that they are producing at the moment (the others being Honey Moisturising and Nettle Oil Balancing Conditioners). The Body Shop does have a fickle product history, and indeed the hair range is perhaps one of the most constantly evolving/revolving ranges they make. I remember the days of Banana Conditioner, mm that was good, why'd they have to go and get rid of it?

Anyway times are a changing again at Body Shop HQ. Anita Roddick has decamped with all of her wholesome profits, leaving her company behind in the hands of that feelgood multinational, L'Oreal. Well, the official word is that she is still overseeing/in control of the ethics of the Body Shop itself, for many people this will not change the fact that it is now associated with Nestle, who own part of L'Oreal. I cannot pretend that everything I purchase is animal/environmental/fair trade friendly, but it will make me less inclined to regard The Body Shop with the same feel good factor it had in the past.

At any rate, I still shop there from time to time. I am forever in search of the holy grail that will tame my hair. I probably put as much time and money into hair products as some people do into active hobbies like bingo or horseriding! Show me a product that promises to moisturise and de-frizz my locks, and I'll gobble it up like the fool's gold that it inevitably is

However, there are sometimes exceptions that make the search worth it. I bought the Olive Glossing Conditioner recently after trying a small size of their Honey Conditioner and liking it. But not loving it, it was a bit too heavy even for my mop.

The Olive Conditioner intrigued me as I have in the past used olive oil as a treatment on my hair and liked it (Eew gross, you say? Not as gross as the mayonnaise, eggs, or banana I've also tried!). Anyway, it's not that crazy, olive oil has long been used in Mediterranean cultures for topical as well as edible benefits. And now The Body Shop has embraced the idea, using Community Trade organic olive oil from Italy in this product.

I purchased the 250ml size for £5.50. A bit steeper than most drugstore brands, then. This is such a deep, rich conditioner, however, that I don't need to use it every time I condition my hair. Well, it's one way of justifying the expense when I have several conditioners on the go!

It smells of citrus, it is a subtle smell but very nice. It comes in quite squat bottles which are frankly a pain to get the product out of. Even when the bottle is full it requires repeated squeezing and shaking to get a wee dollop. By removing the lid you get much faster results.

The conditioner itself is slightly thicker than most conditioners, but applies just as smoothly. I usually comb the conditioner through my hair in the shower, then leave it to sit for a few minutes. This conditioner rinses well, although I do think it leaves a very fine coating (it is meant to "gloss the hair"), though for anyone with dry hair I would think this would be a bonus. It doesn't weigh my hair down or make it greasy in the slightest.

The result being (after, to be honest extra product application - curly hair does not live on conditioner alone!), my hair is very nicely conditioned and as "glossy" as it gets. I would say it is one of the best conditioners I have used. It doesn't magically make my hair perfect or frizz free but I would never expect that from a conditioner alone. It would probably be more than enough to moisturise less troublesome hair types. I do seem to require less product after using this to make my hair presentable. Which to me is proof that it does a good job moisturising and coating my hair.

I think anyone with slightly parched/damaged hair would find this works well. It is possibly too heavy for fine/thin hair but I can't say for sure. It is recommended on the bottle for Normal to Dry hair. I would particularly recommend it to those with dry and/or wavy/curly hair. Overall, I am very happy with the results of this conditioner and will definitely be buying it again, so long as it's still around.


http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/

To read Anita Roddick's response to criticism of the takeover go here:

http://www.anitaroddick.com/readmore.php?sid=547


Ingredients: Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Olea Europea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Glycerin, Ceteareth-20, Steartrimonium Methosulfate, Benzyl Alcohol, Amodimethicone, Honey, Isopropyl Alcohol, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Wheat Amino Acids, Sodium Chloride, Olea Europea (Olive) Leaf Extract, Disodium EDTA, Tocopherol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Trideceth-12, Citric Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate

Summary: Thirst quenching moisturiser for dry hair