This is an example of that problem. I went to Target this past Friday to pick up a few things (mainly bread, juice, and a mascara I've read great things about lately that I hadn't yet tried- yep, that shall get its own post wihin the next few days). As I was heading to the makeup section, I noticed they rearranged the haircare aisle- obviously that was an ivitation for me to walk down it and look, right? Yeah... so I basically got to the Garnier section and went no further because not only am I a sucker for the brand even though I don't think I've used a full bottle of their shampoo or conditioner in years (it ends up being given to the siblings. i think what got me for life was a huge banner ad i saw for "Long & Strong" years ago wrapped around a corner of a building in Lithuania...i also have a soft spot for good advertising), but i noticed a new line made up of just a few products called Pure Clean. I love products packaged in even partially recycled plastic. Obviously I had to buy it to try it. Each bottle is about $3ish so it's not a huge loss if it's not too impressive. Ok, enough story time.
The formula is almost entirely biodegradable. Which is cool if you're in an area that needs that in shampoos so the water systems don't get too contaminated. They also have no silicones, parabens, or dyes. It's advertised to be a weightless formula for normal hair types to be strengthened and healthier in general.Day one of using it:
The shampoo lathered really well and I didn't need much at all for my thick, medium length hair. The conditioner consistency is quite thick and I didn't need too much of that either. The shampoo and conditioner both smell lightly fruity, kind of like apples, which is what most Garnier hair products smell like to me anyway, this was just a bit more of a mild fragrance than I remember them being.
I finger-combed through my hair and let it air dry with absolutely no styling products to see how "weightless" it really is. It dried kind of in-between fluffy and smooth. I suppose that would mean the formula is relatively lightweight. My hair was also very shiny as usual, which is good. It was also quite soft, which is also normal for me, but a good thing that it didn't feel dry after using a different shampoo. Weightless formulas tend to leave my hair on the dry side. By about halfway through the day, my hair started feeling like it was coated with something and my scalp felt like it had product build up (even though I don't even put conditioner on the scalp at all). The next morning, my hair and scalp felt kind of yucky. Usually, I can skip a day between shampoos if I wanted to. This really felt like I needed it washed. It felt like at least second-day hair, if not day three. Regardless, I used this Garnier Pure Clean stuff again. Same deal, only this time, I blow dried it and put a little bit of product in it. It felt the same weird yuck as the day with no products. Boo.
Day three (yesterday)... same yucky morning hair like the day before. Tried it again to see if it got any better. Nope. This day I flat ironed it and it felt the same as the last two days. Yuck. Last night, my husband actually said to me after getting a whiff of my hair "yesterday [and just now], I was smelling your hair and it kind of smelled like dead fish... have you noticed?" I then thought about it and realized that I had been catching whiffs of not a very pleasant aroma the last few days, so I took a chunk of my hair, sniffed it, and sure enough it smelled pretty unpleasant. I made him smell the shampoo and conditioner in the bottles to show him what the stuff actually smells like, and he was like, "Yeah, that smells not bad, but your hair definitely doesn't smell like that". I guess like perfumes react with induviduals' body chemistry and alter the scent a bit, hair products do the same thing. Needless to say, I am certainly not using this shampoo and conditioner anymore...
This may be a good formula for some people. The concept behind it is good with it being lightweight, biodegradable, silicone, paraben, and dye free, leaves my hair shiny and soft, and is packaged in a 50% recycled plastic bottle. However, not only does it leave my hair feeling yucky, but the fragrance really doesn't mix well with my personal body chemistry.
I say, go for it. Try it out if you are looking for a new shampoo/ conditioner to try, but don't say I didn't warn you if you aren't a fan of it... or if your hair ends up smelling not so pleasant.
