A Lengthy Tale of Fate and Second Chances
Written: Aug 12 '01 (Updated Jan 31 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great smell, hair is clean & smooth, absolutely no buildup with long-term use.
Cons: You'll have to pay for it with cash, your husband will freak at the cost.
The Bottom Line: The delicious smell is just a happy sidebar to the wonderfully clean and normalizing effect this shampoo has on formally damaged hair.
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| nifer's Full Review: AVEDA Rosemary Mint Shampoo |
Only ten short years ago, when "mall bangs" and AquaNet and Sun-In were all the rage, I had perfect hair. I grew it down to the middle of my back, permed it, poured lemon juice and any other blonde-enhancing thing I could hide from my mother all over it, sizzled hot curling irons through it, moused, gelled, and sprayed it until it was schlacked to perfection, and viola, it was perfect. No dryness, no split ends that a trim couldn't fix, no scalp itch, no frizz.
By the end of my freshman year of college, 1992, everything went to hell. I had to cut my beautiful locks to half their length because those beautiful strands were jumping ship all over my dorm room floor. No longer did I have full access to my beautician mother's heavenly stocked cabinet of styling product bliss, nor could I afford the perms, colors, and conditioning treatments of those happy salad days.
Thus began my years of frizz and frump. My hair, dull and dry, cried in envy every time I paraded the glossy locks of perfection from the pages of fashion rags in front of it. I attempted to ease its suffering by rubbing every shampoo, conditioner, and deep-penetrating leave-in treatment for sale on the shelves of Wal-Mart into it. Nothing worked. My hair was convinced of its has-been state and quietly recoiled into a grief-induced coma.
But then, a miracle of chance. We were up Nort' in the dreamy Wisconsin woods, swimming off a little secluded beach when a perfect young thing with the glossy hair of the fashion rags sunk herself into the cool water with a subtle bottle in her hand. She swam away from the splashing public and proceeded to dip and wash her glorious locks with the lake water and the nectar of this mystery bottle. My persona changed to that of a Disneyesque witch -- I could have the hair of this princess, if I could only get her to bite this poisoned apple and send her into a deep sleep, then I could snatch the bottle.
As luck would have it, the princess took to a nap on the beach to dry her golden locks and plunked the bottle down beside her, so instead of committing a felony I simply had to walk beside her to see what it was she had. The bottle read "Aveda Rosemary Mint Shampoo" and I immediately ran to the mall upon return from my vacation to purchase it.
I'm not going to fool you -- my hair didn't change immediately. Nor have I fooled myself into believing that this shampoo alone is the reason why I once again have perfect hair. In addition to my commitment to this "organic invigoration" I have stopped perming, coloring, sizzling, and over-product-enhancing my locks, thanks in part to the natural look our new Millennium has afforded us thankful women. I also have found God's gift to hairstylists and if you think I'm going to give you a referral you're nuts -- it's already too difficult to get an appointment with him. However, I do believe that with committed use of this product over the past four years, give or take an occasional month here or there to try other products in the Aveda line, my hair has been reborn and no longer cries in envy at the flowing goodness of the hair of others.
One thing that kept me with the product in the early days was its delicious smell. For several months every year there is only the smell of snow in the great outdoors of Wisconsin (and yes, I know snow is water and water, they say, doesn't smell, but surround yourself with it for a majority of your life and you too will beg to differ) and this minty goo is a welcome change for the nose. It also gives a terrific tingling sensation to the scalp that, if nothing else, is worth it just to wake up your head for the days when you're up before the sun.
I also do not wash my hair every day, on the advice of my stylist, so I'm automatically disqualified in recommending this as an every-day product. I can say that when the circumstances have required me to wash my hair a second day in a row (to get out chlorine, sand, salt, etc.) my 'do has not suffered from the use. On the days I do wash my locks, this product gets them squeaky clean and I always step out of the shower minty and refreshed.
Because Aveda is a smart company, they have taken their products off the shelves of the mall hair product stores. Today, you can only purchase Aveda products in Aveda stores, or in Aveda-authorized salons. For more info on the Aveda retailer near you, visit their website at www.aveda.com, or call their Minneapolis headquarters at 800-328-0849.
Finally, I despise listing ingredients for products in my epinions because I'm not a chemist or scientist and cannot tell you anything about the benefits or dangers of these things. I will tell you that Aveda is known for its use of natural ingredients, promoting this as "The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences" and I trust that they are not putting anything in their products that will harm me. If you really want the ingredient listing for this shampoo, e-mail me and I will e-mail it to you, or you can visit their website , or call them at their Minneapolis headquarters, and I'm sure they will happily give it to you.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nifer
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Member: Jennifer
Location: Milwaukee 'burbs
Reviews written: 73
Trusted by: 77 members
About Me:
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. ~ Albert Einstein
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