Even though I'm cheap with both cash and space when I travel, I absolutely have to have conditioner for my hair.  My curls demand some detangling/moisturizing/pampering product in addition to any shampoo or they refuse to allow a comb to enter their lair.  Having suffered through a week with the companion shampoo, I can at least report that Burt's Bees Super Shiny Grapefruit and Sugar Beet Conditioner is a teensy step up from its failure of a sibling.


The Product

Supposedly, Burt's Bees products are "natural".  I'm all for natural.  From a cursory look at the teeny, tiny bottle I can most assuredly tell you that you won't find any of the ingredients lying around in your bathroom, though it does appear to contain a fair number of different citrus oils.  I have never noticed my fruit to be particularly oily, but what do I know?  That's what hair care companies are there to figure out.   The product also contains a wee smidge of honey, as well it should, given the company name.   The conditioner is white and thick and, unfortunately, smells like medication.


What I Like

•  By using 1/3 of the bottle I was able to get enough conditioning treatment for the hair that the companion shampoo had fried to achieve a comb through.

Yeah, that's about it.  But that's a pretty impressive feat considering how bad the shampoo is. 


What I Hate/Detest/ Generally Dislike

•  This stuff stinks.  Literally.  It smells like medication - the way a poorly maintained medical facility smells like medication.  Fortunately the smell didn't seem to linger after my hair was dry.  Fortunate for me and everyone in my family.

•  The conditioner is really, really thick.  Now that isn't a bad thing if it's in one of those upside down squeezy bottles, but when it's in anything else it's almost impossible to get the product out.  In fact, on my last use I cracked the bottle.

•  You need a whole lot to get the job done.  I got exactly 3 and ½ uses out of this travel sized bottle.  I don't have some obscene amount of hair - it doesn't usually require more than a quarter sized blop to do the job.  I used at least twice that here (the ½ use was an instance of trying to conserve the conditioner so it would last the week.  My vacation pictures say this was a bad, bad idea).

•  Like its sibling shampoo, it didn't penetrate my hair very well.  It took quite a bit of doing to work it in and through, pulling and tugging all the while. 

The best thing I can say about Burt's Bees Super Shiny Grapefruit and Sugar Beet Conditioner is that it has a really long name.  Aside from that it achieved only a minimal degree of conditioning performance and required far too much effort and product for that meager reward.  It did make it humanly possible to comb my hair after using its companion shampoo and for that I'm grateful, but it still smelled foul and didn't perform up to any reasonable standards for a conditioner for my hair.  I don't recommend it for anyone, but especially for those with hair like mine.   My curly haired brethren would be far better served by trying my mainstay and the product I had to buy to supplement this one:

Herbal Essences Curls and Waves Conditioner

You can find a full list of ingredients here:  http://www.burtsbees.com/

You can find photographic evidence of epic hair care product failure here (yes, you may laugh - I did!):   http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg298/millinocket/TheHair.jpg

Recommended: No