Shampoo is more than just washing your hair.

Shampoo. Definitely unchartered territory. Something I may have not thought about to blog on my own. But after reading Cheryl's thoughts on the subject, I couldn't just post a comment. I have my own thoughts.

Having lived a deprived childhood when it came to things like wardrobe and hairstyle, (I went to a school requiring a green plaid uniform and my mother hated complicated hair), I was, shockingly, not deprived of luxury shampoos! Which is very shocking, as my mother was the queen of generic items (a separate blog, about my phobia of geneiric products).

Growing up I can recall the tube of PRELL (or a glass bottle). The commercial showed a PEARL being dropped into the bottle. The shampoo was so thick that is took forever for the pearl to sink to the bottom. Looking back on PRELL, it would be the equivalent today of washing your hair in TIDE. Talk about DETERGENT! Those were the days you washed your hair on a Saturday night and couldn't go out because it was an all night event (detangling must have been a nightmare before conditioners!). Around that same time was BRECK. Funny, because I recently saw BRECK at Big Lots and bought a bottle just for the memories. It is in the TIDE category. I should actually finish up the bottle by pouring it in to wash towels or socks.

I remember the EARTH BORN NATURAL Ph BALANCED SHAMPOO and can even still sing the jingle. I definitely remember the Clairol Herbal Essence bottle. I can recall the shape of it, the cap and the girl with the long flowing hair of flowers. I remember the smell.

I definitely had GEE YOUR HAIR SMELLS TERRIFIC. I want to say around 5th grade which would have been the late 1970s.

Another product I remember at that time was BODY ON TAP. The shampoo with beer added for body. Had that.

Then there was the introduction of the BLOW DRYER! Our first one was only 800 watts (maybe?) and had loads of attatchments. It took an hour to dry your hair with, but wow, was it something! Then came the shampoos designed for use with a blow dryer. I can still sing the ULTRA MAX song. Start with Ultra Max shampoo and your hair's gonna do what you want it to do! It's gonna flip, the way you want it to, it's gonna curl the way you want it to! The shampoo was a thick golden color but didn't smell the best.

Probably my fondest shampoo memory is VIDAL SASSOON. This was definitely 7th grade. I can recall the shape and color of the bottles. The shampoo itself was clear and smelled of almonds. Conditioners were just becoming the IN thing and Vidal offered a 3 step system. Very high maintenence, but as a 7th grader, what else did you have to do with your time? I haven't thought about Vidal in years. I wonder if it is the same?

In high school, Mom got hooked on a shampoo from her hair dressers called APPLE PECTIN. Wow was that nice! Thick, creamy and apple scented. She would buy it by the pint and we all shared. I also just recently found this at Sally Beauty supply and bought us a bottle. It is everything I remember from the early 1980s!

In between there were the Salon Selectives, the HDR and PERT. Remember PERT??? I didn't (and still don't) like any of the 2 in 1s.

In college I got hooked on PAUL MITCHELL. I still enjoy that line.

Perhaps because I was never deprived of these splurges as a child, I don't feel the need for them today. I really prefer to use the Suave versions of the salon shampoos, and an occassional real PANTENE purchase is sometimes all I need to feel spoiled! I think it is the same idea of not banning alcohol from your children. Growing up we were always allowed to have a sip of wine, and then a very small glass of our own around age 10 when adults got together. It was never a big deal and therefore I never felt that need to BINGE drink in high school or college. Nice correlation there, eh?

Now MAKE-UP? There is another story!