The Good: Amazing aroma, Great lather, Wonderful feeling, Good cleaning power
The Bad: Stupidly expensive, Not cone free.
The Basics: An amazing peppermint scented and infused conditioner, Bath & Body Works' Mentha Hair Mint-Infused Invigorating conditioner does all it promises. . . for a pretty steep price!
I managed to get through the summer heat this year two fundamental ways. The first was that my job for the Census Bureau keeps me traveling in my air conditioned car for hours on end, so that is pretty nice for me. The second way I survived the heat was by washing my hair a lot. Yes, I said it! I’ve been taking long, hot showers and washing my hair. How does this keep me cool? Well, I’ve been using the Bath & Body Works Mentha Hair shampoo (click here for my review of that!) and conditioner. And, despite what some say, it is perfectly androgynous, so it is very much a great way for anyone to stay clean, conditioned and cool!
There are two strikes against the Bath And Body Works Mentha Hair conditioner, the first being far more serious than the latter. The first strike is that Mentha Hair is usually $12.00 a bottle. My wife and I paid “only” $6.00 for the conditioner and I put the word only in quotes because usually that’s four to six bottles of conditioner – and larger bottles to boot! – for us. The expense is a major detraction for this product. The other problem is that Mentha Hair Mint-Infused Invigorating Conditioner is not cone free. Cones (ingredients which end in “-cone”, like amodimethicone in this conditioner) are rumored to be terrible for hair and are part of a current witch hunt in health and beauty products. I tend not to care about the current diet fad or current alleged threat to the health of anything and I suspect because this product has been made for many years from a company that has been making similar products since 1838 that the company will ride out the current trend.
The C.O. Bigelow Mentha Hair Mint-Infused Invigorating conditioner comes in an opaque light green bottle with the 10 fl. oz. usually costing consumers a whopping $12.00! The green bottle is boxy, reminds one of a flask - outside being mint green and plastic - and has a darker flip-top lid. Because the sides of the bottle feature the letters for the Bigelow name in raised letters, the Mentha Hair conditioner bottle does not drop easily from one's hands and thus remains light and easy to use.
I am a huge fan of all things mint, a fact my wife knows quite well. So this quickly became a treat conditioner for both of us. As summer has descended, I need to wash my hair at least once every other day and when I have used the Mentha Hair, it reinvigorates the hair that I have been washing and stripping of oils. Application is fairly easy. After rinsing all of the shampoo from one's hair, simply open the bottle, deposit a dollop of the Mentha Mint conditioner on your hand - I have long hair and a droplet the size of a quarter stretches to clean all my hair - then work into the hair. Experience has proven to me that the Mentha-Hair conditioner, being as thick as it is, works through the hair far better if one rubs it onto both hands before trying to squeeze it through the hair. The Mentha Hair conditioner comes out of the bottle as a very thick, slightly green cream with only the slightest tint of yellow-green color to it. When the time comes, it washed out exceptionally easily, making it a great conditioner when the hot water kicks out!
I mentioned before that Mentha Hair is an ideal summer conditioner and it is. Mentha Hair has 1% peppermint extract and smells divinely of peppermint. This is not a subtle scent, it is a forceful, open your nostrils aroma. The thing is, like most mentholated products, this conditioner opens the pores. In the process, the Mentha Hair Mint-Infused Invigorating conditioner actually cools off the skin, starting at the scalp and then wherever it comes into contact with skin below. In the summer, that means after a minute or two of conditioning - there is a time delay factor to this benefit I have not been able to truly comprehend the reason for - every inch of skin this touches gets washed over with a freezing breeze. This locks in the scent from the shampoo exceptionally well.
As for the practical functionality of this conditioner, the Mentha Hair has kept my hair manageable and soft through the summer, when I frequently end up stripping it. I have not found any split ends and this conditioner does all that it promises!
The Bigelow Mentha Hair Mint-infused Invigorating conditioner comes from C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries which was established in 1836, so it is easy to believe the "Not Tested On Animals" label the bottle bears. The conditioner does contain actual peppermint extract, though it is far below ingredients like water, cetyl alcohol and cetyl esters. All I know is that the ingredients work and even in the summer, my hair still smells like Peppermint after twelve awake and about hours!
While this is an absolutely amazing conditioner, I could not justify giving it more than 4 stars due to the outrageous cost for so small a bottle. Price does matter and while I have never had a conditioner that has the tingle effect like the Mentha Hair, I've had conditioners that clean equally well and scent my hair at least as much for about a third or a sixth of what my wife paid for this bottle of conditioner. It's amazing, but I would never recommend anyone pay $12 for it!
For other conditioners, please check out my review of Suave Professionals Rosemary Mint Conditioner by clicking here!
7.5/10
For other health and beauty products, please check out my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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