The Good: Inexpensive, New bottle, Cleans hair, Lathers well
The Bad: Scent does not endure, Faint smell
The Basics: Adequate at cleaning hair, Juicy Green Apple shampoo falls down terribly on the scent front, making for a less memorable shampoo.
I have recently discovered that I have certain conditions under which I expect more of a shampoo than simply cleaning my hair. It was not an intentional divergence from my previous standards, but I have found that I do enjoy being able to smell my hair and smell a scent on it that is intriguing and different as opposed to the same, old, bland hair or neutral smell. So, as autumn rapidly arrives to the northeast, I thought it might be fun to pick up some of Suave's Juicy Green Apple shampoo. After all, apples in my area of New York are common and I suppose I thought that it might make me feel a little more connected to the world than I have been. This was not a bad theory.
Unfortunately, Juicy Green Apple is just not that kind of shampoo. Not quite living up to the standards from Suave like the Orchid Petal or the Suave Professionals Rosemary Mint shampoos, Juicy Green Apple is a bit of a disappointment. Quite adequate at cleaning - my basic criteria for a shampoo - Juicy Green Apple has a scent that dissipates in the shower and never quite seems to come back. It certainly does not linger long enough on the hair to satisfy those who find themselves looking for an olfactory escape in the mid-afternoon.
Suave has been expanding its line of inexpensive shampoos and conditioners. In virtually every market in the United States, Suave shampoos and conditioners may be found on sale for $1.00 for a 15 fl. oz. bottle. Juicy Green Apple shampoo seems is a fairly standard scented shampoo for all hairs that does not seem to rely on gimmicks and is not bad for a staple shampoo. The 15 fl. oz. bottle is a cylindrical tube bottle with a flip-top lid that is easy enough to open with one hand, sort of. The new bottle actually is not perfectly cylindrical, having instead two flatter spots on the sides, which aid the user in holding it. While not contoured, this does make the bottle easier to hold when it gets wet.
More problematic is the lid. The lid is a standard flip-top lid and so long as the bottle is not wet, there ought to be no problem with using one's thumb to flip the top. The issue, however, is that the top of the bottle is a pressure ring, not a screw on top. What this means is that when one applies pressure to the top to open the spout, the user is almost just as likely to flip the entire top off. This is annoying and my first experience with this top (on another Suave shampoo) resulted in the top coming off through sheer force of gravity and perhaps the best advice I might give is to hold the bottles by the bottom.
Inside the bottles is Juicy Green Apple shampoo and it is a light green translucent gel. This shampoo has good leg and is refreshingly more viscous than watery. The scent is a strangely pungent apple smell. In fact, one of the key selling points for me was that in the store, it seemed like this would be a powerfully-scented shampoo which would satisfy me both in the shower and well afterward. Alas, though, Juicy Green Apple smells good in the bottle, but flops in real-world experiences.
When in the shower and one's nostrils are opened by the steam (I tend to like very hot showers) this shampoo diffuses poorly. I anticipated that in the shower, I would have apple scented showers, rich in the aroma of apples, filling my bathroom. No such luck. Instead, Juicy Green Apple shampoo seemed almost scentless in the steam. Over the course of my two week trial, there was not a single time I opened the bottle to use the shampoo that it wowed me the way it did in the store.
When it comes to use, this is a simple shampoo and one need only flip the lid and dispense a small amount into the palm of the hand before applying it to the hair. The Juicy Green Apple shampoo requires only about a quarter-sized dollop to clean a full head of hair. This lathered up well, which meant I could get away with using less of it. I have long hair and as a result, shampoo can be an annoying expense when the shampoo I am using does not lather up and clean well.
In the case of the Juicy Green Apple, it lathers up wonderfully, such that a quarter-sized dollop can easily stretch to coat a very full head of hair, like mine. Used judiciously thus, the 15 oz. bottle may easily last a full month to six weeks with daily hair washings. This makes its value a little greater than some shampoos I've recently tested.
As a shampoo, it works. Hair comes out looking and feeling cleaner after its use than before. I think the most objective test for a shampoo is to see if hair is cleaner using the shampoo vs. rinsing your hair with water alone and for the basic functioning of a shampoo the Juicy Green Apple shampoo lived up to that basic litmus test.
I tend to like shampoos that leave my hair smelling delightful, like whatever scent they have lured me in with. Given that the Juicy Green Apple Shampoo seemed to smell significantly like apple in the stores, I was disappointed when it didn't live up in the shower with its rich scent. Once that happened, it was little surprise that it left no scent on my hair after it was rinsed out. To be fair, the shampoo adequately cleaned the hair such that other scents were eliminated, but it did not leave anything remotely scented in terms of apple bouquet behind. So, as I enter autumn and might like scented hair - especially before I start using the wood stove, which will leave a smoky smell around - I find myself somewhat disappointed by the Juicy Green Apple. Instead, it left my hair smelling neutral and like hair as opposed to anything else. This mostly just means I cannot smell my hair throughout the day to get any sort of energizing effect or be taken away in my mind to somewhere more pleasant.
Juicy Green Apple Shampoo has no discernible conditioning properties. There is a separate conditioner that has the same scent. As it stands, Juicy Green Apple works fine as a day to day shampoo that will clean your hair, but for those looking for a bold scent, actual moisturizing qualities, or something that will do more than simply strip away dirt and bothersome scents, this is not the shampoo for you, with or without its accompanying conditioner!
For other shampoo reviews, please check out my reviews of:
Bigelow Mentha Hair Mint shampoo
VO5 Blackberry Sage Shampoo
4/10
For other health and beauty product reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2010, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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