The Good: Decent scent, Leaves hair generally clean, Inexpensive
The Bad: Scent wears off very quickly, Does not condition
The Basics: An incredibly average shampoo, Passion Fruit Smoothie still works fine to please this consumer on slow days!
It is a very rare thing that I encounter a conditioner before I use and review the shampoo. In fact, it surprised me to see thus far I've only transferred my review of Blackberry Sage from the VO5 line (click here for that review!). And yet, as it turns out, I had my first experiences with VO5's Moisture Milks Passion Fruit Smoothie Conditioner last year and it took me until last month to find the accompanying shampoo. However, being clearanced by Rite-Aid, I came across a half dozen bottles of Passion Fruit Smoothie Shampoo and given that it was being sold off at $.69/ea., I couldn't resist the bargain!
The Moisture Milks shampoos are characterized by having a more milky (non-translucent) color and the claim that they moisturize. I'm always somewhat at a loss to understand what the point is of a moisturizing shampoo, at least if it still requires a separate conditioner, which the Passion Fruit Smoothie does. However, working in tandem with that conditioner, my hair has been clean, well-maintained and smelling good for the last month.
I tend to like shampoos that both clean and leave hair smelling good. The Passion Fruit Smoothie does that, but little else. In fact, it does not leave a very strong scent on the hair and as one who likes shampoos that trigger scent memories, this is a little bit of a detraction for me. I tend to have hair that gets dry quickly when overwashed, so the idea of the moisturizing shampoo possibly preventing split ends and cracking appealed to me.
With a cost of approximately $1.00 for a 15 oz. bottle, Passion Fruit Smoothie is affordable even when it is not on clearance. The bottle is smooth and does not have any ribbing or other texturing to it, so it does slip out of the hands easily, which is not great for a product one is using in the shower. The cap has a flip-top that makes it very easy to get the shampoo out with only one hand. I've found that once the bottle is half empty, it's easy to do this one handed without dropping the bottle.
The scent is a light Passion Fruit smell. The scent is actually quite precise and frankly the only way I know what passion fruit smells like is from the Jelly Belly jelly beans that are passion fruit smoothie flavored. This is a light citrus scent with a slightly sour afterscent. When used with the conditioner, that scent fades slightly to a more muted citrus scent.
Like most shampoos, there is nothing mysterious to using this product. You wet your hair, lather it up with this shampoo and rinse. Most VO5 products I can get away with using about a quarter-sized drop, but not so with the Passion Fruit Smoothie. This may seems to be fairly common for me with the Moisture Milks line; I needed about a half-dollar sized dollop to get the shampoo to work through all my hair. I do have long hair, but the problem here is the lather.
Despite the claims on the front of the bottle, this shampoo has very poor lather quality. It takes a lot to work it up to get it to the point where it is an actual lather instead of like a gel. Indeed, with average usage, the product was more like putting hand lotion in my hair than shampoo. This required a lot of agitation to lather it properly, but the results were worth the effort. The Passion Fruit Smoothie shampoo actually does clean hair well.
This shampoo rinses out poorly and leaves the hair with an extremely mild scent of Passion Fruit that lasts, at best, an hour after it is rinsed out. The Passion Fruit Smoothie required more effort just to simply rinse it out than to get it into a lather! However, with extended lathering and rinsing, my hair came out clean and manageable.
The Passion Fruit Smoothie makes my hair feel very heavy when it is still wet, but once dry, the shampoo lives up to its promise of moisturized, healthy-looking hair. I find myself wishing the scent lasted longer, though. In the bottle it is a subtle, citrus smell that is quite nice, but is muted by the milky-sour smell to it. That the smell is gone so quickly, especially while my hair still feels wet, heavy and ugly, is problematic to me.
Still, this does not dry out my hair, nor does it leave it with any greasy residue. It moisturizes well, though not well enough that it actually repairs the hair and protects it in the way a conditioner does.
Passion Fruit Smoothie works well with its accompanying conditioner and I give it a light "recommend" solely because some days when I am taking things slower, I don't mind the extra work with lathering and rinsing. Not a great shampoo for active days, but a good one for mild times when one wants to relax while cleaning.
For other shampoo reviews, please check out my takes on:
Suave Juicy Green Apple
Suave Orchid Petal
Bigelow Mentha Hair Mint
5/10
For other health and beauty product reviews, please visit my index page for a comprehensive list by clicking here!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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