The Good: Inexpensive, Cleans, Good scent, Lathers well, Washes out fully
The Bad: No conditioning properties
The Basics: One of the few perfect shampoos I have so far encountered, Suave's Ocean Breeze shampoo cleans hair well, leaving a mild scent, for a very low price!
It is a rare thing for me to find a shampoo that I can afford that I also will eagerly recommend to readers based on all of the factors I look for in a hair care product. I want a shampoo that smells good, leaves a subtle but enjoyable scent that endures for hours, actually cleans hair without leaving any sort of residue and is affordable. That near-impossible set of conditions for me often leaves me feeling disappointed or, at least, underwhelmed. Suave, which is found equally inexpensively often enough, has yet to wow me in a similar way. Until today.
After a week and a half's use, Ocean Breeze shampoo by Suave has effectively wowed me. It is inexpensive, smells wonderful, leaves no residue and leaves my hair clean and light. It is one of the best shampoos I have ever used and it makes it very easy to recommend it.
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. Ocean Breeze shampoo seems is a fairly standard scented shampoo for all hairs that does not seem to rely on gimmicks and is ideal 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. Because it is not contoured extensively, the bottle gets slippery when wet. However, Suave has recently changed the shape of their bottles from a pure cylinder to one that has a flat side and that helps to eliminate slippage.
The lid is a standard flip-top lid and even when the bottle is wet, there ought to be no problem with using one's thumb to flip the top. Despite the fact that Suave's Ocean Breeze shampoo uses a pressure ring to hold the cap on, there is little chance of flipping the whole cap off the bottle. As a result, Ocean Breeze is easy to dispense and store with little waste or risk of accidents.
Inside the bottle is Ocean Breeze shampoo and it is a blue-green translucent gel. This shampoo has good leg and is more viscous than watery. The scent is an intriguing scent which is virtually impossible to define. After all, "Ocean Breeze:" that's the scent of air and water! Ocean Breeze is, however, a fair title for the shampoo as it smells not floral, but the memory of it. There is a hint of the salty sea in the scent, but it is the last whiff of the sea scent as it is blowing away. As a result, Ocean Breeze smells fresh and watery, but more clean than briny. The scent is one that it is easy to cop out and suggest simply smells "clean" and it does, but there is a faintly floral afterscent and on the skin and hair Ocean Breeze smells clean and subtly floral.
When in the shower and one's nostrils are opened by the steam (I tend to like very hot showers) this shampoo diffuses reasonably well. Thus, in the shower, one has showers that smell of the oceanside (minus the rotting sea creatures and kelp that might have washed ashore), which is absolutely delightful. The point is to make one feel clean and Ocean Breeze works on that level.
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 Ocean Breeze shampoo requires only about a quarter-sized dollop to clean a full head of hair. This lathered up remarkably 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 Ocean Breeze, 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 and a pleasure to use.
And, quite simply, 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 Ocean Breeze 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, Ocean Breeze shampoo was a pleasant surprise. My hair comes out light and manageable and after twenty hours, both my partner and I were able to find the scent still lingering there. My hair was not weighed down with any grease or residue and the scent was not at all overbearing, but my hair had the faint ocean scent and was quite clean.
Ocean Breeze Shampoo has no discernible conditioning properties. There is a separate conditioner that has the same scent. As it stands, Ocean Breeze works fine as a day to day shampoo that will clean your hair, but for those looking for a bold scent 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!
But for those of us looking for manageable, clean hair with a good, simple scent to it after washing. Well, this is one of the gold standards!
For other Suave shampoos reviewed by me, please check out:
Juicy Green Apple
Orchid Petal
Rosemary Mint (Suave Professionals line)
10/10
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© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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