Saturday, January 19, 2013

Suave Cleans, But Fails To Impress, With Their Wild Cherry Blossom Shampoo!


The Good: Inexpensive, Intriguing scent, Cleans hair, Lathers well
The Bad: Scent does not endure, Packaging
The Basics: "Wild Cherry Blossom" shampoo works all right, but without a strong or enduring scent outside the bottle or on the hair.


Over the summer, while my wife and I were separated by our employment situations, we both picked up a lot of supplies that we are still making our way through now that we have consolidated our resources again. In the case of our shampoos, I was somewhat unsurprised that my wife picked up the Suave Naturals Wild Cherry Blossom shampoo. It seemed like something that, by its scent, would be right up her alley. I was, however, surprised when her family-sized bottle lasted into the new year.

After using it, I am far less surprised.

The Wild Cherry Blossom shampoo works adequately, but its scent is exceptionally weak outside the bottle and it does not endure on the hair for any noticeable length of time. As a result, it becomes a far less impressive shampoo than most of Suave’s other inexpensive shampoos.

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 $2.50 for a 22.5 (or 30, with the free bonus bottle!) fl. oz. bottle. Wild Cherry Blossom 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 30 fl. oz. bottle is a cylindrical tube bottle with a flip-top lid that is easy enough to open with one hand, save that it is a bit bulky as it has a wider diameter than the traditional 15 fl. oz. bottle. The bottle is not contoured and does get slippery when wet. Indeed, the shape of the bottle might not necessarily be problematic save that when it is wet, there is very little friction on the bottle and it slips from one's hand quite easily.

Even 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 problematic aspect involved carrying the bottles; the top came off of one though sheer force of gravity and perhaps the best advice I might give is to hold the bottles by the bottom.

Inside the bottles is Wild Cherry Blossom shampoo and it is a light pink translucent gel. This shampoo has little leg and is more watery than most shampoos. The scent is a powerful floral scent initially. The cherry blossom smells a lot like lilacs and is very subtle after the first moment. It then takes on a slight cherry scent, like an afterscent.

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. However, the scent quickly dissipates in the steam and one is left without a strongly scented shower.

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 Wild Cherry Blossom 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 Wild Cherry Blossom, 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 30 oz. bottle may easily last quite some time.

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 Wild Cherry Blossom 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. The Wild Cherry Blossom Shampoo smelled fairly strong coming out of the bottle, but in the steam and on the hair, the scent dissipates exceptionally quickly. More than that, after one’s hair is dry, it no longer smells like the fruit or flowers the scent had coming out of the bottle.

Wild Cherry Blossom Shampoo has no discernible conditioning properties. There is a separate conditioner that has the same scent. As it stands, Wild Cherry Blossom 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 Suave shampoo reviews, please visit my takes on:
Soothing Lavender Lilac
Suave Professionals Sleek
Suave Professionals Men Deep Clean Peppermint Shampoo
Suave Professionals Almond + Shea Butter
Refreshing Waterfall Mist
Tropical Coconut
Fresh Mountain Strawberry
Ocean Breeze
Juicy Green Apple
Orchid Petal
Suave Professionals Rosemary Mint

5/10

For other health and beauty product reviews, please be sure to visit my Shampoo Index Page for an organized listing of them!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

No comments:

Post a Comment