Herbal Essences BioRenew Hydrating Coconut Milk Regime

I’ve been using shampoo and conditioner bars for a couple of years now so I was interested to see if these products I was sent to trial would sway me back to the bottle. And the smell of these is almost enough alone to lure me back! These smell amazing and remind me of an old school sun tan lotion. The smell transports me back to a holiday in Samoa, showering under the stars at night and rinsing off a day at the beach. Absolute bliss! The brown packaging feels old school as well but in a more old fashioned way. But the flip top lid and the softer plastic make the products easy to squeeze out.

The products themselves left my hair squeaky clean and well conditioned. I also found the shampoo quite volumnising, leaving me with big hair but it was less frizzy than usual. Unfortunately the squeaky clean feeling comes from the SLS And SLES in it. These are degreasers which can irritate some, including me. My scalp did feel a bit itchy until my hair was dry but was ok after that. I’m quite surprised these ingredients are still in the shampoo as it seems to be marketed as having no other ‘nasties’ in it like parabens and gluten (not that I was planning on eating it! Lol)

For this reason I won’t be purchasing these products but will continue to use as I love the smell. Hopefully I can alternate the shampoo with my usual one to make it less irritating. I still also prefer my shampoo and conditioner bars as there’s no bulky bottles cluttering my bathroom or the planet. I’ll still probably be picking up the bottles each day just to get a whiff of that amazing tropical smell though!

I was so keen to try these products as I usually love anything coconut after living in the Islands for five years. I was initiall disappointed with the shampoo as the smell was so overpowering and nothing at all like coconut. It was more like an apple shampoo from my teenage memories. I was pleasantly surprised that the conditioner was more to my expectation of a coconut milk smell and definitely not overpowering, and quite calming in comparison. I have been using a micellar product recently on my hair and have been happy with the results. I felt the herbal essence product left my hair feeling a bit flat and lifeless inbetween washes and lacked its usual bounce. I overcame this with the use of hair clay, but I'd rather not use these sort of products on a regular basis. I generally am a wash and wear girl but felt a little let down by this product. As far as the packaging is concerned it was just run of the mill. I would like to see more companies offering refill packs in biodegradable packs and less plastics. I also prefer the pump action dispensers as I feel there is less wastage of product, especially in families with young children who are also using the product. Don't think I will change from the product I am using now, but to be fair, due to the late delivery of this trial product, a longer trial period may have resulted in a more favourable review but at this stage I'm not convinced.