Conditioning Shampoo

Screenshot from a commercial for Pert Plus

I remember vaguely commercials from the early 90s for Pert Plus. It was a tough competition to go head to head with Pears:

Pert plus sold the idea that you could save a huge amount of time by combining shampooing and conditioning into ONE step.

Picard also saves time on shampooing and conditioning. How do you think he was able to make captain?

I think Head & Shoulders got in the mix. The early nineties seem like a crazy time for hair products aiming to reign in eighties hair.

The conditioning shampoo I’m thinking about is the stuff in tiny bottles that’s usually provided by budget brand hotels. It seems like it was something that was pitched by a private label soap company to hotels as a cost saving measure and a way to address a lot of questions by angry guests.

Where’s the conditioner? It’s in the shampoo.

But what makes a shampoo into a conditioning shampoo? Apparently there is a science to this. Shampoo is meant to clean hair and conditioner is meant to add back naturally occurring oils that would otherwise leave hair dry. Conditioning shampoo is meant to clean without drying, essentially being a milder shampoo.

Instead of it being Pert Plus, it’s more like shampoo minus.

Conditioning shampoo seems to be like a decision lead entirely by accounting. It’s a poor experience, doesn’t do as good a job as having both a shampoo and conditioner, and slaps impacts the guest in an intimate way.

It is possible to augment the shampoo / conditioning experience in a way that still saves money. I’ve seen hotels add dispensers to shower units BUT they put in L’Occitane shampoos. I’d easily prefer that hotel over another just for this.

Better to save money with features that don’t touch the client.