| Review Of ABBA Pure & Natural Hair Care Shampoo & Conditioner |
| Jane L. Bullock |
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Introduction I tried ABBA about a week ago. Then, last weekend I changed my hairstyle to a "Bed Head" look. Now that I’m using the stiff and sticky products that keep the style, I’m pleased with the results I got from the ABBA hair products.  I’d used ABBA years ago when I had regular permanents. Since my hair is short, thick and coarse, I was concerned that the perming would damage it. I had great results with ABBA back then. Here are my experiences using the latest ABBA products. ABBA Pure and Natural Hair Care Shampoo While this shampoo doesn’t make loads of lather, it still works well. After rinsing, I was able to run my fingers through my wet hair with no problem—no snarls or tangles. Usage Use about a quarter-sized glob of the shampoo on wet hair and work it in. Rinse thoroughly, then follow with ABBA Pure and Natural Hair Care Recoup Conditioner. ABBA Pure and Natural Hair Care Recoup Conditioner This conditioner is delightful—it looks like thick coconut milk, and feels luxurious on the hair. The directions say that you can use it with or without heat, and to leave it on for about two minutes. I generally leave conditioner on my hair until I’m finished showering, then rinse it out. As with many silky-feeling conditioners, I thought that it might make my hair too heavy, but it didn’t. My hair felt soft and looked very shiny, and it was easy to style my "bed head!"
Usage After shampooing, squeeze out about a quarter-sized blob in your hand, and massage it into wet hair. Rinse out completely. Packaging The packaging for the ABBA Pure and Natural Hair Care line is clean-looking, with its white bottle and mauve lettering. Always appreciated is its ease of use with wet hands! Fragrance These two ABBA products contain some wonderful botanicals (see Ingredients). The shampoo smells pleasingly of coconut, but not that cloyingly sweet coconut smell you get with many suntan lotions. The conditioner’s scent is fresh and sweet, with a bouquet of mint and lavender, Using these products gave my shower that heavenly spa-experience feel, and the fresh scent perfumes your hair all day. How I Tested These Products I shower every morning, and like to wash my hair about every other day. The shampoo is gentle enough for every day, but personally I’d save the Recoup for once a week use. Billed as a "maximum reconstructor for strength, body, and shine," it’s more intense than your usual conditioner. Also, the mint in the conditioner gives your scalp a tingly workout. After applying the shampoo to my wet hair, I really scrubbed my hair to get the gel and spray out. The fresh coconutty scent makes you feel as if you’ve washed your hair under an orchid-framed waterfall in Tahiti! After rinsing out the shampoo, I massaged a small blob of the conditioner into my hair. The nice thing about the ABBA fragrances is that they don’t overpower you. The minty scent of the conditioner is heightened in the enclosed space of the shower, and you feel you are giving your hair a real hydrating treatment. I left it on throughout my shower, and it rinsed out easily with no residue. I had no trouble running my fingers through my clean, wet hair, and there was no trace left of my "bed head" hairspray. After towel-drying my hair, my new routine is to apply the special molding gel to my hair, and blow dry it for about a minute. Then the bed head hair spray is applied, a section at a time. Styling is completing with the fingers. Now here’s the amazing part: in the past when I used mousses or gels after a heavy-duty conditioning, my hair often looked dull. But the ABBA products made my hair shiny and bright, and even with that sticky hair spray, my hair was still soft! I like these two ABBA products for their excellent results with my hair. My hair tends to be on the dry side, and the shampoo and conditioner made a visible difference. I would think that anyone with over-permed or colored hair would greatly benefit from using these products as well. Shampoo Ingredients Botanicals (cherry bark, lavender, bergamot), ammonium lauryl sulfate and cocamidopropyl betaine and lauramide DEA (coconut), hydroxy propyl methylcelluose, human hair keratin (150 mw), soy (1000 mw), wheat (2000 mw) proteins, glycol stearate, citric acid, tetrasodium EDTA (chelator), methyl and propyl parabens (food grade preservatives), ABBA’s aromatherapy fragrance. Conditioner Ingredients Botanicals (lavender, chamomile, mint, juniper), behentrimonium methosulfate (plant), cyclomethicone and dimethiconal (sand), stearalkonium chloride and glyceryl stearate and PEG-100 stearate (plant), poly quaternium-10, human hair keratin (150 mw), soy (1000 mw), wheat (2000 mw) proteins, cetrimonium chloride (plant), tetrasodium EDTA, methyl and propyl parabens (food grade preservatives), bois de Rosa, ABBA’s aromatherapy fragrance. Animal testing ABBA does not test on animals, and the formulas are 100% vegan. Conclusion I like both these products, and again would recommend the conditioner for a "serious" (once per week) conditioner. Hair products that make my thick, coarse hair feel soft and silky mean success to me, and ABBA does not disappoint. These results are for my own hair. However, I feel this shampoo and conditioner will work for most hair types, and will be especially beneficial for permed and/or color-treated hair. It truly hydrates the hair, and gives it a lot of lift, life, and shine. | 
