Lock in place with Sunsilk Shampoo and Conditioner

After a contest in which the craziest ideas to straighten hair had got a chance to be in the spotlight; Sunsilk in a  bid to help bloggers realize straight hair without the intervention of chapatti rolling pins, clips and iron boxes, has decided to ship free samples of Sunsilk shampoo and conditioner. And what more- there is a Samsung Galaxy tablet and fifteen Amazon Kindles to be grabbed by the best reviewers. In the hope of luring the judges J into my drawings that look as though they were drawn by a child and a mix of research, humour and nonsense, I applied for the sample hoping to take hold of atleast the Kindle. It is a product targeted towards women but who in the world cares about the gender it is intended for when something is free and on top of it has attractive gadgets on offer. A review is a review, be it by a man or a woman!

After a wait for over two months and several extensions to the last date of submitting the reviews, I finally received my samples, handed over to me by my neighbour as I had gone out, unaware that the creation of Yuko would be on its way. 

But I was disappointed at the first look, not because of the product but because of something too trivial. I expected to receive the sample gracefully placed in a straw basket just as the first few lucky people have received. But all that I was presented with was a pale green cover loaded with the shampoo and the conditioner. But still, I was lucky in the sense that my bottles weren’t used by the courier boy to straighten his hair as a few IndiBloggers have complained.

The first look at the product is definitely going to impress you. In an age where most of the shampoos and conditioners come packed in bottles while, black or cream coloured; Sunsilk has something different to offer. The dark purple colour is a visual treat that would definitely make one grab it by the hands every morning and immerse the hair in the straightness it has on offer. But one thing I noticed is that the shampoo bottle looked thinner when compared with its height. I’m, sure none of the other bloggers must have noted or atleast not cared to mention this rather unnecessary thing! The curved sides of the shampoo bottle allow it to be grabbed conveniently with the hand. The shampoo is an 80 ml bottle costing Rs 54 while the conditioner is a 90 ml tube costing the same as the shampoo. At a modest price of 112 rupees, one can dream of straight hair!

Before going into the details of the product, wouldn’t it be better if one looks at the science of straight hair and the woman behind the formulation?

Sunsilk is known to team up with hair care experts around the world for creating innovative products and this time, it is with Yuko Yamashita- the innovator of the hair straightening range of products that include the shampoo, conditioner and the detangling mist. 

It’s not uncommon in films to see the hair of a person subject to electric shock being shown as the spines of a porcupine. A similar principle used here. But the source of the electricity is the hair’s live body electricity. The clue to straighten hair is to break the cystine bonds which is what the shampoo does. The hair doesn’t get damaged and is still a living part of you!

But why at all does one need straight hair? The simplest reason is that one obviously looks prettier in straight hair than twisted and twirled hair. Straight hair is also smoother and as a natural consequence, it is shiny due to the reflection of light that is highly ordered. And even though contradictory claims exist, it is common sense that straight hair tangles lesser.

Now, moving on to a bit of chemistry, given below are the ingredients of the shampoo and the conditioner, as indicated on the bottles.

Don’t ask me what they are or what they do for I myself know nothing! Be content with the drawings and also make sure that you appreciate my effort in listing the ingredients. The ingredients list on the shampoo was printed in such small font that I had to literally capture it with my camera and zoom into to decipher those crawling lines of ants.

Now, let’s move onto the actual product. The fragrance is great- of both the shampoo and the conditioner. The shampoo is pale purple in colour while the conditioner is white. They did feel very smooth on my hand. I’m not sure if that was really the case or if I felt that way as I put my sensory nerves alerted for every small stimulus. With a brave heart hoping that it wouldn’t atleast spoil my hair, I moved ahead to try the shampoo and the result was good enough! My hair did feel slightly straighter, though not the extent I feared it to be! After using it for about a week, the results were noticeable.  My hair looked different from what it used to be hair. It became straighter, smoother, and silkier. I would definitely recommend it to all who would like to have better hair!

Now, it’s time to collect the opinion of others to see how well it was received. And we have the opinion of over hundreds of Indi Bloggers who have submitted their reviews. Going through them and analysing them, this is what I found.

Most of the bloggers say that the shampoo either straightens hair very well or to a certain extent. A few others claimed that while it doesn’t really straighten hair, it was good in other aspects and makes the hair look better. And lastly, we also do have around three bloggers who have written a negative review about the product.

Very few have given a rating; probably less than 10 bloggers. I have forgotten to note them down but as far as I remember most have them have rated the shampoo on a 5 point scale at 4 and one blogger at 2.5.

Most bloggers were of the opinion that the shampoo does straighten hair but it is not an alternative for the hair straightener. There was also a general notion that the hair doesn’t remain straighten for days together and one has to use it regularly. Also, it works only when the conditioner is used together with the shampoo.

The most interesting part is that the shampoo conditioner pair has also attracted around five to ten male blogger reviews. And utilising the situation bloggers improved their photography skills and a few, their poetry writing skills, and people like me their drawing skills!

Leave the computer right now and go for straightening your hair.

 Note: All the pictures above have been drawn by me. :)

This is an entry for the 'Sunsilk Straight Hair' product review contest hosted on IndiBlogger. You can read the other reviews here.