Random Product Review: CocoaPink Argan Therapy Creme Conditioner

By Unknown

Purchased

I had never tried an indie shampoo or conditioner prior to dipping my toes into the tempting waters of CocoaPink's pre-Black Friday sale this year. I always used to just go for the cheapest and best-smelling hair products available at the drugstore; after dying my hair, I also started looking for sulfate-free products. But generally, I haven't "levelled up" with my haircare the way I have with my skincare and makeup routines.

I got a couple of different shampoos and conditioners from CocoaPink during the sale, but today I'll review the Argan Therapy Creme conditioner, which is custom-scented with your choice of hundreds of scents and costs $8.50 for 6 oz or $15 for 10 oz. Actually, bafflingly, looking at the site, I think it might be called Argan Therapy Creme'--i.e. "Creme" is spelled with an apostrophe after the end of it for no apparent reason. Is it to simulate an acute accent? Why wouldn't you just use the accent mark? Is it supposed to look more French? French people don't spell it that way. I just don't get it.

The ingredients are: water, cetearyl alcohol (and) PEG-40 caster oil (and) Stearakorium cloride, behentrimonium methosulfate and cetearyl alcohol, centrimonium bromide, centrimonium chloride, cetyl alcohol, argan oil, coconut oil, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, panthenol, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, polyquat 10, silk amino acid, propylene glycol (and) diazolidnyl urea (and) iodopropynyl butylcarbamate. (I notice what seems to be a few typos in the ingredients list, such as "caster oil" and "stearakorium cloride"; that rubs me the wrong way.)

Out of curiosity, I looked up the last conditioner I used up, Pantene Pro-V Color Preserve conditioner, and it's $5.99 for 21.1 oz--quite the difference, ouch! From 28 cents an ounce to $1.41 an ounce. Good thing I only wash my hair once a week or so.

The label on the conditioner appears to be waterproof, although I've read complaints about the glue they used not being very waterproof, so that the labels peel off in the shower. There is a main generic product label with the product name, description, and ingredients list on the bottle. The scent name is listed on a separate small round sticker.

Scent name is listed on a separate sticker

My hair is generally fairly well-behaved. It's straight and thick and I usually shampoo, condition, air-dry, brush and go. I don't own a flatiron, and I add product or curl it only once in a blue moon for special events. Hence, I may not be as well qualified to review a hair product like this as someone with fussier hair that typically requires more attention--keep that in mind.

I ordered my conditioner scented with the Serge Lutens Chergui type (love that perfume, but given the price, will probably never splash out for a bottle) and found the dupe pretty serviceable. In the shower, you can tell the difference--it has the same general hay-and-tobacco vibe as Chergui but doesn't smell as complex or sophisticated, and has a few odd bitter notes to it that stood out in the shower but faded as my hair dried. Still, though, I really like the scent and would order it again--it smelled expensive and luxurious to me, even if it's no Lutens. The notes of this scent are "honey, musk, incense, tobacco leaf, hay sugar, amber, iris rose and sandalwood."

It didn't have that unctuous siliconey feel of commercial conditioners that makes it feel like all the tangles are just falling out of your hair, but it felt creamy and nice, not too thick or hard to spread through my hair. I was pleased with the results afterwards. My hair felt soft, smooth, and clean, not oily or sticky at all, and I thought it actually looked noticeably shinier than usual. The scent of the conditioner lingered in my hair for about a day afterwards, and smelled really lovely.

THIS IS CONDITIONER

The only caveat I have, though, other than the price, is that the conditioner left my tub really slippery! I noticed it as I was showering, but thought it would go away after I was done. My husband proved me wrong when he took a shower after me and asked what I had been using in the shower because it was really slippery in there. Be careful if you think this might be an issue for you.

All in all, I think I'll see how long this bottle of conditioner lasts me and how much I feel like spoiling myself with my next conditioner purchase. I love the scent and the formula of the conditioner, but do I really love this enough to pay five times as much as I used to for conditioner, not even counting the shipping costs and the inconvenience of waiting for a package? I'm on the fence about it right now, after just a couple of washes so far, but maybe I'll fall head over heels in love with this before the bottle runs out and make up my mind for good.