Tangled.

There are many things I don't understand. Math. How machinery works. What all those lines on the ice mean in hockey. Add this to the list:



I've been using Aveeno shampoo and conditioner for a couple of years now. It gets my hair clean. It smells really good. And my personal preference, the "Living Color" formula, really does preserve and prolong the life of my highlights. It must be popular, though, because sometimes its little spot on the shelves at Target or CVS are forlorn and empty, little tumbleweeds rolling through, for weeks at a time. And if my backup supply is running on empty--I try to stock up when they run sales, but it doesn't really go on sale that often, and occasionally I find myself coaxing the last remnants of product from the bottle desperately, shaking it furiously and pounding it against the palm of my hand--leaving me with no choice but to stop somewhere that day for new bottles and finding myself in a situation where I must "settle" for a different formula.

I've made do with "moisturize," "volumize," and "strengthen" formulas at various times in the past. My hair was still clean. The products still smelled nice. The only thing I lost was the protection for my highlights. (And yes, they really did fade more quickly. Having short hair with a naturally dark color makes it easy for me to tell how quickly my blonde highlights start to fade.) I digress. My point is that I had no real complaints about any formula I've tried when my preference is out of stock. So when I picked up some from the "Pure Renewal" line, I was unconcerned. I was out of shampoo and conditioner, and this was on the shelf.

I swear to you, I do not know what happens with this shampoo when I put it on my hair--it looks the same, it has a scent I would expect from an Aveeno haircare product--but the second I apply it to my wet hair and start to work up a lather, my hair turns into one giant tangled knot. At first, I thought it was the result of a day I had used more styling product than usual in my hair, but it has happened on days I've stayed home and given my hair a rest from all styling implements and goo. Then I thought that maybe my longer hair style was getting more snarled while I slept, but even if I brush my hair right before jumping into the shower, it still tangles up when I start working the shampoo into it.

I don't mean it gets a little tangled and I can work through it either. The more I touch my hair, the worse it gets. To the point that I can't even run my fingers through the smallest section to disentangle the knots. Nothing helps, not rinsing it, not attempting to "comb" it with my fingers, not lathering the shampoo in my hands before applying it to my head--and my hair is not the type that is prone to tangling at all, even when I ride in the car with the windows down. The only thing that fixes the issue is applying the conditioner. Suddenly, tangle-free! Like magic. Which is great except...I don't feel like I ever really get to wash my hair properly because of the knots that form when I start to lather it. It *acts* like it's clean, but mentally? I don't know. It just doesn't feel like I've given it a good scrubbing.

Thank God this bottle is more than half gone. It's too early in the morning to find myself baffled and it's ruining the zen of my beautiful bathroom. But seriously. What is the deal with this shampoo??