Browsing the shampoo aisle and is like visiting a herbalist/chemist/biologist/stylist’s laboratory. All sorts of brands all promising to do the same thing, make your mane lustrous, fragrant, well behaved and generally gorgeous. The brands in the aisle may have changed but the promises haven’t. Who remembers these vintage shampoo brands, mostly from the 1970s?
“Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific” was both a product name and an aspiration for this 1970s brand from Andrew Jergens. And it did smell really good, or should I say it had “a soft, young, breezy-fresh fragrance like meadows of wildflowers in spring.”
Body on Tap Beer Enriched Shampoo, another 1970s brand, claimed to be made with 1/3 actual beer. Rest assured, no one thought the fragrance would be anyone thought that anyone would want to smell like beer, but luckily it didn’t actually smell like the Gillette Stadium parking lot after a Patriot’s game. What Bristol Meyers was trying to capitalize on was the beauty hack of a beer rinse to add shine and body to your hair courtesy of the protein and sugar in beer.
Another home remedy for lightening hair and giving you a healthy scalp is lemon juice. The Toni division of Gillette introduced Lemon Up shampoo and conditioner which promised the juice of one whole lemon in each bottle. They capped that off with a literal lemon cap. Between the fabulous fragrance and way cool packaging, it was absolutely impossible to not use it at least once.
Breck Shampoo and the Breck Girl. Who didn’t want to be her, that fresh scrubbed, soft pastel paragon of hair perfection. Breck Shampoo was concocted in Springfield, MA in the mid 1930s and it probably would be a small but interesting footnote in beauty history, but those unforgettable ads made it a legend. Read more about Breck and Breck Girls and their place in the Smithsonian here.
Prell was marketed to both men and women. From its launch in the late 1940s until it’s heyday in the 1970s, it managed to get your hair clean without a fragrance that was too he or too she meaning only one bottle was needed in the shower. The most memorable Prell ad had a pearl floating slowly down the bottle to prove how thick and rich it was.
“Natural” was synonymous with healthy living in the 1970s. Vegetarian cookbooks like The Moosewood Cookbook, Diet for a Small Planet and the Vegetarian Epicure encouraged us to eat more natural foods, and Earth Born Shampoo encouraged us to lather up with shampoo with a natural pH balance. I’m not sure any of us knew why pH balance was important, but with the scientific testing with the test strip, we knew it had to be good.
When Clairol introduced Herbal Essence shampoo, it was clearly reaching out to the woman who loved Gunne Sax dresses and wanted to be a natural woodland goddess. It’s herb and floral scent, art nouveau meets 1970s illustrations and emerald green color was alluring to those of us who fancied the idea of slowly walking through a meadow of wildflowers in a long, flowing gown. It’s current incarnations aren’t even tempting to those of us who loved the original wholeheartedly.
Charlie’s Angels hair was an aspirational goal in the 1970s, and the Wella Balsam people leapt on that and marketed their split end fixing shampoo and conditioner as what we needed along with hot rollers and a curling iron to make that happen. And if men are going to grow their hair to groovier lengths, they were going to need something to keep it manageable…another marketing opportunity Wella did not miss.
Dorothy Hamill, 1976 Olympic champion figure skater, was at the opposite end of the hair spectrum from Charlie’s Angels. Her incredible wedge haircut was mesmerizing when she spun on the ice and spunky adorable at all times. Clairol had just what those of us who were sprinting to our stylist to get wedge cuts needed, Short & Sassy shampoo and conditioner. It promised the body we needed to make our cuts as spectacular as Dorothy’s.
Frizzies paranoia? Protein 21 shampoo was on that split end problem. Split ends were something of an obsession in the 1970s. Mennen’s advertising for their shampoo appealed to the denim and workshirt crowd with the understated promises and simple packaging.
If you weren’t worried about frizzies, you might have worried about the “greasies,” but 99% oil free Agree shampoo and conditioner promised the fix for that. And it was tested in the hair care laboratories of Johnson Wax, so you know it had to work.
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Although some vintage shampoo brands have been consigned to memory alone, the Vermont Country Store, reviver of some of previously extinct products people love, sells new versions of Body on Tap, Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific and Lemon Up. And some are still available at a store hear you: Prell, Breck and Wella Balsam among them.
And of course not every vintage shampoo is represented here. Twice as Nice had shampoo and conditioner in layers in one bottle. Halo that “glorified” hair was around from the late 1930s to the 1970s. Faberge Organics with its honey and wheat germ oil was aimed at natural women and men and it was early to the idea of going viral, suggesting you might want to tell 2 friends about how it worked. Revlon’s Flex is still around, but not with the formulation so beloved from the 1970s.
What vintage shampoo brand did we miss? Share it with us in comments!
As long as we humans groom ourselves, there will be shampoos and conditioners promising to keep our fur luxurious and lovely. In 20 years, people will write a blog posts about the shampoos we use now and probably poke some fun at the promises made in advertisements or the fads that we followed. After all, when it comes to beauty, the next great thing is always appearing on the horizon.
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44 comments
I remember Ma lining up me and at least 3 to 4 of my five sisters at the ktchen sink to wash our hair with halo the night before any major holiday. We would clutch a rolled up towel to protect our eyes from the percieved searing of our eyeballs. And of course she checked our scalps for interlopers (we were unaware of just why she was doing this but in a big family ANY personal attention from Mom was a gift) before the shampoo torture session. No wonder she went to bed exhausted!
Body On Tap and Herbal Essence were the best even though I liked them all!
All the good stuff they quit making ???
i want some flex from the 70s. the best smelling shampoo ever!!!
One of my favorite shampoos was called
“Great Body”… does anyone remember that one?
Yes, I loved jhirmack shampoo and herbal essences shampoo. It was really nice.l
I smelled that familiar scent outside a parfumerie in Portland, Or here tonight! Good thing you posted. Knew the shampoo name began with an F but couldn’t recall “Flex”. I can see the bottle now!
I used most of the shampoos listed. My three to: Lemon Up, Clairol herbal essence(today’s version will never measure up!), and Protein 21. God, how I wish they’d bring them back!!
Hi,
Fun collection!
One more to add: Fabergé Organics shampoo (“I’ll tell two friends….and so on, and so on, and so on”).
I loved Herbal Essence too… agree it was better then than it is today. I also likes “Twice as Nice” and “ Earth Born” 💖
You can buy Lemon Up at the Vermont Country Store website.
Is it the same verson thought? Sometimes they switch the formula.
name of shampoo that had tiny beads or pearls in it?
I remember the little tiny pearls in the shampoo would pop. They were supposed to be conditioning pearls.
I think Neutrogena made it?
I wish I could buy Protein 21 shampoo… loved the way it smelled ?
“Prell” commercials used a pearl in it to show how thick the shampoo was…. I’m not sure if that’s what you’re talking about though
I used to use Odell in the seventies and it was super terrific. Then in the eighties I used English Balsam conditioner and shampoo. Can anybody tell me what the hell happened to these products?? I desperately need them back in my life!
What about Long And Silky? I always had long hair so I would never buy Short And Sassy! Wella Balsam was the best smelling shampoo and conditioner ever!
Was there one called Milk plus 6?
Yes indeed there was!http://www.vintagepaperads.com/assets/images/DU0408.jpg
Yes. I am 53 but I remember that one.
I used the best shampoo during my university years in the 1970’s. It was called LIFE.. it was a cream shampoo in a jar .. they updated it and had a green bottle also.I just remember a white jar with blue lettering.. the cream was pink..
Really wish they would bring back.
I remember a shampoo from the early 70’s called Great Body
Yes! Life! Very thick and very pink! I can picture the bottle perfectly! I am 54 it must have been in the 1970’s!
I remember back in the 70’s we had “creme rinse” that we mixed with water … before conditioners were popular!
i remember all of these and probably tried them all as well! i was trying to find information on what happened to a brand from the 70’s and early 80’s called “mermaid”,which had seaweed in it and a wonderful smell..it was made by revlon i think..i bought it in a beauty supply house and they also had a creme conditioner (leave in) that was great.my hair was in so much better shape then!i also remember vidal sassoon brand that came in large jugs..that brand was advertised as used by “the stars”,and was invented by the man whose name was on the jugs!
I used Freeman Sea Kelp shampoo, in its original formulation. It changed color from pink to blue in the 1990s before disappearing. When it returned for a while in the 2000s, it smelled of mangoes or something. Nowadays I just buy something with algae in the ingredients and it works OK, but I miss Freeman. Oh, how I miss Freeman!
Body on Tap was awesome! The wind would blow and I could smell it in my hair! But now that I read it had formaldehyde, forget it!
I remember a shampoo that separated, 60’s I believe. In a tapered bottle, the shampoo on the bottom, conditioner floated on top. Had to remember to shake or you got the conditioner and no shampoo! It came in three formulas colored pink, blue and green. Anyone recall the name?
ELLEN… I think you’re thinking of “Twice As Nice”
I wish I could still buy Vita-Fluff. The cream shampoo in a jar was like lemon mousse!
I purchased a few “vintage” shampoos from the Vermont Country Store, save your money gals. First the Lemon Up shampoo and conditioner, both smelled like Pledge and the conditioner was quite watery. Next was Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific, nope it smelled like paint thiner. Thier perfumes and beauty products in general are old and made by the same company which they will not state. Dollar Tree had a shampoo that smelled like Breck for a bit but has been discontinued. If anyone knows any shampoos from today that smell like yesterday’s hair, put it in the comment.
What was the 1970’s creme rinse brand that smelled like heavenly apples?? I believe it was in a beige bottle.
Why don’t they just bring back the quality shampoos from the 60s and 70s? We all loved them and how much better they treated our hair. My personal favorite was Agree shampoo and dippity dew for my curls. The products today are nothing like the old ones. Even the rollers to do your hair. We all loved the old products. I am only naming a few. If you lived in those days you know how well made these products were. So sad we can’t get quality like these.
Halo shampoo!!!
I loved body on tap, agree, and gee your hair smells terrific, flex was also nice but really strong fragrance. It made your hair shinny and full.
I have been searching for the original Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo to no avail. The new Herbal Essences shampoos are a poor substitute. That wonderful fragrance of the original Clairol Herbal Shampoo is unmatched in today’s market and should be produced again.
What happened to Silkience and Mink???
Who remembers “HALSA” shampoo? Walnut shampoo for dark hair?
Marigold for blondes? (Or for us light sandy redheads?)
Queen Helene Mint Julep and Queen Helene Rum & Egg. Both cleaned gently and treated my hair with kindness.
This will really floor some people. I am 84 years old. My father was a beautician and had a shop when I was a child. He used Vita-Fluff shampoo in his shop. When he would come home his hands always smelled like it. That was a long long time ago. I wish I could smell it once again. It was like lemon mousse as you said. Loved the consistency.
Hi from the 50’s ….My mom washed my hair at the kitchen sink with Formula 42 Lemonized Creme Shampoo….it came in a jar …..she kept in under the kitchen sink!
I just came across this post. Does anyone remember a shampoo from the 70’s that was also green like Herbal Essence, but more of a forest type smell. I can’t remember the name, which is unusual because I have a very good memory. I think it was made by either L’Oreal or Revlon, but I’m leaning towards L’Oreal. There were 4 different shampoos of the same kind in different colors. Green, Blue, Pink, and Yellow in a clear bottle. The green was for oily hair which I had then, I was about 12 or 13, so this was around 1974 or ’75. It smelled amazing. I bought it at an independent pharmacy that was down the street from me and never remember seeing it anywhere else. They only had one bottle of each and a long time later, after the green was gone, I tried the pink which was for dry hair, I think. It was good shampoo too, but the scent was more flowery, and did not compare to the green. I never tried the others , so I don’t know what they were for. Does anybody else remember these or did I dream it all? Also, if you have ever smelled Herban Cowboy Forest scent body wash, it is the closest thing I have ever smelled to it.