 | |
| Product type | Hair Care |
|---|---|
| Owner | Procter & Gamble |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | 1971; 53 years ago (1971) |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Clairol |
| Tagline | A totally organic experience |
| Website | Official US Website Official Australian Website |
Herbal Essences is a brand of hair care products line by Procter & Gamble. The brand was founded in 1971 as the single shampoo Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo (officially typeset as Clairol herbal essence shampoo). There are 29 collections of varying hair care products, each designed to have a different effect on the user's hair.
History
Clairol introduced Herbal Essence in 1971. The original Herbal Essence (now called Herbal Essences) used a cartoon image of the nature girl in a pool on the front label. The original color of the shampoo was green, and could be seen through the clear plastic bottle packaging. In 1997, Herbal Essences products were introduced to the United Kingdom and other markets.
Herbal Essences was sold to Procter & Gamble in 2001 from Clairol. The company was in a "long-term decline" according to Chairman and CEO A.G. Lafley. Currently, their shampoos and conditioners are characterized to be paraben, gluten, and sulfate-free.
The company is developing sustainable strategies to cooperate with the environment. They partnered up with World Wildlife Fund Canada to work together to plant native plants that will attract pollinators, renew wildlife habitats in Canada, and build healthy, biodiverse landscapes that are more resilient to climate change. Additionally, in 2016, as a part of the Herbal Essences Sustainability Program, they began purchasing certified renewable electricity credits—which come from windmills—for their Iowa City plant.
In 2021, Procter & Gamble recalled about 30 of its hair products, including those of Herbal Essences, after detecting small amounts of the carcinogen benzene.
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In the 1990s and early 2000s, commercials of the brand featured women who simulated sexual ecstasy and orgasm by moaning sensually whilst shampooing their hair with the product, usually in a public setting such as a crowded super market, or in their bathroom shower, where they are heard by other people.
The brand also sponsored the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men for the first five seasons.
In 1998, sex therapist and television host Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth) appeared in a commercial for the shampoo and body wash.
In 2014, Nicole Scherzinger was featured in a commercial where she uses the shampoo and moans "yes, yes, yes!" in an airplane toilet, as other passengers hear her after she accidentally hits the PA system installed in the lavatory.
References
- Businesswire Herbal Essences Becomes First Mass Hair Care Brand in Mass Retailers to Meet the Strict Clean Beauty Standards of EWG VERIFIED TM
- "Clairol Herbal Essence Shampoo". Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- "Hair care and styling products Herbal Essences". herbalessences.com. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- "The Issue: How P&G Brought Back Herbal Essences". Bloomberg.com. June 18, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
- "Sustainability in Hair Care | Herbal Essences". herbalessences.ca. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- Pantene, Herbal Essences Recalled After Carcinogen Benzene Found by Michelle Llamas, Consumer Notice.org. December 23, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
- The Story Behind The Herbal Essences Shampoos You Loved In the '90s by Kara McGrath from Bustle. October 3, 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- "Clairol Herbal Essences – Dr. Ruth (1990)". retrojunk.com. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
- The new Herbal Essences ad and Nicole Scherzinger's aeroplane toilet antics by The Guardian. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
External links
- Herbal Essences Official website
- Daston GP (August 2004). "Developmental toxicity evaluation of butylparaben in Sprague-Dawley rats". Birth Defects Research Part B: Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology. 71 (4): 296–302. doi:10.1002/bdrb.20016. PMID 15334527.