Revisiting Old Friends With Herbal Essences Naked Clean and Refresh Shampoo and Conditioner

As I sit writing this, I’m riding the Amtrak 69 train from NYC toward my hometown of Moriah, New York. I haven’t been home in a while, and it’s my grandmother’s birthday this weekend, so a lot of my cousins who I haven’t seen in a long while are going to be in town.

Making the trip by myself can be tiresome, but the scenery is nice. The Adirondack train runs daily from New York City to Montreal (and vice versa), so it’s a convenient, albeit long, trip (about as long as driving would take with stops to rest).

This week, in the spirit of visiting old friends and family, I also decided to revisit a shampoo I’ve tried before, but not since they updated the packaging and, I assume, reformulated it.

Now it’s called Herbal Essences Naked Clean and Refresh Shampoo ($4.99), but I think it used to be called Herbal Essences Naked Volume when it first came out. I remember being less than thrilled about the original version.

When I tried it back then, I was looking for something affordable that would cleanse my hair well and didn’t contain parabens and all that. The Herbal Essences Naked line was an affordable option.

While the Naked Clean and Refresh line (there’s also a $4.99 conditioner) isn’t marketed as “cleansing,” the combo gets the job done.

My hair is ultra-thin and fine, so experimenting with new shampoos and conditioners is always perilous. I don’t wash my hair often (maybe twice a week), but when I do, I typically alternate between a cleansing shampoo (for when my hair is super greasy or full of dry shampoo) and Clairol Shimmer Lights Conditioning Shampoo, because I’m not about that brassy life. And some days I’ll use a combination of both.

The (new?) formula

Herbal Essences Naked Clean and Refresh Shampoo definitely doesn’t lack in lather potential. If you’re a dime-sized amount user (short hair), you should get a good lather, but it shouldn’t be too much. I use about a quarter-sized amount for my hair and get a lot of nice suds.

The conditioner’s slightly thinner formula doesn’t do much for me… I usually only use conditioner on the length and ends of my hair, and this one doesn’t do much for my hair in terms of making my ends any softer or plumping them up.

The fragrance

Both of these are supposed to have a white strawberry and mint scent, but I’d say it’s closer to pure strawberry — almost too close, for me. I’d love to see Herbal Essences release something minty-er in the line, or add even more scents in general.

An alternative that I sometimes use for stronger notes of mint is Loreal Everpure Volume Shampoo, which also has hints of Rosemary and Juniper.

When I was using Herbal Essences more often it was years ago (more than 10!), so when I try their products now it’s a little like revisting an old friend. Clairol, who owns H.E., was acquired by Proctor and Gamble some years ago, and they made a lot of changes. They redesigned and renamed almost everything and spruced up the packaging.

Overall, Herbal Essences Naked Clean and Refresh Shampoo and Conditioner doesn’t super impress me, but I will give it another try one of these days. I don’t think the shampoo is the world’s greatest cleanser, but it mostly gets the job done. I do feel like I need to use a dry shampoo the next day to boost my volume.

Are you a fan of Herbal Essences? Have you tried the Naked Clean and Refresh line?