 | |
| Product type | Hair Care |
|---|---|
| Owner | Procter & Gamble |
| Introduced | 1971 |
| Markets | Worldwide |
| Previous owners | Clairol |
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.
Commercials featured women who simulated sexual ecstasy while shampooing their hair, usually in a public setting such as a crowded super market. In 1997, Herbal Essences products were introduced to the United Kingdom and other markets. In 1998, sex therapist and television host Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth) appeared in a commercial for the shampoo and body wash.
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 and sponsored the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men for the first five seasons.
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 begun purchasing certified renewable electricity credits—which come from windmills—for their Iowa City plant.
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.