Why Get Rid Of It?

Photo: Garnier

I have seborrhoeic dermatitis.

I'm not contagious nor am I terminal. However, I do have a condition that really annoys me. This condition is dermatological in which the skin is inflamed and can be red, itchy and flaky.

Luckily for me, this only affects my scalp and not my face, etc. It's especially bad in the winter months when it's - obviously - a lot colder.

Why am I telling you this?

Over the past several years I've had to deal with this nuisance. I've tried and tried a fair share of shampoos to curb the itching and flakiness while, at the same time, making my hair smell good.

I've tried just about everything from T-Gel, to Head & Shoulders; even professional salon-grade tea tree shampoo from Great Clips. Both T-Gel and Head & Shoulders did an okay job but neither smelled all that great. The tea tree smelled good but didn't work well - plus it was really expensive.

Then, Garnier came out with its own anti-dandruff shampoo that also served as a conditioner, which was just what I needed.

I bought some, tried it and instantly loved it. It didn't smell like tar and pickles and it actually helped my hair better than anything I'd tried previously. In fact, after a couple uses, there was no sign of itching or flakiness! It was a big relief to go around and not have to worry about trying to hide the flakes in my hair - which is seriously what I had to do in public.

A few weeks ago, I learned that Garnier decided to discontinue this remarkable shampoo. I was pissed to say the least. I immediately called, emailed and Facebooked them to voice my concerns, telling them about my skin condition and everything as well.

Of course, it was to no avail as I received BS, copy-and-paste responses. I was told my comments would be passed along and that they were "sorry" but there was "not enough demand" to keep producing the product.

Let me tell you, there was enough demand in this household to keep it going. As I'm typing this, I have about six or seven bottles in my bathroom cabinet.

Now, I know what you're saying: why not check out Amazon or find a new shampoo? Amazon has many bottles for sale but most are double or even triple the regular selling price. Some are even going for $20 or more each. I shouldn't have to shell out that kind of money for something like this. It's ridiculous!

As I've said before, I've tried just about every shampoo out there. None of them have worked like this shampoo. I even tried to find what ingredient was different in the Garnier shampoo compared to others and search for a shampoo with that ingredient. No luck with that yet.

I found some bottles for $3.50 each at Big Lots which was great. Unfortunately, as with all its products, once Big Lots is out that's all it'll have.

So what can you do?

Well, the best thing is to just boycott Garnier altogether. I know that sounds silly but that's what I'm doing.  Just simply don't buy anymore Garnier products. For me, that'll be easy because the company mainly markets to women anyway. If you want you can also do like I did and write about this on Garnier's Facebook page and Twitter account.

One thing's for sure: Garnier has lost this customer.