Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay. At the time of this writing, this product is averaging about 3 stars, and while it's hands-down the absolute BEST product I have EVER used on my hair, I understand why. You'll notice that there are a ton of 5-star reviews and a ton of 1-star reviews, and that's always a big red flag for me when I'm reading reviews. I'm going to try to address some of the concerns I read about from the 1-star reviews. (I've also left a similar review on the Walgreens site, but I promise I'm not a bot. I also waited a few weeks between reviews so I could post pics and stuff onto my Amazon review.) I have long, mostly straight-ish, fine hair (though there's LOTS of it). My hair has been color treated multiple times. The first time I used Renpure I was horrified to see that I had the oily clumping problem described by a lot of other reviewers. More than that, it was almost impossible to brush through, my hair felt like nasty oily straw as I was rinsing it out, and I hated the smell. So I was pretty much ready to chuck this thing in the garbage. However, I read a lot of different tips on various sites, realized what I was doing wrong, and decided to give it one more try. The difference was night and day! Prior to using Renpure I was really trying to cut back on the shampooing, (see above mention of color-treated hair) and was able to get away with washing every other day with liberal use of dry shampoo. Now, I kid you not, my hair looks as healthy if not more so on days 2 and 3 as it does on day 1, and that's pretty healthy. So with that background, let me tell you the tips that I read that took this product from something awful into something that I adore. I recognize that these might not work for everybody, but they definitely worked great for me! 1) Use more than the directions tell you to use. No wait, more than that. Now more than THAT. Renpure tells you on the bottle to use 10-12 pumps. It's lies. When I looked up other cleansing conditioning companies I found that many of them suggested using 48(!) pumps PER USE. I have a system down now, but I use six pumps at the front of my scalp, six pumps on each side by my ears, six pumps at the nape of my neck, and then about 4 pumps at the top back of my head. The savvy reader will note that this adds up to MORE THAN DOUBLE Renpure's recommended use. Why is that? Well, when it comes to cleansing conditioners, you need to use more. I didn't want to put a huge amount on my head because I was worried that was making it greasy. And guess what? When I used the suggested amount, it WAS. But the solution was to use WAY more, not less or even a few pumps more. The next step about massaging it into your scalp is accurate, though. 2) Comb it through Get a fat-toothed comb to have on hand in the shower, because this conditioner doesn't have much in the way of slip. It probably takes me 3-4 minutes to get the product combed through my hair from my scalp, and it's only after that that I start counting the time. Renpure tells you to wait 3-5 minutes total once you've got the stuff massaged into your scalp. I think it usually sits in mine for about ten. Basically, go onto YouTube and check out the instructional video for WEN, and pretend that the directions on the back of the Renpure bottle don't exist. 3) Rinse forever Seriously, like 2-3 minutes of rinsing. At the time that I start to rinse I'm just starting to think, "Boy, my hair sure feels slick and conditioned!" About halfway through rinsing it feels awful, like the oily straw I described. And if I'm honest, my hair feels pretty poor (when compared to how it's felt after other conditioners) until I start blowing it dry. That's when the magic happens. 4) Give it time Your hair is used to needing to produce a lot of oil to compete with shampoos that strip it every time you use it. It will take it some time to adjust. Even after my first successful use, I found that I couldn't go more than 24 hours between washes. After a week, I could do 2 days. Now I can handle 3 without any trouble. Honestly, I get as many compliments on my day 3 hair as my day 1 hair, so I'm going to upload a picture of me with day 3 hair so you have an idea how that looks. But it took me about two weeks of use to get to this point. 5) The smell still sucks Some people here like it--I really don't. At all. I would deduct a star if I weren't so darn happy with the results. But in the interest of full disclosure, there you go. So that's been my experience so far with Renpure. I am extremely happy with it so far. I've switched entirely from using other shampoos and conditioners and I'm thrilled with the results. Please feel free to comment on this review if there are any other questions you have about the product and my experiences with it that I can answer for you!