Alberto VO5

I recall Alberto VO5 as being the tin tube of hairdressing my dad kept in his bathroom. It was thick and oily, and he required a dab the size of a pea to keep his Mad Men-era hair in place. Then, sometime in the mid-70s, he changed over to Protein 29, its packaging more super-graphic-y, its efficacy identical; I'm pretty sure the ads also featured men with sideburns, which my father had dutifully grown.

For years I have, after washing and before blow-drying my hair, applied one or another anti-frizz product, a glistening goo that makes my hair a little shinier, a little more "held together." Except lately, I've noticed it hasn't. I probably need a good haircut. I also last week needed more goo, and was at my local beauty supply shop, grabbing the econo-size Smooth 'N Shine Hair Polisher (which is just as good as Frizz-Eaze, at a quarter of the price) when I decided to toss in a tube of VO5. When I got home, I realized it was not the stuff my had dad used, but a creamy formula giving "extra body for fine hair," which I don't need and don't have. But the stuff is amazing! It smells clean and sweet, is soft to the touch, and makes my hair shiny and "put together," no flying around and looking ratty. It's also got the super-efficient packaging I love; you could haul this stuff around in a rucksack for two years and it would never leak or squish.

Comments

[jkonrad]

This stuff is the absolute best---teeny amount and you get lots of "soft" from it. I swear, this and carbolated vaseline (does anyone remember this brown stuff?) are really all you need for SO many things.
Thanks for posting this--so glad someone else likes this.
Oh...and I had to go to a Walgreen's with really old ice cream in the freezers to find this stuff. Our "modern" CVS doesn't carry it!

[Jackie Danicki]

Hey, I'll borrow that! I have fine hair that needs all the help it can get, as you know...

[Susan]

I think our WalMart actually carries this stuff...I've never tried it, but think I will after this post. I have fine, curly hair and it can be a mess sometimes! I do like the VO5 hot oil treatments. They work pretty well for me.

[Susan]

By the way, I remember grandma using carbolated vaseline, but I don't remember why she had it in the medicine cabinet?

[jkonrad]

Ah, me and your Grandma! That stuff was brownish and you'd use it for EVERTHING--- rough hands, elbows, cuticles, fever blisters, cold sores, chapped lips, small cuts, (and I know this is gross, but when we were kids and had those scabs that got hard-- Yuck...I know...but put this stuff on them and they wouldn't knock off and bleed. I can't believe I just posted that). Anyway, the closest thing I've found to this is Eliz. Arden 8-hour cream. I swear---same smell, just a much heftier price.

[Jackie]

Paula Begoun confirms that Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream is just overpriced Vaseline.

[Susan]

Just tried this on your recommendation. I like it! Not crazy about the scent, but like what it does for my hair...

[Angie]

So what about color-treated hair and if I use a flat-iron almost daily? Is the V05 still good to use? I have always wondered about that stuff, but have never tried it. And currently my hair is quite over-processed and even though I just had it cut 2 weeks ago, the ends break off every time I comb it. I try to be selective about the products I use on it...especially since I choose a bad salon this past summer and the stylist ended up not doing what I wanted a couple times and now my once healthy hair, is now brittle and fried. (sad face).