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(More customer reviews)As long as I have had hair on the top of my head -- and, in my seventh decade, I still have a full head of hair -- I have had dandruff.It is a mild form of dandruff, not the "snowstorm" variety, but it has persisted over decades.The purchase of a bottle of shampoo that promises to remedy the situation is not a major investment, and so, over the years, I have tried just about all of the dandruff shampoos put on the market.
Most dandruff shampoos (Head & Shoulders being the prominent market leader) are built around pyrithione zinc (sometimes listed as zinc pyrithione) as the active ingredient.Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database, classifying it as a class 5 "moderate hazard," is hardly enthusiastic about pyrithione zinc, and several developed nations have limited its use in consumer products.Aside from its safety, however, it simply never has worked on my particular form of dandruff.Its effectiveness has been zero or so near to zero as to appear to be zero.
Another group of dandruff shampoos -- Neutrogena T-Sal is an example -- is built around salicylic acid as the active ingredient.Although salicylic acid is a close relative of aspirin, Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database rates it as a class 7 "high hazard" ingredient.Hazard or not, salicylic acid shampoos have never been effective on my scalp to reduce my dandruff.
In most states -- sale is restricted or forbidden in some states -- some shampoos are available in which the active ingredient is coal tar.Coal tar is a known carcinogen.Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Databese ranks coal tar as a class 10 (TEN!) "high hazard."Unaware of the dangers at the time, I tried coal tar-based dandruff shampoos in the past, and they seemed to be moderately effective on my dandruff.Better informed now of its carcinogenic properties, I would be uncomfortable with my family using any coal tar shampoo regularly over the long term.
Another "tar" product used in dandruff shampoos is pine tar oil (pinus paulustris).Of all the dandruff control products that I ever have tried, the ones that worked the best all were "pine tar" shampoos.I have tried a few brands, among which Heritage Products' Tannenbaum Pine Tar Shampoo has worked remarkably well for me over the years; effective in solving the dandruff problem. http://www.amazon.com/Heritage-Products-Pine-Shampoo-8-Ounces/dp/B001E768PE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1284984339&sr=1-2And Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database rates pinus paulustris as a class 1 "low hazard," just a bit riskier than distilled water.
So:why did I purchase a bottle of Packer's Pine Tar Shampoo -- the subject of this review -- to try out?Why not stick with Tannenbaum?While the active ingredient of pine tar shampoos is, indeed pine tar, most of them, including Tannenbaum, contain SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) or SLES (sodium laureth sulfate) or both as the main cleaning ingredient(s).SLS is a very, very common cleanser; you can find it in many household detergents, and its lack of toxicity is fairly well confirmed (EWG ranks it as a class 3 "moderate hazard").Read the ingredient list of best-selling major shampoos, and you will find either SLS or SLES, or both, on most of the labels.In the case of Tannenbaum Pine Tar Shampoo, the concentration of SLES and SLS appear to be fairly high.Tannenbaum cleans really well, and quite aggressively.My hair and scalp feel squeaky clean after shampooing with Tannenbaum.
But in my use, Tannenbaum seemed to be TOO aggressive a cleanser for frequent use.If I use Dr. Tannenbaum more than once within a period of a week or ten days, my hair gets pretty dry and brittle.Even a good conditioner seems overmatched to the task of rehydrating my hair then.
Enter Packers Pine Tar Shampoo.Claiming to be the original pine tar shampoo, Packers is not based on SLS or SLES.It promises the benefit of pine tar dandruff reduction without the overly aggressive cleaning and (at least for me) drying effects of SLES and SLS.
Strictly as a shampoo, Packers is very satisfactory.It cleans my hair and scalp as well as the best selling prooducts from Procter & Gamble or Alberto Culver or Schwarzkopf.As a dandruff shampoo, however, it is only moderately more effective -- though probably safer and more environmentally friendly -- than pyrithione zinc or salicylic acid based dandruff shampoos; it is not as effective on my dandruff as any of the SLS-based pine tar shampoos that I have tried.Overall, that's not a bad score.I can recommend Packers without crossing my fingers behind my back.
Personally, however, I expect that I will go back to my pre-Packers regimen of using Jason Natural Biotin Shampoo (excellent product) for daily or every other day shampooing, supplemented every ten days or so by shampooing with one of the SLS/SLES-based pine tar shampoos (probably Tannenbaum).The two shampoo bottles take up more space in the shower than one does, but that is the only means I have found to get the best of both worlds.
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Packers Pine Tar Shampoo for Hair and scalp - 8 OzProduct Description: INDICATIONS: Packer's Pine Tar Shampoo provides natural help for scalp conditions Shampooing bath toilet nursery Include dandruff, Seborrhiec dermattis, Eczema and psoriasis.
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