Multi-functional products are nothing new: some were developed for space-saving reasons, as with washer dryers or fridge freezers, while some pack in the benefits to get an edge over the competition, like the latest toothpastes which combat plaque, gingivitis, tartar build-up, cavities, bad breath, sensitivity etc - I believe some brands of toothpaste now also offer organic vegetable boxes and coach trips to York. Then in the case of many beauty and bodycare products - eg 'alphabet creams' (BB, CC - and now DD aka 'Dynamic Do-it-all' creams), shampoo & conditioner, moisturising hair removal creme etc - a key driver is to speed up the beauty regimes of our lazy and time-poor generation, as well as to thin out the forest of bottles lined up all round the bath, like slightly oozy skittles. I plan to do a separate post on some of those in due course...
The problem with combining the function of liquid soap (takes stuff off) with moisturising cream (puts stuff on) is that the product ends up being hopelessly conflicted. This Dove cream wash doesn't finish the cleaning job before it starts to moisturise, or that is my impression. It is like a runaway 'wash & wax' car wash, or a gibbering GPS stuck at the mid-point of an equidistant loop - or perhaps a rabbit that has darted half way into the road and the path of an oncoming car, and is unsure whether to complete the crossing or run back to where it came from. As I wrote on Facebook the other day:
"Dove Beauty Cream Wash purports to combine the properties of a liquid soap and a moisturising cream, following the car 'wash & wax' principle. Epic multitasking fail. Hands feel sticky and unclean and I have an immediate Lady Macbeth urge to wash them afterwards."
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| Pashmina frenzy on local choir - one or two were slithering off by the end of the night! |
But I digress. That's all I wanted to say on the subject of this particular malfunctioning 'two-in-one' soap product. Yes, for me this Dove product concept simply doesn't have legs - or a leg to stand on - or wings even.
And I would be interested to hear if anyone has had a better experience of the category, or has had similar epic fails with multitasking bodycare products. Or who has tried a DD cream! I am still stuck at BB, slow learner that I am. And following my post on the subject, I never did find one that was less greasy or the right colour...
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| Hen, 'the loveliest chicken' in Britain - Source: thisiscornwall.co.uk |
Oh, but I must just share this comment about a Dove product - presumably something in the general 'wash' family - by my cousin's wife Sue on my Facebook wall:
"It is however, very useful for conditioning championship chickens, it seems. Good old Radio 4 useless information."
Only the white ones, mind - as Sue later qualifies her comment - for Clive Stephens, the poultry fancier featured in the broadcast, uses washing up liquid on the black ones.
Here is the very excerpt to which she is referring!
The picture above is of the imaginatively named Hen, Stephens' freshly washed and award winning bird, pictured next to a bottle of Fairy Liquid.
