Dove Elixir-all the hoopla about real ingredients myth or reality?

So we've all seen the Dove Elixir TV commercials, the billboards, the print ads singing paeans about the benefits of overnight oiling in just 30 minutes.

With a feel good tune of  "Naani teri morni ko more le gaye..." and a Gradma lovingly giving her grand child a Dove elixir hair oil massage.
The ad is snazzily executed, it talks about Dove elixir precious Hair oils with real ingredients,hitting all the right notes and instantly makes you want to go out and grab this little hair potion right away. 
Well at least it did make me go out and buy it right away (this was sometime in the third week of December).
The Dove elixir wasn't available in most stores and after hunting high and low I finally spotted the 'Nourished shine' variant containing Hibiscus and Argan oil,I so craved this bottle 'coz I had read tons about the benefit of Argan oil.One look at the bottle & I was ecstatic at the sight of beautiful rose petals floating in the oil!
I said a little prayer and thanked Dove for launching something so pretty in the Indian market and I walked back with a spring in my steps,mighty thrilled with my purchase.

I couldn't peel my  eyes off this pretty bottle.Dove got the packaging spot on with the beautiful rose petals suspended in the hair elixir, it gives the bottle a ethereal look, not like mundane bottle of hair oil but an object of desire.

As soon as I came back home, like an enthu bunny Id gave myself a head massage with this "Hair elixir"Right off the heavy perfumed scent almost gave me nausea, its really strong sickly sweet smell, the gagging feeling was really strong and I could barely keep it on for 30 mins..
I was perplexed, I knew some oils smell funky but such strong fragrance is unusual..I decided to read the ingredient list carefully... surprise surprise here's what I found.... it contains 78% Mineral Oil, 16% vegetable oil and approx 6% of other stuff.. Hmm...I did a double take, wasn't I promised goodness of hibiscus,Argan oil?? Is the infinitesimally small quantity of beneficial oils added to this hair elixir just as a motivational ingredient?

I decided to read up more on the ingredients and check with Wiki (yeah I know its not Gospel truth,but has some very relevant information)

I quote from Wikipedia "Mineral oil is a liquid by-product of the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline and other petroleum-based products from crude oil. Mineral oil is a substance of relatively low value, and it is produced in very large quantities.The World Health Organization classifies untreated or mildly treated mineral oils as Group 1 carcinogens to humans; highly refined oils are classified as Group 3, meaning they are not suspected to be carcinogenic but available information is not sufficient to classify them as harmless.^[4]"

Well mineral oil on its own isn't really harmful,many companies use it to make non sticky hair oil variant,but when a brand touts its product as 'precious hair oils with real ingredients' and mentions Hibiscus and Argan oil as the primary ingredient the last thing one would expect is to be doused with mineral oil instead!

The second ingredient that bothered me was BHT which is a suspected Carcinogen. Again from Wiki here's what I found out "Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), also known as butylhydroxytoluene, is a lipophilic (fat-soluble) organic compound, chemically a derivative of phenol, that is useful for its antioxidant properties. European and U.S. regulations allow small percentages to be used as a food additive, but that is with controversy as there are claimed links to child hyperactivity as well as to cancer"

OMFG!! All I wanted was shiny silky locks, no suspected carcinogens in my hair!!

I quickly decided to wash my hair,after two rounds of shampooing to get the oil off my hair,my naturally fine,silky hair, looked frizzy and dull,quite the contrary turnout from the "Nourished shine" I was promised :(

I'm seriously miffed with Dove & Unilever for peddling El-Cheapo mineral oil as some miraculous hair elixir.Priced at Rs 185/- for 90 ml for me this was good money down the drain.It just doesn't live up to the high standards I expect from Dove and the misleading advertising is seriously annoying.

This bottle of hair potion has only ornamental value on your dresser, apart from that don't expect "real ingredients" or "nourished shine" and you'll be fine.
Short story shorter,as for me I'd rather buy sweet almond oil for my hair massages, thankyouverymuch.

Have you tried Dove Hair Elixir? Comment and share your experience.

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