Wella Balsam Shampoo & Conditioner

[Neoma]

In the mid-70's, I used Wella Balsam shampoo and conditioner. I loved the balsam fragrance.

It hasn't been widely available in the U.S. for years. From what I understand, it's a German company.

I found some 2-oz. bottles on Ebay and full-size products on this site (http://www.allhaircareproducts.com/wella-balsam-instant-conditioner-regular-32oz960ml.html).

Does anyone in the U.S. know if they're readily available somewhere?

[renia22]

Neoma, did you ever try to Wella Balsam? Was it the same?

I did have this a few years ago, it was from a website selling old stock at hiked up prices. Not sure if that one is the original (the bottle is a little different), or if another company bought it and is just using the name (which happened with Salon Selectives, Tame, Agree and Breck- the dollar store versions had the same name, but were nothing like the originals).

If you tried it, please let us know how it compares.

[lapushka]

That's not how I remember it here. Used to be in a small, flat, bottle here, and it was a herbal mix. The shampoo used to be in a white bottle, and the conditioner in a green one.

[Neoma]

Neoma, did you ever try to Wella Balsam? Was it the same?

I did have this a few years ago, it was from a website selling old stock at hiked up prices. Not sure if that one is the original (the bottle is a little different), or if another company bought it and is just using the name (which happened with Salon Selectives, Tame, Agree and Breck- the dollar store versions had the same name, but were nothing like the originals).

If you tried it, please let us know how it compares.renia22, no, I decided that they were the old bottles at jacked-up prices. I couldn't convince myself to pay that much.

If I could bring any products back from the 70's, it would be this shampoo and conditioner.

[renia22]

^ Oh okay, yes, I see online the 2 ounce bottles look like they might be the originals, but the one that is showing now in the link you posted is 32 ounces for a very good deal. I don’t think it ever came in a 32 ounce size, and I’m wondering if that’s a either a knock off, or some other company has the rights to the name now, and is passing something else off as that. I loved Wella Balsam, and all of the other brands of balsam and protein products during that time period, too. The closest I found to a 70s/ 80s balsam/ protein style conditioner available today, are Puritan Pride Panthenol conditioner, and Mirta De Perales Balsam conditioner. Both are decent, actually. Not the same as wella, but they are very good!

Lapushka, ours looked like this (this is 70s, but I remember it was still around in the 80s) (and not the same as the Wella Professional line being sold now- this was its own special thing :)

https://i.ibb.co/60PFPr3/FF70-F1-B3-F81-C-4002-9294-E6-DD3-A402-E8-C.jpg (https://ibb.co/Xxstsjh)

[renia22]

*also I saved the bottle from the one I bought a few years ago. It’s actually shampoo, 16 ounces, and on the back it says 1996 Wella Corportation, Montvale, New Jersey:




https://i.ibb.co/N7nJ5LM/C37-FC3-A9-6099-4-A95-A14-D-3253-CE631674.jpg (https://ibb.co/Trq76Hs)
https://i.ibb.co/KF12CdV/81-FA6858-85-A6-49-AF-B5-D9-03-E7993932-D6.jpg (https://ibb.co/GchWgyC)

[Neoma]

^ Oh okay, yes, I see online the 2 ounce bottles look like they might be the originals, but the one that is showing now in the link you posted is 32 ounces for a very good deal. I don’t think it ever came in a 32 ounce size, and I’m wondering if that’s a either a knock off, or some other company has the rights to the name now, and is passing something else off as that. I loved Wella Balsam, and all of the other brands of balsam and protein products during that time period, too. The closest I found to a 70s/ 80s balsam/ protein style conditioner available today, are Puritan Pride Panthenol conditioner, and Mirta De Perales Balsam conditioner. Both are decent, actually. Not the same as wella, but they are very good!


Thank you for those recommendations, renia! I never tried either one. I also loved the fragrance of Flex Balsam, which is also discontinued. :cry: But not as much as Wella Balsam.


*also I saved the bottle from the one I bought a few years ago. It’s actually shampoo, 16 ounces, and on the back it says 1996 Wella Corportation, Montvale, New Jersey:



Wow, it's interesting that they were making it again so recently!


Later...

I stand corrected. They still make Flex, but it's hard to find.

[renia22]

I heard that too about Flex, and see them on EBay. My friend in CA says she comes across it sometimes. Revlon apparently markets them in South America? And some of the ones on EBay say India? I’m on the East Coast, and the only Flex I ever see are the fake ones (charcoal, hemp & coconut, strawberry) that show up at Ocean state Job Lot.

Also the fake Agree in the liter bottles show up at that store, which have nothing to do with the original Agree. They’ve been bought out and it’s sold in Japan? I tried one once, Amazon has them now- called “Agree Fragrance”. Formula is different, but the scent is somewhat similar. The Fa website also has Agree, but I don’t know if those bottles have the original fragrance or not. It’s very confusing, because only that one from Japan has the old fragrance (not exact, but close enough), and not sure what’s up with all of this other stuff floating around with the same name.

I vaguely recall Wella Balsam still be around early 90s? But I can’t recall last time I saw it. I was mostly buying Agree (when Selena had the commercial, and it came in the black bottles), and Faberge Organics (in the white bottles), early 90s, right up until they couldn’t be found anymore. Wella must thave disappeared around then, too. 😬

[lapushka]

renia, I was on Google yesterday after this thread was posted, frantically searching for examples of what I meant, and I could only find the round, bigger, bottles.

I mean we had teeny tiny bottles. They were kind of rectangl-y with a little broader bit at the bottom. I can't explain this right, but I cannot find an image for the life of me! And I'm all out (5 years ago I still had some).

[renia22]

renia, I was on Google yesterday after this thread was posted, frantically searching for examples of what I meant, and I could only find the round, bigger, bottles.

I mean we had teeny tiny bottles. They were kind of rectangl-y with a little broader bit at the bottom. I can't explain this right, but I cannot find an image for the life of me! And I'm all out (5 years ago I still had some).


How cool you had some up until 5 years ago (that great stash of yours :D )!
If you ever come across a photo, I’d love to see it :).

[renia22]

Lapushka- I tried the search engine Duck Duck Go instead of Google (sometimes the results are different), and found this ad from 1985- was it this?


https://i.ibb.co/mCY1H99/4-F676169-CEBC-4521-9-EB3-09-C443-FFA33-F.jpg (https://ibb.co/d031QPP)

[lapushka]

Lapushka- I tried the search engine Duck Duck Go instead of Google (sometimes the results are different), and found this ad from 1985- was it this?


https://i.ibb.co/mCY1H99/4-F676169-CEBC-4521-9-EB3-09-C443-FFA33-F.jpg (https://ibb.co/d031QPP)

Yes yes yes, those those! Those were the bottles. Both the ones with the rectangular tops. Yeeeeees!
Oh thank you so much for finding that ad!

[renia22]

Yay! (and very cool looking bottles)

[lapushka]

Yay! (and very cool looking bottles)

:thumbsup: Pretty small bottles though! ;) :lol: I mean about once and I was through a conditioner (I condition 2x).

[Neoma]

I heard that too about Flex, and see them on EBay. My friend in CA says she comes across it sometimes. Revlon apparently markets them in South America? And some of the ones on EBay say India? I’m on the East Coast, and the only Flex I ever see are the fake ones (charcoal, hemp & coconut, strawberry) that show up at Ocean state Job Lot.

Also the fake Agree in the liter bottles show up at that store, which have nothing to do with the original Agree. They’ve been bought out and it’s sold in Japan? I tried one once, Amazon has them now- called “Agree Fragrance”. Formula is different, but the scent is somewhat similar. The Fa website also has Agree, but I don’t know if those bottles have the original fragrance or not. It’s very confusing, because only that one from Japan has the old fragrance (not exact, but close enough), and not sure what’s up with all of this other stuff floating around with the same name.

I vaguely recall Wella Balsam still be around early 90s? But I can’t recall last time I saw it. I was mostly buying Agree (when Selena had the commercial, and it came in the black bottles), and Faberge Organics (in the white bottles), early 90s, right up until they couldn’t be found anymore. Wella must thave disappeared around then, too. ��

I'm in NYC. I'm going to check the dollar stores.

I loved the original Agree. It was one of my staple. And Faberge Organics -- something about wheat and honey..? :yumm:

[renia22]

Lapushka- they do look small! And your hair is so long and thick, I can see how those wouldn’t go far.

I sometimes buy smaller bottles of things since my hair isn’t that long or thick, and it takes me a while to go through product. But these are the 2 that are similar to 80s style balsam conditioners.

Puritan Pride is in NY, and can be found on their website. Mirta De Perales is a Cuban brand, but I get it online. Some Walmarts have the Keratin line, and some Rite Aides had a few things, but we don’t have Rite Aide in my state anymore. Neoma, you might be able to find the Mirta De Perales In NYC:

https://i.ibb.co/RpxC1mD/5-EC39-C10-D771-41-D3-8-A82-4-B6-D0-E6-F103-B.jpg (https://ibb.co/WWbcQw2)
https://i.ibb.co/w77k0Kh/028-BCF64-B564-40-BF-8-F9-E-057-C5433-F05-C.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[renia22]

Also Neoma, these are the Agree bottles that have a mostly similar scent to the original (Agree was great!):

https://i.ibb.co/dKFGp6v/37-A55628-0126-4-B8-D-9-A74-2882-ECC8-D30-F.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)
https://i.ibb.co/sWdsd0h/3-AE5757-A-AF8-B-41-C2-A853-351552426-D61.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

**and definitely about the Wheat Germ Oil & Honey (haha)! Last I saw it, right before it was discontinued, it looked like this:

https://i.ibb.co/0Vsj5Pp/3-D57-D816-74-AE-4-CE4-813-D-0-BD699-DDECD9.jpg (https://ibb.co/x8FSZVK)

[Neoma]

Oh my... It' funny how I can remember exactly how those products smelled.

I will look for Mirta De Perales. It looks like it was at least bottled to look like original Flex.