Look at this bottle. Nice, huh? A nice, amber color makes it look like all sorts of Earthy and what not. This is a bottle of American Crew’s Peppermint Shampoo. It is advertised as having cleansing powers to remove hair goop residue on your head. I had a bottle of this stuff under my sink. I used it for a bit and then moved on to Neutrogena for deep hair cleaning.

I liked this product. I really enjoyed the smell. In fact, when Tobey was sprayed by a skunk, this was one of the shampoos that I used on him to try and get the smell off him. Did it clean the way it advertised? I suppose. However, the key to this story is the bottle: brown with light pink lettering.

Now, look at the following bottle to the right. This is the American Crew Firm Hold Gel. I had this under my sink, too. I bought it during a moment of weekness one time when I got my hair cut. It is supposed to hold your hair in place and maintain your hair’s shape throughout the day. It is the same color bottle, with either white or orange lettering.

I know what you’re saying – big frippin’ deal. Well, many of you know that I wear contact lenses. Early one morning you I was about to enter the shower and thought that I might as well finish off the Peppermint Shampoo. I reached under the sink, pulled out the bottle and jumped into the shower.

You can see where this is headed now, can’t you?

I started shampooing my hair while in the shower. But my hair wasn’t getting sudsy. So I reached for the bottle and put more in my hand and scrubbed it into my hair. Still, it was barely getting bubbly. What was I supposed to do? You got it! I reached for the bottle and put more on.

I finally realized that it didn’t smell like peppermint. I had been shampooing for the past 3 minutes with Firm Hold Gel.

This goes to show you, kids: READ THE LABEL.