Aveda Black Malva or Clove shampoo - why no trial sizes? And is it the most expensive shampoo/conditioner on the planet?

[pearlkent]

I am interested in trying one or both of these (I have brown hair with quite a bit of grey, currently using semi-permanent dye in attempt to avoid harsh permanent colour)) but find it unbelievable that they only sell in 1 litre size for £36. I found this so unbelievable that I did a 'live chat' with their customer service, confident that they would say that at least a sample size would be available, but no...why the hell not???
They seriously expect people to splash out £36 on a bottle of shampoo that they may or may not like???
Weirdly the conditioner comes in 250ml (only size available) but that's b1oody £22! So if I 'wanted' the same size shampoo and conditioner, as is normal practice, I'd have to buy 4 bottles of conditioner (£88).
So, £124 for 2 litres of product, with no samples or trial sizes to test.
How can this be justified?

I use the Chamomile shampoo and conditioner and before I was blonde, I used the Madder Root. The 1 litre sizes are excellent value - I have had my bottle for maybe 18 months and it's still heavy.

You don't have to buy the 1l conditioner! I'm on my 2nd 250ml conditioner, and I don't always use it - I have other conditioners and mix & match.

For what it's worth, I love the stuff. Would happily replace it, if it does ever run out... leaves my hair soft, smelling gorgeous, shiny. I think it's a bargain for £36 actually...

I've used the both the shampoo and conditioner in the past and to be honest neither will cover grey hairs. They're designed to enhance natural (or coloured) hair or help neutralise brassy warm tones (the blue and black malva)

I have naturally dark hair that has highlights/balayage and I use the black Malva conditioner a few times a month to add more of a cool ashy tone. i find 2-3 minute application enough otherwise it gets very dark.

I wouldn't bother with the shampoo to be honest as it's only on your head/hair for a short time before you rinse it whereas the conditioner can be left on for a while and definitely is absorbed and gives a noticeable difference afterwards.

Average will change any shampoo within 30 days if you're not happy with it. I did this and there was no quibbling. They recommended another and swapped both used bottles of shampoo and conditioner for two full bottles of the new shampoo

I LOVE the 1 litre aveda shampoos, they last for ages. We use shampure it's smells divine.

The conditioner is the stuff that actually does the colouring. You can ignore the shampoo...

Re samples, this drove me mad when I wanted to try Black Malva to see if it would take the red tones that are caused by sun and colour fading out of my light brown hair (dyed, I am mostly grey as far as I know!) without having to spend £22 to find out. The Aveda stand at my local department store told me that if I brought them a small jar they would give me a sample. I strolled over to the Bobbi Brown stand and begged a couple of their empty sample pots and went home with a sample of both Black and Blue Malva.

I can report that Black Malva conditioner definitely takes the brass out of light brown dyed hair. I left it in for 3 minutes, and my hair was back to it's natural cool ash tone, but also right on the very edge of turning green. I reckon 4 minutes would be too long!

I think if you have mid or dark brown then you could leave it for longer, but since I have been trying to go from brown to lighter ash brown without using bleach but purely by relying on my grey to provide the lightening, then I need to be a bit careful with it.

I did go back and buy a tube, and I use it about once a week-10 days to keep my hair ashy (3 mins, timed on a clock). So Aveda are really missing a trick by not providing samples.

Thanks everyone. On reflection I suppose £36 for a litre of shampoo isn't toooo bad, it's just that I don't see why they can't sell small trial sizes. The conditioner is pricey, but as an alternative to semi-perm hair colour the cost would probably work out similar.
I understand it wouldn't properly cover grey, but if it blended it in a bit or took the edge off the new grey then it would suffice.
A bit concerned about the green, but thanks for the tip Haffiana.
When I did the live chat I was expecting him to say, well I can send you a sachet to try, but he didn't. He didn't mention that I could return/exchange either, but maybe in a shop or salon they would do that.
They are defo missing a trick in not offering sample or trial sizes, as I'm still humming and ha-ing about spending £22 on a conditioner, and I still don't know whether to go for Black Malva or Clove, so will probably just forget it...

Go into an aveda hair salon, explain your dilemma and ask I bet they will do a sample pot for you, especially if you take one of those mini travel pots with you.

I used Clove conditioner for a while with some success - it does keep roots blended in quite well especially if you leave it on for a bit, but can get pricey. Also it stains.

In the end I gave up and went for Daniel Field colours. These do fade out in quite a natural way, but only last 3 - 4 weeks or so.