CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

This week I found an old brochure by Burnett's, inside it featured a product called Cocoaine which they labeled as a Toilet Article. I was curious to know what the heck that stuff was, as the name threw me off a bit.

Doing some research I found that Burnett's Cocoaine primary ingredient was actually made of coconut (cocoanut) oil instead of cocaine. It was touted as a hair restorer, cured scald head, irritated scalps and dandruff killer. This product was available from 1856 and proved so popular that it was sold for over 40 years.

During the 1880s, Cocaine was in vogue as a cure all and the popularity of the products and was considered "modern medicine". Hoping to capitalize on this idea, Joseph Burnett called their product Cocoaine. Many collector's buy the bottles thinking that they actually contained real cocaine but that is a misnomer.

 “Gives your hair good body.”  “Enriched with beer.“

Body On Tap was made by Bristol Meyers starting in 1978 and they had discontinued it after short 4 years not because of liability with it being associated with alcohol as many people believe, but simply because it didn’t sell that well.

Body On Tap was made with 1/3 Budweiser brand beer, but didn’t leave your hair with a beer smell, it had a fresh, clean scent that lasted nearly all day. The beer was not drinkable no matter what anyone may have thought at the time because, before it was used in any manufacturing processes, it was denatured. Budweiser didn’t want to be publicly associated with the Body On Tap brand, especially a denatured alcohol product and for their own marketing reasons that beer was meant to be drunk and not poured on the head and may have not wanted to be blamed in any way if the product didn’t make it.

To suit hair of every type, the shampoo came in an “oily”, “normal” and “dry”  formulas. According to reviewers, it made your hair shiny, smooth, frizz free and manageable with lots of volume. You could find it packaged in either a 7 oz, 11 oz and 15 oz size in a beer bottle shaped container and even in a small sample size and a promotional blister pack. 

An label from a bottle of shampoo reads :

BODY ON TAP shampoo washes in the clean, full body your hair needs to be its most beautiful…and you‘ll love the fresh delicate fragrance. BODY ON TAP Balanced Shampoo has been specially formulated to meet the cleaning and conditioning needs of normal hair. Wet hair. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. BODYONTAP is Ph balanced, non alkaline

And safe for delicate or color treated hair. For body that’s in beautiful condition, follow each shampoo with BODY ON TAP CONDITIOER.

Their tagline was “brewed with real beer”.

Today you can find Body on Tap shampoo and Conditioner but this new formula has a new scent, some reviewers have mentioned that the fragrance isn’t the same as they remember. The new formula is also thinner and lighter in color than you might remember.

Some detailed information used here was obtained by a blog post by Alan Taplow who “was the division's purchasing manager when it was rolled out into the marketplace.”

Do you remember that 1970’s shampoo called Lemon Up? I am just a tad too young to remember this product but many of my readers may. In my research I have found that Lemon Up was a line of beauty products based on a citrus theme and put out by Toni Products included were the famous shampoo, crème rinse, facial cleanser, and an anti-blemish lotion.

In 1971 Lemon Up’s tagline was “Make peace with grease, “ a nod to the hippie generation.

Other companies jumped on the lemon bandwagon, like Delph’s lemon cleansers, but Toni answers the competition with this ad from 1973:  "Empty promises.  That's what you get when other beauty products talk about lemon." 

An ad from 1974 boasts “We’ve got what every leading shampoo is missing - the juice of a whole lemon.”

The shampoo bottle boasted a cute, realistic lemon shaped cap. It made your hair squeaky clean, shiny and fresh smelling. A 1974 ad stated “LEMON-UP SHAMPOO . In regular, or Extra Condition formula or LEMON UP CRÈME RINSE Contains the natural juice one whole lemon in each bottle — 8 oz unbreakable bottle. $1.69”

Lemon juice and oils are natural astringents and they cut through grease and dirt, which make them appropriate for natural beauty products. Lemon juice even helps promote blonde highlights when exposed to the sun, we all remember Sun In hair mist!

The fresh smell of lemon inspired perfume companies to release fragrances based on the scent. Love’s Fresh Lemon and Revlon’s Wild Lemon spring to mind.

Donovan singing 'Wear Your Love Like Heaven.'

Today you can find Lemon Up shampoo and conditioner at The Vermont Country Store.

Their ad states “Though the ’70s may be gone forever, the memories and great hair live on with LemonUp Shampoo and Conditioner, still made with the juice of one whole lemon. These blasts from the past put the squeeze on oily hair like no other, leaving your tresses squeaky clean, lemony fresh, and full of shine. 13.5 oz. bottles.

Still made with the juice of one lemon

Controls oily hair

13.5 oz. bottles

Shampoo and conditioner

LemonUp Shampoo and Conditioner, with their tell-tale lemon caps, leave your tresses squeaky clean, lemony fresh, and full of shine”