I have had hair issues all my life, in fact growing up in South Africa, hair issues is a norm. Having naturally curly hair in a city known as the windy city as well as having high levels of humidity, is somewhat of a curse. No amount of blow drying and hairspray would keep it in place. My hair has been through chemical relaxers (causing it to break), chemical straightening products (making it oily) and flat irons (heat damage, need I say more). Even without the added damage, my hair has been weak, breaks easily and grows slowly.

Combining this with being scissor happy, I have never had long hair. I am fickle, one day I want long hair and the next I want to snip it all off. At the moment my hair is at the longest it has ever been, a few centimeters past my collarbones and it took me three years to grow it to this length after cutting it in a bob (that ended by my hairline – a longer version of the Pob made famous by Victoria Beckam).

About a month ago, one of my aunt’s asked on Facebook about horse shampoo as her daughter’s friends used it. I commented on her post that she should not use it as it is “HORSE” shampoo, not “HUMAN” shampoo, even though I have hear rumors of making one’s hair grow faster. (Apparently so does Doc Martin’s – for dogs). About two weeks ago, I went shopping at a pharmacy, I felt the urge to buy Power Grow tablets to speed up my hair growth as it worked for my neighbor’s daughter who also had problems with hair breakage and slow growth, when my cousin suggested I try horse shampoo, as a friend of hers had and her hair grew significantly in one month. On an impulse I decided to buy stop by the pet store and buy Equestrine Horse Shampoo. I tried it out the same day, and I felt a difference from the first wash. It immediately made my hair softer, shinier (although my hair always had a healthy sheen) and more importantly stronger. When washing my hair, instead of having handfuls of broken hair after shampooing I only now have a few strands, and I have a slight noticed a slight improvement in my hair growth. My bangs, which were above my eyes, are now about a centimeter longer, which is for me a big improvement. Also my fine hair is now a lot thicker, so the perks outweigh the fact that it doesn’t smell too great.

I’ve done some research on using horse shampoo on human hair, and according to Hairfinder.com, as human hair and horse hair is similar in construction, horse shampoo will do the same to human hair as it will to horse hair. However, it may not be very good for people with very fine hair as it will have a rougher and more straw-like feel to it and could be damaged as it swells the hair shaft. I have not experienced this on my hair. In fact my hair feels healthier.

Horse shampoo has become so popular for use on human hair that it has won awards. According to Pioneerthinking.com Mane ‘n Tail shampoo for horses, won the Cosmo Girl Kiss of Approval award for best moisturizing shampoo in 2003.

So what’s your view on the use of horse shampoo on human hair? Would you use horse shampoo, and if you have, how has it worked for you?