When cult beauty items sell out it’s usually a new eyeshadow palette from a YouTube beauty blogger or something from Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty range.
But at the moment Australian women are desperately trying to get their hands on a hair product that was a staple of bathrooms across the country in the 1970s and 1980s – even paying six times the retail price for it on eBay.
Revlon’s Flex Shampoo and Conditioner was once one of Australia’s most popular hair products before it disappeared from shelves in the early 2000s to make way for newer up-market brands like Pantene, Schwarzkopf and TRESemmé.
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However earlier this year Revlon’s Flex made an unexpected return to Australian shelves at The Reject Shop, where it quickly became a sought-after item.
In a sign of just how popular Flex is, a post in Facebook group, We grew up in Australia in the 70s & 80s, yesterday had hundreds of comments from shoppers excited to find out the “oldie” had returned – and there’s one reason they keep going back.
“I use it BECAUSE of the smell. It’s delicious. My husband has been telling me how good I smell,” one person wrote.
“OMG I loved Flex! I can still smell it hey!” another commented.
“It’s never at my Reject Shop,” one person lamented.
Listings on eBay.com.au show the cult hair product available to buy for upwards of $25 a bottle – despite retailing for just $4 in The Reject Shop.
A spokeswoman for The Reject Shop said that while Flex shampoo and conditioner had been in limited stock, more of the cult product would be arriving “just before Christmas”.
It will be good news for shoppers keen to get their hands on the products, who have vented on Facebook since July that the Flex shampoo had been difficult to find.
One woman said her “local had sold out the first week” while another revealed she had been
“buying when I can find it”.
“None here in Perth! I looked today,” one person wrote, while another added: “I love this shampoo. It’s so hard to get though.”
One shopper said they had some luck, commenting: “Got the shampoo. Still trying to get conditioner … One wash and my hair immediately improved.”
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Revlon Flex was discontinued from Woolworths shelves in early 2002, the Australian Financial Review reported at the time.
According to the newspaper the hair product was dropped to make way for Dove shampoo and conditioner.
At its peak, Revlon Flex held a 10 per cent share in the Australian shampoo and conditioner hair market but had dropped to less than three per cent by the early 2000s, with its packaging, marketing and product formula considered factors in its decline.
While Revlon’s Flex range was discontinued in Australia, it has continued to be sold overseas in countries such as the United Kingdom.
Last month The Reject Shop announced it had signed a deal with British supermarket giant Tesco to start stocking their products in its stores.
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