Product Review: ShowSheen Detangler Gel

Cockleburrs and dreadlocks: you’ve met your match.

As someone who has always loved horses with long, flowing tresses, I’m also aware of the horrors that long-haired horses can amass just from doing what they do best – namely, burying themselves face-first in plant matter of all forms. Tangles, unwanted dreadlocks and cockleburr monstrosities are just some of the “hairstyles” that can result from a life of playing with buddies, bushwhacking through the forbidden lands in the back of the pasture, and rubbing one’s mane through the dirt during a good roll.

I sure hope you had fun doing that, buddy. Photo by Amber Ferris.

Absorbine, the creator of grooming staples such as ShowSheen Hair Polish & Detangler and UltraShield fly spray, now offers ShowSheen in a convenient gel form to help detangle unruly manes and tails. After having used several brands of detanglers on my horses, I was eager to give this one a try.

The ShowSheen Detangler Gel comes in a convenient, squeezable 4 fluid ounce bottle with an applicator tip for easy use. This makes it easy to carry in your grooming tote and to squeeze directly onto your horse’s mane and tail. I’m all about convenience when it comes to my grooming products, and I also like to use products on my horses that I would feel comfortable using myself.

Photo by Lindsey Kahn

ShowSheen Detangler Gel also contains pure argan oil, which has become one of the most sought-after natural ingredients in many beauty products for humans. Extracted from the fruit of the Moroccan argan tree, argan oil contains many beneficial nutrients such as vitamin E and linoleic acid and is commonly used to moisturize skin and hair. It is said to naturally hydrate and nourish hair. When I squeezed some of the gel into my hand to test out, it felt smooth without being too greasy, which is a problem I’ve found with some other types of detanglers. The light, sweet fragrance was pleasant without being pungent.

I worked some of the detangler gel into my gelding’s tail and squeezed some directly from the bottle onto his mane, right at the base of the hair. It was then easy to use my fingers to gently unravel some of the tangles in his ludicrously long and straight mane. I’m a stickler about finger-combing large tangles to prevent hair breakage, and then using a comb to smooth out the rest of my horse’s mane. I only needed small amounts of ShowSheen Detangler Gel in Griffin’s mane and tail; a little went a long way.

The ShowSheen Detangler Gel made my horse’s ridiculous mane easier to manage.

In addition to helping detangle my horse’s mane and tail, I found that it gave his hair a nice shine and a soft, smooth feel that wasn’t very greasy or slick. While his tail was more difficult and time-consuming to comb through, the ShowSheen Detangler Gel seemed to do the trick, helping me work through some of the twists and knots. Soon enough, Griffin’s flaxen locks were worthy of a stylish beauty commercial.

Maybe he’s born with it… Photo by Lindsey Kahn.

A couple of days later, Griffin’s mane and tail were still soft to the touch. It didn’t take long for me to work out the pieces of hay and small tangles that had formed from him being out in the pasture, and I only had to apply a very small dime-sized amount directly to the very inner chunks of his tail, which can get frizzy and prone to tangling. My hands also felt the moisturizing benefits of the gel’s argan oil, which is awesome given that they always seem dry, dirty and damaged from working with horses. My cuticles thanked me.

All in all, Absorbine’s ShowSheen Detangler Gel is easy to use, pleasant to smell and touch, and does its job in detangling and beautifying my horse’s hair. Its effects can last about a week, you can still maintain a healthy mane and tail even when used sparingly. As an added bonus, ShowSheen Detangler Gel is safe to use on dogs, so your pup can look as sleek as your horse!

…maybe it’s ShowSheen. Photo by Lindsey Kahn

ShowSheen Detangler Gel is available at any Absorbine dealer. You can learn more about this helpful product on Absorbine’s website, and by watching this video: