Funny, I've just been reading James Herriot

I was in the supermarket this afternoon, futilely looking for conditioner. Ever since I was showering totally on my own I've always used Finesse (more when you need it, less when you don't). It's creamy, it smells okay, and I think it makes my hair turn out okay. But in the last six months it's been very difficult to find. I think it must be going out of business or has vastly lost its popularity. So I was debating between Pantene and Dove and all the others (and ended up buying none - time to start trying the interesting versions at TJs) when suddenly Henna 'n' Placenta caught my eye. Conditioner to revitalize damaged hair with all natural henna and all natural placenta. I read the ingredients to make sure, and in fact there is extract of each. I have no idea what that consists of but I find it a bit disturbing. Also unsettling is that instead of being packaged in a nice plastic bottle, it comes in individual plastic/foil packets, like a giant pack of fruit snacks or something. Much larger than my normal "individual serving" of conditioner in any given shower. And so you can feel the gelatinous texture of the inside through the packaging like a slightly deflated jelly tube, and you can believe there's placenta in there and the thought is a little too much. I know that there are plenty of disgusting things that we ingest or smear on ourselves (unpronounceable chemicals, horse urine and hooves, insect spit, cow secretions) at least on an intellectual level which have never particularly bothered me, even when I knew the origin. But this was somehow different, and I know I'm not alone in my horrified curiosity - the package was askew in its rack when I walked by to start, probably one of the things that primarily drew my attention. Gingerly I put it back on its shelf, properly seated, and left the aisle. I may never go back.