A few months ago we reported on what, at the time, was still pretty much an underground trend in the labyrinthine world of hair, the phenomenon of co-washing.

Ahead of the curve as this was, even we’ve been surprised by the momentum of the co-wash movement as on a weekly basis, another new foamless formula turns up on our desk. R.I.P shampoo...

With their origins in afro hair care and traditionally used on very curly or densely textured hair, cleansing conditioners are now being touted as a cure all for all hair types on the basis that most standard detergent-based shampoos are drying and stripping our hair unecessarily, essentially doing more harm than good.

So, is all the fuss justified and is shampoo’s time really up? The answer is, everyone’s different. For my short crop I’m finding the whole experience quite revelatory. Purely Perfect, developed by Bumble and bumble founder Michael Gordon, is my hair ‘cleanser’ of choice. I use two pumps, work it into my wet hair from roots to tip, leave it on while I perform the rest of my ablutions and rinse it off at the end. All done, no need for extra conditioner. My hair is looking and feeling better in all respects. More vivid colour, less frizz, no itchy scalp. So far, so revolutionary.

"It's almost like she's become conditioned (no pun intended) to a lathering experience"

But, my friend who cites greasy roots as the bane of her life, isn’t having quite the same success. Because co-washes don’t foam, she just doesn’t find the whole experience quite cleansing enough. It's almost like she's become conditioned (no pun intended) to a lathering experience and anything that doesn't instantaneously break into bubbles feels counterintuitive. Ditto long hair. Working a non-foaming cream formula through wet, waist length hair is, I imagine, a bit of a bitch. So like anything in life, it’s horses for courses.

But that hasn’t stopped the big hair brands charging ahead full throttle with their co-washing campaign. The thrill of the new, a product that will get consumers excited and intrigued is the holy grail in beauty. But I don’t expect you’ll see their existing detergent-based shampoo lines being discontinued anytime soon. This is just about giving consumers the choice.

If you need further proof that this conditioning cleanser thing is set to run and run, you need only look to the States where even Pantene has got in on the action. We may have to wait a while until that particular bottle lands on our desks, but for now we have plenty of others to experiment with. Click through the gallery above to see the latest non-foaming formulas that are making their way into showers across the land.