John Frieda Instant Conditioner & Shine : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Does it smell good?	Not very much
What hair type is it for?	Fine hair
Value for money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Made my hair soft, nice looking packaging
Disadvantages:	Expensive, made my hair look lank, lid collects water

Recommend to potential buyers:

Full review

......then buy some of this conditioner.

•• Why did I buy it? ••
I bought this conditioner (and shampoo) on recommendation from another Ciao opinion, because I have very limp, fine hair. It is designed for fine to normal hair as it ‘conditions and helps repair fine, fragile hair’ – sounds great I thought. The tube proudly proclaims to give ‘thicker and cooler hair’ and ‘delivers super-sexy suppleness’ - how can a girl resist? After all, when our hair looks good, we feel good!

•• Packaging ••
I really like the look of the packaging – bright blue tube with a reasonably clear flat lid. You flip the lid back on its hinges and squeeze. The hole does not get bunged up at all and, as the lid is flat, it stores nicely with the contents always ready to be squeezed. A big let down is the fact that the gap between the tube and the lid tends to fill with water, so you can end up with a gloopy mess as you squeeze the conditioner out.

•• The product and price ••
The tube contains 250ml of a nice creamy, but not too thick, white conditioner. It does not smell particularly strong, just nice and clean. It is not greasy or too heavy so you feel like your hair would be weighed down. I have shoulder length hair but I only use conditioner on the bottom half, and the tube lasted me about 12 washes. The price in most places is £3.50, which is a lot more expensive than some of the middle range brands, such as Pantene, which is normally about £1.50 for 200 ml. So, it is worth it?

•• Directions ••
A bit of an obvious section here, but it is worth mentioning that you do not need to leave this conditioner in your hair to work – just ‘apply to wet hair distributing evenly and rinse thoroughly’.

•• Did it work? ••
Yes and no. Firstly, I noticed a vast difference if I dried my hair or left it to dry naturally (which I often try to do if I can, to reduce the damage caused by hairdryers). If I left it to dry naturally, I looked a real mess. My hair looked limp and lank as if I hadn’t washed it for days. On the other hand if I dried it with a hair dryer, it looked a lot more bouncy (but still not brilliant). Let’s go through the promises it makes on the tube:

Thicker and cooler hair – it did not make my hair any thicker than with any other conditioner, in fact when left to dry it looked very thin and lank – this certainly does not meet the ‘cool’ claim.

Delivers super sexy suppleness – urm, not sure about this one. My hair certainly felt softer after use, but suppleness means bounce to me and I only achieved that after hair drying, whereas with some other conditioners, I get bounce by drying naturally.

Conditions and helps repair fine, fragile hair – I would agree with this one as my hair is definitely softer when using this conditioner and split ends are not as noticeable.

Instant infusion of ultra-lite moisturisers for super detangling and hi-intensity shine – I was able to get a brush through my hair easily after using this conditioner, but I wouldn’t say my hair was more shiny after using it.

•• Conclusion ••
Well, I certainly won’t be buying it again. I think it would be suitable for people who style their hair more than I do because of the difference it made leaving it to dry naturally. I have also read that is it brilliant if you have dyed your hair as it certainly helped with my brittle ends (sun dyed). For me it is not worth the extra money over the cheaper brands, which perform just as well on my hair. If you want to try this conditioner, it is available in some chemists in a 25ml sample packet for around £0.99, which would also be useful for travelling.

Contact details:
John Frieda
London
SW1X 7HH