John Frieda Instant Conditioner & Shine > Reviews (5)

......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: