TIGI S Factor Smoothing Conditioner

Author's product rating:   

Does it smell good?	It's okay
What hair type is it for?	Normal hair
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Makes hair soft, shiny and easier to detangle
Disadvantages:	Probably tested on animals

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I have very long hair which has been highlighted in the past (last time about a year ago). I wasn't very happy with the conditioners I had been using and so I went looking in salons for a better one. I always buy salon shampoos and conditioners because in my experience, and I have tried lots, the shop ones just aren't as good. It makes sense when you think about it; if the shop brands are as great as their adverts will have you believe, then why don't the salons use them?

This one was recommended to me by the staff in one of the salons I went in. They said it was especially good for long hair and that although it was pricey you only have to use a tiny amount, about the size of a 10p in your palm, and it is very effective. One of the staff highly recommended it, saying she used it herself even though she didn't have long hair because she liked it so much. Naturally I was sceptical; after all they're not exactly impartial, and I was doubtful that such a small amount could really be enough for all my hair.

Nevertheless, I thought I'd give it a go and bought a bottle. At nearly £14 for 200ml it is by no means cheap, and when I got home I did wonder if I'd done the right thing. How do you explain to your husband, who has a number 2 haircut so really doesn't understand, why you've just spent £14 on a bottle of hair conditioner?! I used it for the first time and was not particularly impressed; my hair seemed no better than with the other salon conditioners I had tried which only cost half the price.

However I thought I would give it a fair trial, and I'd already spent the money anyway, so I continued to use it and resisted the temptation to use more than I was advised. After a few washes I really began to notice the difference; my hair is soft and noticeably shiny, and although it does get tangled it is not as bad and it is easier to comb or brush the tangles out than it was before. I've been using it for a while now and I have to say that I love it, and all my initial scepticism has gone - it really does do what it promises, and all with only a tiny amount. The bottle still looks nearly full, and I must have had it now for a good couple of months or so, making it good value for money (works out cheaper than using a 'cheap' conditioner) even though it initially seems expensive.

For Ciao's criteria regarding smell I have selected OK because it's really not important to me for a product to 'smell good'. In fact I prefer products that are unfragranced or only subtly fragranced, preferably naturally. A strong smell of any kind is likely to put me off a product because it means it contains unnecessary chemicals likely to irritate my skin, not to mention my lungs. That aside, would you really want to smell of a mixture of highly fragranced body and hair care products, rather than that new designer perfume you just bought?! This conditioner has a pleasant but subtle smell, which makes it pleasant to use but is not overpowering.

I've selected 'normal hair' in the criteria but I think it is suitable for lots of hair types. I think it is suitable for 'normal' hair (whatever that is!) but is also good for hair that's been chemically treated or is a bit dry. As mentioned earlier I am growing out highlights and it has done wonders for my hair, but my hair does tend to get greasy at the roots so I only apply the conditioner to its length and not the roots.

The downsides of this product are that the bottle is a strange design, making it larger than it really needs to be for 200ml and a bit unwieldy to use. There is also an ingredients list as long as your arm, and although these include jojoba and avocado oils I imagine the rest are chemicals of one sort or another. That said, it does do the job so I suppose you can't have everything. It also doesn't actually tell you anywhere on the bottle just how little you need to use, so anyone buying it without the benefit of the advice I was given may use too much and therefore get poorer value for money: this of course will not be a problem for you as you've just read this review! The only thing that does really concern me is that it doesn't say anywhere on the packaging that it is not tested on animals, which would lead me to suspect that it probably has been, and therefore make me a bit dubious about buying it again.