Hair Shmair (John Frieda Product Review)

This post brought to you by John Frieda. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now, I'll just come out and say it right now: I'm not terribly fancy when it comes to beauty products. I have avoided department store makeup very much on purpose, because I'm worried the difference in comparison to my drugstore makeup will be too great to deny and I'll be forced against my will to spend 4 jillion dollars on makeup each year. And I have only been introduced to salon quality hair products in the past year or two, when I hoped that splurging on fancypants products would make growing out my short pixie haircut a little more interesting and enjoyable. I almost hate to admit that I can tell a difference when I use salon hair products vs. drugstore products, because I hate spending much money on something goofy like my hair, but it is what is it. I'm still avoiding fancy makeup at all costs, but I might maybe may be just a tad converted to at least some salon hair products.

So I was excited to have the chance to try out some John Freida goodies. John Frieda hair care products are salon quality, but can be purchased at Walmart, so best of both worlds I guess, right? You won't spend a fortune, but you'll get some good bang for your buck.

Here are the products I got to take for a test drive: (from left to right) Full Repair Shampoo and Conditioner, plus Full Repair Hydrate + Rescue Deep Conditioner, Brilliant Brunette Colour Protecting Shampoo and Conditioner, Luxurious Volume Shampoo and Conditioner, and Frizz-Ease Smooth Start Shampoo and Conditioner.

My thoughts on the products: The first thing I noticed was that they all smelled fantastically salon-ish, if that makes sense. You know how when you get your hair professionally done, and the products smell out-of-this-world good and, somehow, they actually do smell expensive, and you hate to go back home and wash it in a day or two with your own crappy products because you'll lose that fancy salon smell? These products (especially the Full Repair line) smelled to me like salon products, which I guess makes sense if they are salon quality, and I loved walking around all day catching whiffs of my own fancy-smelling hair.

(Would that the screen were scratch-n-sniff.)

My favorite product, hands down, was the Full Repair Hydrate + Rescue Deep Conditioner. I'm always a fan of a good deep conditioner, and this one did not disappoint. It left my hair feeling incredibly soft and smooth, and I even think it styled a bit easier after use, and held the style for longer than usual. In the picture above, I had just used the Full Repair Shampoo and Deep Conditioner, and I was able to get better-than-usual curls, which lasted well into a second day of wear, and never felt 'crispy' or dry the way curls sometimes do. This is one product I'll be happy to restock when my bottle runs out.

I also liked the Luxurious Volume Shampoo and Conditioner--although I honestly have my doubts that a shampoo or conditioner can do much to help with volume (other than by simply not being a very heavy formula), I think I got exactly the same results using it as I typically get with my Kenra Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner, which cost like 4 times more, which I find really annoying, to tell you the truth. (Will Ulta accept a refund on the Kenra shampoo/conditioner I bought 6 months ago?) Here's a picture of the day I used the Luxurious Volume line.

Enjoy the photobomb of Forrest in the backseat, complete with a tractor in his mouth. Is he eating it? Kissing it? The world may never know.

As for the Frizz-Ease line, I'm not sure I have anything incredible to say in either direction. Apart from the nice smell, I didn't insanely love or insanely dislike it--I thought it was just dandy, I guess. No complaints, no rave review, but frizz is not my greatest hair issue, so I may have been the wrong person to test out an anti-frizz product. And once I realized the Brilliant Brunette line is meant to be used on color-treated hair, I only opened it to take a smell (mmmm), and will be passing it on to someone who dyes their hair (seems like a waste to use color-treated shampoo on my own non-color treated hair), so I can't remark on it, either. But two thumbs up to the Full Repair and Luxurious Volume products, especially the Full Repair Deep Conditioner.

You can find video tutorials and product videos on the John Frieda hair care products brand page if you're looking for more info.