I am yet to find my holy grail of hair products. Styling products are often difficult to choose between since I have both a natural curl to my hair and with it being quite fine in texture, I end up piling a lot on which serves to only weigh it down. I find products that work, but usually within a few months to a year they seem to stop having the same effect they once did. I get fed up and start looking again. Ho hum.

I have to say, that is the experience I have had with John Frieda products before. I used Frizz Ease somewhat religiously in my teens (when my hair was a bit thicker and hence, more fuzzy), in particular, the Dream Curls product. But when I hit young adulthood, and especially when I started reading more blogs about beauty and hair, I started to experiment. Lately I've found myself contemplating a Dream Curls purchase in Boots more than once, so it was a joy when John Frieda got in touch with me to review some products for them. As I said, my hair is super fine, and when it's getting a little long the way it is now, it's almost impossible to style upwards rather than out. I have plenty of body at the sides by the roots often lie flat and need a lot of teasing to go against their will. I was using a Wella Curl Mousse, an Aussie spray and a Label.M Souffle to style my hair when the John Frieda products arrived. I have since used them for around 4 weeks - these are my thoughts:

Luxurious Volume Thickening Mousse: I apply a palm sized ball of this to the roots of my hair and work down into the mid lengths to tip. Like I said I've been using every 2 or 3 days for around 4 weeks and I think I have about half of this bottle left. It doesn't smell of much, isn't sticky and is incredibly light, which is a difference I noticed from my normal curl mousse - or the Aussie mousse I also use. Using this alone, with no other products gives good initial root lift, but obviously not much lasting hold. I would say there is no significant change in curl in my hair now that I'm using a volumising mousse not a curl defining one, but it is bigger, at least post-wash. After use there is no crunch to my hair, no stickiness and my hair feels fresh, springy and clean. My overall thoughts on this mousse as a stand-alone product is that it is good, but not stand-out. If you're a mousse user, there's a high chance it's a good step up from the mousse you use now, particularly because it has a heat protector in it, but it won't transform you into a state of Cheryl Cole-esque flowing locks.

Luxurious Volume Thickening Blow Dry Lotion: I'm not entirely sure what a blow dry lotion is. The word lotion has very negative connotations for me: on my skin it barely skims the surface, on my hair it weighs it down. I was dubious. John Frieda tells me that this blow dry lotion "Thickens and lifts from the roots for high rise style". Wahey, let's go. I was told that after towel drying I should spray onto my hair, concentrating on my roots and ensure that the undersection and surface was covered. I did this and dried my hair as usual (half no nozzle, half diffuser). Used on it's own it created brilliant lift at the root. It also, on me (though it makes no claim to do this), added a lovely shine to my root area without weighing it down or causing an unpleasant feel. Again, like the mousse, it was so light it was barely there, but it was definitely pumping up my hair. Win. It also offers some heat protection which is a nice extra.

Luxurious Volume Thickening Hairspray: I am well and truly an Aussie Angel when it comes to hairspray. Nothing worked for me until I met the wonder that is the Aussie Volume and Gloss Hairspray which has transformed my hair into a gravity defying masterpiece at many an Angel get together (check my pic up in the sidebar for evidence). This spray had a lot to live up to and did it? Well... no. In fact, it failed quite spectacularly. It doesn't smell particularly good, it holds hair but not for long enough and it left my curls rigid and crispy. I didn't like it and it's the only product I didn't use for the whole 4 weeks. I dropped it after 2 and I'm safely back in Aussie hands.

So, I'm currently still using both the Luxurious Volume Thickening Blow Dry Lotion and the Thickening Mousse. I use them in conjunction with Aussie Mega Shampoo and Take the Heat 3 Minute Miracle, plus Label.M Souffle (for texture and curl definition) and occasionally Paul Mitchell Express Round Trip which I got in a Glossybox. The mousse is something I can probably take or leave, although if I'm looking for height in the future it will be something I'll repurchase, especially because for the price it really is pretty great value. The Blow Dry Lotion though is something I really like and am planning to repurchase. I have a lot of problems with products making my (naturally dry and flyaway) hair greasy and flat on days 2 and 3 and this lotion adds height with little to no side effects. I really like it.

All 3 of these products retail for £5.79 on the Boots website. At the moment they're on a 2 for £7.50 promotion. I'm told that a new collection for John Frieda has just hit the shelves too, this time called "Full Repair" - aimed at hair that needs a bit of a pick me up. Click this link to watch a video.

Have you ever used John Frieda products? Do you like them? What is your current hair regime?

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