Review : John Frieda Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme

I was doing the Christmas shop in Tesco when I noticed the John Frieda range was on offer, 3 for 2. I picked up my shampoo and 2 conditioners, a heat protectant spray and then I chose a serum and this as my two freebie items - John Frieda's Frizz-Ease Straight Fixation Smoothing Creme. I've been using it since Christmas so thought I'd review it for you :)

What John Frieda says:

• Lighweight conditioning creme holds hair straight without heaviness.
• Sweet Almond Oil and Milk Protein smooth and condition hair.
• Smoothes away frizz and keeps hair silky-straight. 
• Keeps hair smooth and straight for up to 24 hours.
• ThermaGuard^TM Complex protects against heat damage.
• The Result : Natural looking straight style with body and bounce.

Sounds pretty good. Here is a little bit of hair history before I start...

My hair is coloured, quite long (to my waist), and super thick, so it's a real effort to tame my mane. I started straightening my naturally curly hair when I was about 14. I had one of those little straighteners that needed a gas canister, and I'd easily go through a whole one whenever I wanted to straighten my hair. I tried umpteen straighteners until college, when I found the best method for smooth, straight, sleek locks was... an iron and ironing board. True story - don't try it at home kids.

I stopped doing that when I bought my GHD's, but the constant heat was damaging to my hair, and it didn't matter how good my straighteners were, my hair was too dry and ruined for it to look good straight. I could hear it fizzle and snap as I pulled the straighteners through. Soooooo not good! To straighten my hair it takes about 45 minutes. Even longer if I'm blow drying it! Seriously, if I go to the salon, I'm there for a good 5/6 hours by the time they cut, colour and style it. I haven't straightened my hair for a very long time, so I was excited to try this to see if my hair could look as good as it did before.

Here's a picture of my natural hair - it doesn't look very long because it's curly haha:

And here you can see that it's a bit dry and frizzy when straightened:

So will this miracle product work?

It says to use a 10p (more or less if needed) piece blob and work it through damp hair, then blow dry straight. So, I washed my hair as normal, used a heat protectant spray and a hair serum, then rubbed a 50p size blob through my hair. Then I let it dry naturally. Totally not listening to the instructions but hey, I want to use as little heat as possible here!

It smells really nice. I like my hair to smell clean and fresh, and this definitely ticks that box. It wasn't too sticky or too runny, it was just a nice balm that run through my hair really easily. The amount I used was plenty for my hair, because it wasn't so thick that it'd stick to where I put it. So far so good. I noticed afterwards that this has got a heat protectant in it too, so that's good if you don't want to use a concoction of products on your hair.

When it was dry I whipped out my GHD's, and seperated my hair into sections like I normally do. As I was pulling the straighteners through, I didn't hear anything. No fizz, no crackle, no snapping! Just a load of lovely smelling steam. By the time I had finished one section, it was perfectly straight, with no need to go over the same bit two or three times more. Very unusual for my hair! I thought that a bit of product must have been concentrated in that bit. So, I did another section and the same thing again. No worrying noises, just a lot of steam and perfectly sleek and straight hair. In a matter of 20 minutes my hair was finished. 20 minutes!! Wow. It looked smooth, healthy and glossy, and I couldn't stop touching it. So many people have given me compliments on my hair when it's been straightened with this.

I straightened it on Friday morning, and the above picture was taken this morning, 48 hours later. As you can see it's still straight, if not a little flat with a few flyaways, but to be fair I literally woke up, put a clip in my fringe, and that's it. No brushing or anything. I'm allowed to be lazy, it's Sunday!! It's not so glossy anymore, but a little tease at the roots and a smooth over with serum, and it'll look just as good as when I first styled it.

Would I buy it again?

Definitely, I have never had my hair looking so sleek! I won't be straightening my hair after every wash as I've really grown to love my natural texture, but for times when I do fancy straightening my hair, I won't be doing it without this!

It's available for around £4.99 in Boots, Superdrug and many supermarkets, though the John Frieda range is often on offer if you'd like to give it a go.

xoxo