Anyone that has trained for major sporting event will probably understand that whilst in the final stages of training you completely neglect everything in your life. For me this ranged from the other half and friends, to my diet and well-being.

One thing in particular that faced severe neglect during my training was my hair. Don’t get me wrong, it was washed every day, but outside of this I had little time to spend making sure that every strand was where it was supposed to be. I am not saying that I spend copious amounts of time preening now – because I don’t. But during the marathon training my hair came in two states – either scraped back in a messy bun with numerous Kirby grips or it was newly washed, drying naturally into a wavy – I would like to say mermaid like – mess. My GHD’s were gathering dust, longing to be used. But I had other priorities.

So when I was offered some John Freida products to try out, I happily accepted. When my hair was naturally brown, I used the John Frieda “Brilliant Brunette” products all the time. So I was excited to try out the new “Luxurious Volume” products that were on offer, boasting “naturally fuller, thicker hair.”

Arriving in the post the next day, I was immediately happy. Opening the package, the smell was incredible.

Once the Marathon was done, and I was no longer throwing my hair back to hide its condition, I made time to start using the products. The result was instant, whilst washing I could feel the difference. My hair was soft, silky and smelt amazing. To start with I used the shampoo and conditioner on its own, not wanting to overload my hair with products. And I did feel a change in volume, though not so much the thickness – but then I have a lot of hair anyway. Additionally I found that my hair was much easier to manage; less tangles after washing, it was soft and shiny and to make it even better – once blow dried my hair was pretty straight. So, my poor abandoned straighteners still have not had that much use. On days when I just can’t be bothered to dry my hair, let’s face it we all have many days like that, I simply use a bit of the mousse that was in the package to scrunch up my hair – and I have the long mermaid hair look again (or so I like to believe).

I gradually started to use the mousse every now and then, when blow drying my hair, and found that made a difference too. My hair was naturally fuller and thicker. Though I also found that using this on a regular basis made my hair greasier quicker than normal – so now I tend to use this once a week, when I have time to spend fully pampering my hair with washing, blow drying and straightening too. And it makes a difference.

Verdict – I love the John Frieda Luxurious volume products, and I have since replenished my stock of the shampoo and conditioner. Retailing at £6.99 per bottle, I would definitely recommend. Boots currently have 3 for 2 on John Frieda, which always works for me as I am usually overzealous with the conditioner and always need more conditioner than shampoo. Plus there are other products available in the range too, which I am definitely planning to try out.