Toni & Guy Red Brunette Shampoo & Volume Conditioner Review

My Problem Areas: Fine hair, that sometimes lacks volume, and is generally lifeless. Coloured.

What I was looking for: Every so often, I like to buy shampoo and conditioner that are a little bit pricier than what I would normally buy, from a brand that is considered to be "better". The idea behind it being, to have some "luxury" products that I only use for special occasions, or whenever I decide to treat myself,and my hair. So, in January,with my Christmas money in hand, whilst on a trip to Leeds, I decided to invest in something that I'd never tried before.

Why I chose the Toni & Guy range: The main reason for buying from the Toni & Guy range, was because itwas on offer (Buy One Get One Free) in Boots. Which, after a look on the Boots website, seems to be a regular occurrence, as the entire range appears to be part of a 3 for £10 offer. 

How they Work: As with normal shampoo, massage into wet hair and wash it out with warm water. The shampoo has hints of red and brunette colours in it, which you can see pretty well in the product. Due to this fact, product should be washed off skin (and anywhere else that you might have splashed it), to avoid staining.

Smooth the conditioner into your hair, after shampooing, and comb through. Leave for two minutes and wash out. The Toni & Guy website claims that the product is "amazingly lightweight...detangles...without weight."

Did they sort out my problem areas: To be fair, neither were bought with the intention of combating my problem areas, but for the sake of this review, I'll still comment on the facts.

I always get the impression that shampoos (and conditioners) that have henna, or hints of hair dye in them, are more designed to be used over time for real effects, and I think that this is definitely the case with the Toni & Guy Red Brunette shampoo, as the bottle states that it "...intensifies with use...", so I can't really comment on this, because I only use the shampoo once every one or two weeks. However, I expected it to maybe brighten my colour a little, and it really didn't seem to do that. That was perhaps because I was due to re-colour my hair, but in my opinion, that is the time when the majority of people will be using a product like this.

In regards to the Volume Conditioner, I personally think that this is a load of rubbish. It didn't make my hair feel any "lighter" than a normal conditioner, and my hair didn't gain any kind of volume or body at all. 

Any Downsides? Other than being incredibly sceptical of any benefits for my hair, from these supposedly better products? Yep, there is a huge downside to both of these products.

I think as far as packaging goes these have to be the worst packaging for hair products that I have ever known. Sure they might succeed in looking stylish, opting for a pump-style bottle, which is very different to most other shampoos, but the pump system is complete and utter rubbish.

Even if the shampoo and conditioner made my hair vibrant with colour, and full of va-va-voom volume, that wouldn't make these worth buying. Why? Because the pumps just don't work properly...on either of them (I know I'm sometimes unlucky, but surely this is too big a coincidence).

With both pumps, you get very little product out, and it takes at least ten pumps to get an adequate amount into the palm of your hand. And, this in itself is very slow going. With pump systems, I expect the pump to spring back up again straight away, but with the conditioner it creaks more than springs, coming back up so slower that I think I fell asleep one time! But, at least it's better than the shampoo pump....that doesn't come back up on it's own at all!! 

The annoying thing is, that it's not even a case of a pulling the pump up...Bottle in one hand, product in the other...evolution hasn't yet given me a third arm, so unfortunately the only way I could find to get the pumps back up, was using my teeth...and no, this does not taste very nice!!