Annoyingly Effective At Reducing Frizz: John Frieda's 10 Day Tamer Pre-Wash Treatment

Frizzy, wavy and unmanageable hair is unsurprisingly one of the top beauty concerns of women in the UK. How many mornings have you spent over the allocated time attempting to tame and style your mane, only to step out into the street and find the rainy British weather creates a frizz halo on the surface of your scalp? I've been battling the elements my entire life, thanks to the curly and frizzy hair I inherited; unfortunately my barnet isn't even the 'nice' kind of curly, preferring to look like I've been pulled through a hedge backwards when left to its own devices. I've perfected my routine over the years, but I'm still always on the look-out for anything that will help me to tame and manage my natural movement in order to create a sleeker look. John Frieda is a brand I have a lot of history with; I used to go through a bottle of their iconic Frizz Ease on an almost monthly basis, and spent my university years stocking up on Brilliant Brunette as if it was the secret to looking like Jennifer Aniston. However, over the last decade my tastes have evolved and my needs have expanded, leaving me turning my nose up at a brand I used to have a lot of love for. Although I'm always a little skeptical when it comes to anything that claims to either tame frizz or last for ten days, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give the new 10 Day Tamer Pre-Wash Treatment from Mr Frieda a try.

Named as a "revolutionary pre-wash treatment that gives you ten days of perfectly manageable hair and effortless versatile styling in just one use, without heat," my expectations were high. You simply apply the treatment to dry hair, in sections as you would a hair dye, leave for around ten minutes before washing and styling as normal. Although there's no specific information on the ingredients or how they work (other than 'from the inside out' which is kind of inferred from the type of treatment!) they claim to 'eliminate frizz' without compromising your style, providing over a week's worth of smooth hair with practically no effort whatsoever. I may have been skeptical, but the results were somewhat surprising - my hair instantly felt a lot softer and smoother, plus after only a simple blowdry my style was practically perfect. I usually have to blowdry, style with a paddle brush and finish with straighteners, but I only needed a little touch-up to style the face-framing part of my hair, being left with an incredibly straight and smooth look that needed not much else; even after sleeping my hair remained pretty effortlessly smooth and straight, rather than the awful bedhead mess I'm usually left with the morning after. 

Two washes in and I'm still benefiting from a straighter and smoother style, but without the lankness or lack of movement many other treatments leave me with; the only downside is that when I curl my hair I do need a significant amount of hairspray to keep it that way all day, as otherwise my hair will practically be straight within a few hours. A small price to pay if you're concerned with frizz or just wish your barnet would behave itself for longer than an afternoon. It's worth noting that I do have very thin hair that's not excessively coarse or frizzy, meaning I probably have the optimum texture and style for this to work effectively; although I've no doubt it would still help to reduce frizz and provide a smoother finish on coarser and curlier hair types, I'm not convinced it would produce the same results as I experienced. (A lot of the negative reviews online are from those with super curly or frizzy hair, and I just don't think a one-use ten minute treatment that costs £12.99 is going to be able to help!) Similarly, if you're washing your hair every day and trugging it in the gym, I've no doubt the results won't last as long - but for me (who washes her hair about three times a week and ties it back to work on my bike every morning,) the results have been pretty long-lasting. I wouldn't recommend that you use this continually, but reaching to it when you need your hair to look better for longer is definitely a good idea - especially as we step towards wedding, garden party and holiday season. Each bottle provides about two full treatments on my hair, but it's worth noting that the thicker your style the more you'll need. An affordable, annoyingly effective and easy to use treatment that's well worth dabbling in if frizz is your enemy.

The John Frieda 10 Day Tamer Pre-Wash Treatment is available now, priced £12.99.