I was a great fan of John Frieda's Beach Blonde gel which they discontinued a few years back, it gave great highlights and was really quick and easy to use. Can't believe they stopped making it. I have tried some alternatives but none have produced such good results.

They have just bought out John Frieda Lightening Spray in 100ml spray bottles, priced at £6.99 in Boots but it is available in most larger supermarkets and Superdrug.

I was anxious to try it and see if would deliver the same results and provide 'cheap' and effective highlights. I have thick, short, dark blonde hair which highlights easily if I was to spend a month in the Caribbean! Since I'm not going to the Caribbean anytime soon I have to resort to something else.

The directions are on the box, and also written really small on the bottle. I would recommend either keeping the box or making sure you have read it properly as the directions on the bottle are brief. The box also shows photos of before and after, and different ways the spray can be used to achieve highlights e.g all over, or strands, or touching up roots. You need to spray on to towel dried hair, and apply heat in the form of a hairdryer, tongs, straighteners etc. The more heat you apply the better the results. Results show in 3-5 uses. So it's not going to be a quick fix, but I guess it is more natural if you were to gradually get highlights.

The first time I used it I washed my hair, towel dried and sprayed all over, and dried I couldn't really see much of a result. I was hoping for a quickish result, and although I usual wash my hair every 2-3 days, the following evening I just conditioned it - (not wanting to dry it out too much either with the peroxide!), applied the spray and blow dried, again still not really noticeable. I am now on my third application, and there isn't a dramatic difference, but the colour has slightly lightened up a bit but it is subtle. I have only used a hairdryer though and not yet used straighteners, which would get the hair hotter. I am slightly concerned about frazzling my hair with heat and peroxide, although apparently the product does contain thermoprotectant. My hair feels fine after using it, but I am conscious to use more conditioner than I normally would and leave it to soak in for longer.

The spray nossle is a standard spray nossle, so if you wanted to achieve specific strands of highlights it would be tricky to achieve this neatly without applying to a gloved hand and applying directly to the strands. Likewise I'm not sure how easily roots could be touched up.The bottle is quite small, and if you have long hair I don't think the product would go very far.

So far I haven't found John Frieda Lightening Spray to be as good as the previous Beach Blonde Gel, but I will perserve and see if the result gets any better.