Weather proof your hair; wind, rain or shine! (John Frieda Weather Works Style Sealant Creme)

Member Name: missixty

Product:	John Frieda Weather Works Style Sealant Creme
Date:	14/08/08 (218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works! It does everything it promises to do better than you would expect

Disadvantages: None

I'm going to ask a stupid question to start this review. Who likes trying out new hair products? Everyone!! (Okay not you men, but you don't count!) Now for an even more stupid question, who would like to try out these things for free??

I'm not joking, there is a website out there that allows you to do this, and I excitedly stumbled across it last week. I couldn't believe that I hadn't known about it before, and that some of the products on there looked pretty good. I couldn't believe it any more when the following day my samples arrived in a pretty pink parcel through my letter box!

Now let's not get TOO excited, these are just samples. I won't go on too much about the site, but obviously some things are going to be better size samples than others. For example mascaras, fragrances etc are going to be better than cream type products, which are essentially just a sachet.

Not to complain though, my sachet of this was enough for one use, those with shorter or finer hair may get two or three out of it. I was excited to try it out as I'd read some positive things about it and because it's quite new. I was also excited to try it because my hair needs weather proofing - on holiday it has to fight humidity, back home it has to fight wind and rain. Day in, day out, my hair faces battle after battle. The poor little locks! I was excited to try it because I have a love hate relationship with John Freida (not the man personally) and this would give me the opportunity to see if it was worth buying the full sized product. Well, that's the whole point I guess! Lastly I was excited to try it as it meant I could review it, which means I can help you guys make an informed decision, and I can make a (okay, teeny tiny) profit which will no doubt be used to buy more products "need" and can review them. Everyone's a winner.

The product is a cream, much like a blow dry cream of any kind really. There's nothing about it when applying that screams out that it's different than anything else. It's white, it smells like a lot of none too exciting smelling products, sort of a subtle creamy smell (think Tresemme Conditioner, Anatomicals The Sleek Shall Inherit the Earth conditioner etc) and well, I don't know, it's best described as just very normal looking, smelling, and feeling.

I'm not going to say it made my hair easier to blow dry or anything like that, as to be honest my hair is never easy to blow dry. You try drying hair this long. When it was dry it felt soft, relatively tangle free and touchable.

I applied a little more onto dry hair before straightening. The result was hair that looked full bodied and shiny in a natural healthy way, not in a sleek gloss way. The style seemed to be held well but in a very natural "no hold" looking way. It's hard to explain as the product had great hold but it just didn't look like it was being held, it looked like your hair was just behaving and doing as it was told for once in it's life!

After several hours, and no other styling products having been near my hair, it is still held exactly as it was when I first styled it.

What I find strange about this is I have a disobedient fringe. Honestly. I have found ways to cope with it but I do find myself a lot of the time having to push it repeatedly where it's supposed to be, which leads to it getting greasy quickly. I didn't have to do this once in the hours after I'd done my hair, it just stayed put exactly as it was. It's worth mentioning I was in doors, it hadn't taken a battering from the wind and rain or anything, but even so, I was impressed it had behaved so well, it's very rare for it too, and it's unheard of without numerous styling products.

The fact of it was, my style had held. My fringe was how it should be, my hair was still as straight as when I straightened it, again quite rare without hairspray etc, everything looked just done.

I was sat here, pleased, very pleased with the results but thinking, how can I write a review on Weather Works, if my hair isn't exposed to any weather. Unfortunately for you, even more unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to expose myself to any humidity. Sigh. It will be over a year before I can, so you'll be a long time waiting for that update. However as I'm sat here thinking this, the one thing that is guaranteed to happen every single day in Manchester, in the winter or summer happens - it's rains and when it rains, my gosh, it pours. Now normally, after the quite frankly, hell, that is drying and straightening my hair (theres so much of it it takes forever), I would not go to these extremes for the sake of a review. I would normally wait, use the product for a while, and then after the inevitable (ie rain) has happened, THEN report back on it. As I don't have a full bottle of this stuff though I take my chance, and go and stand outside my front door, in my socks, in the pouring rain. I try to ignore the points and stares from the neighbours. I hope they don't try to get me sectioned. I'm reviewing for gods sake!!

After a minute or two, I go in, as there are seriously people staring at me. As well as this it's raining hard, and I figure that this cream may be good, but if my hair get's completely sopping wet, it's going to take more than a cream to help it. So with damp-ish hair I go back in and go and look upstairs. It looks exactly as it did before. It's not frizzed, it's still straight, it's still perfectly in place. It dries off, and looks exactly as it did before I had gone out. What more can I ask for than that out of a styling cream? I am, well and truly impressed!

It's strange with John Freida as some of their products are just amazing, and some are utter cack. I absolutely LOVE their Brilliant Brunette hairspray - it's another thing that will get you through the day wind rain or shine (okay, shine is unlikely around here) with every hair still in place. I couldn't live without my Frizz Ease serum, it's the only serum I've tried that doesn't have the option of greasy hair/not shiny hair, it gets the balance perfect. I love their Glossing Spray - better than any shine spray out there! I love these. And yet I hate their Luminous Colour Glaze product perhaps more than anything I've ever bought. This however is in their great category, and I will without a doubt be buying this. As a blow dry cream it is better than anything else I've used, and it keeps the hair looking exactly as you've styled it. If I wanted a more shiny look, I would add Glossing Spray when finished but this is definitely a great product. I absolutely love it!

By night, my fringe is not held in place so well, it's separating, for those who have side fringes you'll know what I mean. For long wearing perhaps some wax, gum or hairspray would be needed. The rest of my hair however still looks great.

I have to tie my hair up at night as it is so long that if I have it down it gets trapped under me etc when I'm turning over and I end up waking myself up in pain all night. I didn't have a bobble with me at the fellas, and all I had was a big claw grip thingy (I'm pretty sure that's not their technical name) so I twisted my hair up on top of my head and secured it there.

The next morning I let it down and brushed it and was astounded, especially given last night, that after a brush, my fringe was like it was newly styled again, perfectly in place. My hair had remained largely straight, non greasy and looking almost as it had before. There were a few parts that seemed to have "set" in the way I'd had it over night, ie bent in the middle from being put up, and needed a quick once over with the straighteners but all in all I was very very impressed.

It works so well because it prevents static by sealing it out and neutralizing it, which helps hair stay smooth, in place, and with no fly aways. It also blocks out humidity and moisture which help prevent a case of frizz and unwanted waves. It seals split ends, which help give that natural healthy look I was saying about and at the same time it provides a natural hold, which I can definitely vouch for. I've heard this "natural hold" thing time and time again on various products, but this is the only one I feel is truly worthy of the phrase. It also contains "a complex of polymers and silicones to smooth hair and maintain your hair", I've no idea what or how that works, but I can tell you it definitely does. It delivers on all it's promises.

I had said on my review of Lee Staffords Dehumidifier Spray that I would be happy using that until something better came along. I can safely say this is it. Okay, so I've not used it in humid conditions yet, but I'm so impressed, next time I go away (keep dreaming) I'll be definitely packing this instead.

I think this is around £6 for a 120ml bottle, although I can't actually find that anywhere to double check on the net but I'm sure that's what price I saw it at in Sainsbury's. I will definitely be buying some as soon as I can afford to, ad this will become an every day (okay who am I kidding I don't wash my hair everyday) staple.

Summary: Don't you just love it when you find a product that actually delivers on it's promises??