For the girls only (Lee Stafford Poker Straight)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Lee Stafford Poker Straight
Date:	05/11/06 (720 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smell is gorgeous when it settles, shiny sleek hair

Disadvantages: Smell is overpowering at first

I don't straighten my hair that often, but when I do I like to think that I'm making at least some effort to save my hair from that 210 degree GHD heat! I wasn't willing to pay salon prices for something I don't use that often so Boots was the obvious choice, and Lee Stafford's bright pink range was eye catching enough to convince me it was worth a try.


LEE STAFFORD POKER STRAIGHT FLAT IRON PROTECTION MIST

Matching the rest of the poker straight range this stuff's presented in a funky fashionable pink clear bottle containing the magic liquidy potion (which just looks like water really). It's not a huge advantage for me but this spray is in a pump bottle rather than an aerosol - pretty good for those environmentally-minded girls :o) There's a protection cap on the top to stop it pressing down when you don't want it to, which is good but easily lost.

It depends on how I'm drying my hair as to how I use this. If I'm leaving it to air dry then I'll spray a good amount on all parts of my hair when it's slightly damp, and if I'm blow drying then I'll apply it in the same way just before drying. One thing I have to bear in mind before spraying this stuff is what I'm going to do after I've applied it - I say this because makes the room smell SO alcoholic that it always makes me choke and I have to air the vicinity! So a bathroom with an extractor fan is a good plan....the scent left on your hair is absolutely delicious but it's over overpowering in a whole room of it. For the scent think Tigi Bed Head, fruitiness, girly pink smells, sherbet, Britney Spears' fragrance Curious and you're just about there! One disadvantage of the scent I guess is that most blokes wouldn't want their secretly ironed locks smelling of girly stuff so they wouldn't want to buy this.

Once applied it dries relatively quickly (very quickly if blow dried) and it's ready for some hot iron action. It doesn't really leave any discernable texture to your hair if you've let it air dry - if you've blow dried and styled your hair with a brush then it's actually a very effective shine spray because it makes your hair look very healthy. I always brush my hair through to remove any knots before straightening my hair, and then proceed to straighten it using a comb. What I like most about this spray is that it doesn't add any weight to your hair, so it doesn't bring any unnecessary flatness to your hair (that's the last thing you want when you're straightening it!) It's not greasy in any way and I would say much of it evaporates from your hair to leave a very light layer of whatever creates the super shiny effect.

I find that straightening my hair naturally makes it look more shiny, but using this as well as straightening makes my hair look really healthy and well conditioned. Again, on the plus side, it doesn't make my hair feel greasy or dirty any quicker than usual which is the main advantage for me as I want my straight hair to last a few days if I have gone to the bother of damaging my hair with the irons! The scent could be considered great, or annoying. I personally love it and find that it lingers around smelling really good for the whole time I'm wearing it (normally 2 days) so I can skip wearing perfume on those days. For anyone who didn't like hair products interfering with perfumes that could be a reason not to buy it.

I suppose being marketed as a 'Protection' mist I should comment on its protective qualities for my hair. I think that whatever you use on your hair, if you straighten it too often and don't get it cut often enough, it will get broken and split ends. If you moderate your use of irons and get cuts a few times a year you should be okay. I find that using this gives me a bit of peace of mind that I'm at least doing something to stop the irons frying my hair. It's hard to say whether I would have more split ends without using this, but judging on how my hair feels when I don't use the spray I would say it is at least quite effective, if not very effective at limiting damage, which is why I've repurchased it (I buy quite a few beauty products but rarely find them good enough to buy them twice).

A bottle of this will cost you £4.99 for a 200ml bottle from Boots. As far as I know Lee Stafford's range is exclusive to Boots and you can often catch his range in a 3 for 2 offer - in which case you're lucky because the shampoo/conditioner combination in this range is good too. I think this spray is reasonably priced depending on your length of hair and how often you use your irons. I suppose mine lasts me probably about 15 uses on long hair but I use a fair amount of it and to me that's good value for money as I don't use irons often so I only buy it once in a while.

If you have similar hair to mine - medium thickness, sleek and long, you'll not want your hair to go flat when straightening so this could be the right protection spray for you. The only reason I could see for me not buying this again would be if I got sick of the scent.

Summary: Amazingly scented shine spray good for protection from occasional use of hair irons