My husband likes to save money as and where he can. Unfortunately sometimes he will forego my usual luxury items which I like to budget for on a monthly basis opting to buy cheaper alternatives which he tends to feel quite smug about when he goes to the supermarket hence I don't tend to let him go unaccompanied very often. One such occasion was when I recently ran out of conditioner as I unfortunately had to go to work I reluctantly asked him to pick up a few items from Sainsbury including a bottle of my usual conditioning treatment. I returned home and browsed through the items that he had purchased. Nowhere to be seen was my usual brand of conditioner and I have to say I was horrified to discover that he had purchased the most cheap and nasty looking bottle that I had ever set eyes on. I have to say I was less than pleased however short of going to my neighbour and borrowing some of hers I had no choice other than to use the item that he had purchased. To give it its full title Sainsbury's Basics Conditioner.

My husband told me with a rather large grin on his face that they didn't have my regular conditioner in stock so he decided to buy this product instead. I couldn't believe it when he also told me that it had set him back a mere 25p!!! The packaging was a bottle made of quite thick frosted plastic and I remember thinking to myself that the bottle alone must have cost at least 25p to manufacture. Anyway I digress the conditioner itself can be seen through the packaging a sort of pastel peach colour which on first inspection appears to be quite thick. Refreshingly it contains 500ml of conditioner which is filled right to the top of the bottle. So often you buy shampoo and conditioning products which seem to only half fill a container making you wonder how the manufacturers can justify their expensive price tags. As this is a no added frills product there is an extremely simple label on the front of the item in the traditional Sainsbury's basics bright orange and white. It simply states what is contained within the product and that is about it. There is a chunky white plastic removable screw-top which is extremely easy to open.

I shampooed my hair in the normal way and opened my bottle of conditioner. Not an easy task with slippy wet hands I much prefer the ease of flip-top lids. To my surprise I was greeted with a rather pleasant fragrance which reminded me of summer fruits. Peaches and nectarines with a hint of citrus. The frosted plastic bottle hid the true colour of the conditioner well which turned out to be an almost luminous orange. The product inside had a rather runny consistency and as I poured it onto my hands I ended up tipping out far more than I would have liked to. I spread the conditioner over my hair as evenly as I could and then massaged it in from roots to tips. It felt quite nice and I was amazed that it made my hair feel quite soft and light. The fragrance of the product was quite strong and lingered suitably while I left it on for a few minutes before rinsing. I was so surprised at how nice it left my hair feeling. Once dried I was most pleased with the results my hair like an advert cliché was soft shiny and manageable and smelling great. It just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover and that cheap doesn't necessary mean nasty. Overall I was very pleasantly surprised and will put my once snobbish views of conditioners to one side. I will certainly have no objections in using this product again and have apologised to my poor husband because actually he did good. The only downside to this conditioner is its very runny consistency however for a mere 25p this can be overlooked. Recommended 4 stars.

I was also surprised that Sainsbury's offer a full money back guarantee with this product in that if you are not entirely satisfied you can take it into store with your receipt and they will either exchange it or refund the selling price.

www.sainsburys.co.uk