**Introduction and reason for purchase**
I do love my 'premium' beauty products for pampering - who doesn't - and as regular readers of my reviews will be aware I love the french beauty company Yves Rocher. I like to order from them when I can, which is realistically every 4 months on average but the rest of the time I use a vast array of other branded products and in particular I'm a fan of Superdrug's own brand. A few weeks ago whilst I was shopping in my local store, which is conveniently just a 7 minute walk from my home, I spotted their own branded shampoos and conditioners at £1.49 each or any 2 for £2 which I deemed to be a complete bargain. I bought a shampoo and the matching conditioner in the Raspberry & Macadamia Nut fragrance as it promised to 'Smooth and adds intense shine and is ideal for coloured hair' - this sounded ideal as I colour my hair so was eager to try it out.

This particular review will discuss my use of the conditioner.

**Price, packaging & availability**
As I've mentioned in the opening paragraphs this conditioner was available to buy costing either £1.49 or any two products (either shampoo or conditioner) for just £2 and as the conditioner holds a reasonable 250ml of product then I thought this seemed very good value indeed. Although I bought the shampoo as well I was eager to test the conditioner in particular as my shoulder length hair has recently felt dry and has been more tangled than usual so I wanted to see if this would help soften my hair as well as smooth and shine as promised.

What caught my eye, apart from the generous price, was the fact that the packaging is an attractive cylindrical shape which is not only transparent so the conditioner can be clearly viewed but also to access the product there is the easy option of a pump dispenser which features a long and thin nozzle. I liked the look of this feature immediately as the conditioner itself appears to be very thick in consistency judging by it's appearance whilst still in the bottle and I thought it would make application so much easier this way.

The rounded bottle features a large black sticker which takes over the majority of he packaging and has quite a classy look to it for such a 'cheap' bargain product with an image of raspberries and macadamia nuts snuggled neatly underneath the bold white font of the logo. The bottle is recyclable whilst the product is suitable for both vegetarians and vegans being BUAV approved. The company also claim that if you're not 100% happy with your 'own brand' purchase then they will give you a full refund and 25% off of your next own brand purchase so it really is a win win with this product.

As this is a Superdrug own brand product it is available in all Superdrug stores as well as from their website @www.superdrug.com but there is normally a P&P charge unless a minimum amount is spent so it's worth bearing this in mind.


**My experience of using this conditioner**
I really liked the sound of this conditioner (and it's matching shampoo) and even though it has the pump dispenser nozzle for easy application I couldn't resist unscrewing this and the adjoining cap to see what the fragrance was truly like. The scent is heavenly - rich and fruity with a hint of nuttiness and if the smell was anything to go by then I knew I would love the product..or hoped at least.

The colour is a pale shimmery pink with an obvious iridescent glimmer to it, whilst the consistency appears to be thinner 'in the flesh' than how it looks whilst still encased in the bottle. The texture is generic being creamy and almost greasy like whilst the fragrance is very appealing with it's sweet raspberry notes which have a slight tang and the undertones of the macadamia nut.

On washing my hair with my regular shampoo I applied a 'generous amount' of the conditioner to my hair as advised by the blurb on the back of the packaging. I found 4 presses of the nozzle gave the adequate amount required for my shoulder length hair and whilst I concentrated on apply to the tips I also smoothed the product all over my hair just staying slightly clear of the roots then finishing off by combing through the remainder with a wide toothed plastic comb for maximum conditioning effects.

The conditioner states to leave on the hair for anything from 1 to 5 minutes and I thought I would try the maximum amount f time given the dry and sorry state my hair seems to be in at the moment.


**Results and recommendations**
I found the conditioner to be easy to apply to my hair and because of the even consistency it dispersed well and literally felt like it melted into my hair whilst I was waiting to rinse it off. The actual rinsing was quick and immediate and literally within seconds the water seemed to run clear indicating that the product had been removed. The fragrance was just as rich and intense whilst rinsing as it had been whilst applying and I hoped the aroma would linger on my hair once dry and styled.

Once I'd finished rinsing the conditioner away completely however my hair felt less soft and had a slight knotted feel to whilst still wet which wasn't a good sign but I persevered to see how it would feel once I'd dried it.

I was very careful towel drying it as it felt knotted enough so I literally sponged the excess water off before combing through once again with a wide toothed comb. It didn't feel at it's best but I just hoped it would feel different once dry and proceeded to blow dry and style in my usual manner.

Once my hair was dry it did feel softer though lacked that 'finesse' you get from the likes of Aussie or Tresemme, but for the money I paid I found it to be adequate. It left my hair feeling soft yes, but not as soft as other products have done, and whilst still wet it seemed to become extremely knotted and difficult to untangle which I found both annoying and uncomfortable.

Once styled my hair had a nice bounce to it but I can't say it particularly had shine, let alone intense shine, and there were quite a few flyaway hairs so it didn't seem to smooth as promised.

I loved the fragrance of this product though and I'm pleased to say that it penetrated into the hair follicles enough to linger well into the next day. My hair may not as been as soft and shiny as I'd perhaps hoped but for the equivalent of £1 then I can't complain to much. I've used this since on several occasions with both the matching shampoo and different branded shampoos and it's given the same results each time. My husband and children have all tried this despite none of them colouring their hair and have all said how lovely and soft it felt afterwards so perhaps my hair is simply in need of something a little bit more intensive so I wont hold it against Superdrug.

This is a beautifully scented conditioner that does add some moisture, but I suppose it all depends on what degree of hydration you are after as it didn't offer too much to my coloured hair but as a cheap 'make do' product it's not bad and I've used far worse in the past.

Gets a respectable 4/5 due to the fact my hair felt softer once dry and the fragrance lingers for quite a while afterwards though it lacked in shine and I didn't feel like I'd just stepped out of a salon unfortunately..