Hair That Shines Like the Sun... Almost! (Timotei Henna Copper Radiance Shampoo)

Member Name: coolcam7

Product:	Timotei Henna Copper Radiance Shampoo
Date:	05/07/04 (910 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheap, nice shampoo but...

Disadvantages: no noticeable effect on hair

Shampoos specifically designed for brunette hair are not new. Boots and Superdrug have both had their own range of shampoos and conditioners for specific hair colours for years but it seems that the brand names have only recently caught on.

John Freida?s range for blondes has been around for a while but there haven?t been very many products on the high street for brunettes. John Frieda recently launched ?Brilliant Brunette? and Timotei now have ?Henna Copper Radiance?, you might have seen the adverts on bus shelters or in magazines, so I thought I?d investigate these further. At first I was intrigued as to what a shampoo specifically for brunette hair was actually supposed to do, how would it be any better than a normal shampoo? I have to admit I was sceptical for the start, seeing as though my hair colour is natural rather than dyed I wasn?t sure exactly how they would have any effect.

When I saw the price of the John Frieda?s Brilliant Brunette I decided that if I would not be buying it; nearing £10 altogether for a bottle of shampoo and conditioner would simply not be practical on my current budget. In my nearest town Boots and Superdrug happen to be opposite each other which makes for very convenient price comparison so I decided to check out Timotei?s Henna Copper Radiance. It happened to be buy one get one free in Superdrug so I thought I may as well try it seeing as though I could get the shampoo and conditioner both for £1.99. The bottles are both 300ml as well which is fairly generous.

*The Packaging*

The bottle is easy to spot on the shelf as it is a copper colour with a slightly darker lid. The front states the name of the product above which it has ?New Shine Highlights?. There is a design which looks like a henna tattoo
next to some reddish powder which I presume is the henna extract. The front proclaims ?Natural Shine? and is for natural or coloured mid brown to dark brown hair. On the back are the claims, and the usual address, ingredients and directions.

*The Product*

The shampoo is a light brown colour with tiny pieces of what looks like glitter in it. I presume that it?s not glitter but perhaps the promised henna extract, which gives the shampoo a shimmery appearance. The smell is particularly hard to describe, it doesn?t smell earthy like the Body Shop?s range of henna products but there?s a whiff of something more chemically, which perhaps is an attempt to recreate the smell of henna. The smell isn?t too strong which is good because I don?t like it; it?s just so artificial. The product is quite thick, it?s certainly not a runny shampoo but it?s about right for producing a good lather.

*The Claims*

Tinotei claim that the shampoo creates ?silky, shiny hair with natural highlights and warm copper radiance?. They also say that 81% of women have perceived highlights in their hair after product usage. However the test was only carried on 203 women which to me seems like a rather small sample for them to be making such bold claims; I?ll leave that for you to decide.

*The Result*

The shampoo certainly lathers well. It is a little thicker than average so I used a bit less than normal but it still produced a thick lather, and a lot of it! It actually smells quite pleasant when you wash your hair with it too. I repeated the wash as directed and followed with the matching conditioner, which of course they always recommend.

After drying my hair it felt very soft and actually smelt nice too. It felt clean and hadn?t been weighed down at all like some shampoos. This was all very well apart from one thing
, where was the promised shine? Most shampoos do actually make my hair shiny but this one seemed to have had the opposite effect which seems rather bizarre seeing as though this is one of the things it advertised. As for the highlights, I?m really not sure. I have naturally dark brown hair with a few naturally lighter coloured areas where the sun lightens my hair and these bits did seem a bit lighter but this could have just been my imagination. Nobody commented that anything was different about my hair so any effect it did have must have been very subtle or simply in my imagination. I know for sure that my hair wasn?t shiny though.

*The Verdict*

I?m undecided about this really, I?ve used it several times now and I can?t say it?s had any effect really. It does leave hair clean and soft but it doesn?t fulfil its claims at least not on my hair anyway. Perhaps I?m one of the 19% of women whose hair this has no effect on, or perhaps I?m one of the 81% who had ?perceived? highlights in my hair as I struggled to assess the effect it had had and seek out highlights.

If you?re looking for something which enhances brunette hair in some way then this probably isn?t for you. I haven?t given up though and I may try John Frieda?s Brilliant Brunette range when I?ve got a bit of spare cash. It is a nice shampoo though, apart from the fact that most shampoos manage to make my hair shiny and this does not.

I won?t be buying this again but I don?t resent the £1.99 I spent on both the shampoo and conditioner because a pound per 300ml bottle is actually very cheap. I also wanted to see if these colour enhancing shampoos work. I?m not recommending it, not because it?s not a good shampoo but because it didn?t live up to it?s claims, I wouldn?t have minded about having no highlights but it could at least make my hair shiny; that?s
hardly asking too much seeing as though almost every other shampoo can.

I?d be interested to know if anyone else has tried this and the effect it has had on their hair.

Thanks for reading!

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