No Friend Of Mine! (Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Easy Comb Conditioner)

Member Name: mizzame

Product:	Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Easy Comb Conditioner
Date:	02/05/03 (339 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Travel Size, Looks good on bathroom shelf

Disadvantages: Smelss like furniture polish, Doesn't work

My hair is a bit of an obsession as is cutting back my outgoings so recently I have been trying out lots of high street hair shampoos and conditioners. I stumbled across this Umberto Gianni Curl Friends Conditioner by accident. I work in the music industry and travel quite a bit whilst some of the artists are on tour so tend to live out of a suitcase for so many days each week. I was in Glasgow last month for a rather important show. I wanted to look my best but on getting to my hotel realised I'd forgotten amongst other necessities my shampoo and conditioner. Luckily I was in the city centre and trotted off to Boots.

I'll be honest I do always steer towards the higher end of the cosmetic market, you tend to get what you pay for but recently I've been looking at ways on using chemist cosmetics rather than the luxurious, department store leading brands to help save a bob or two.

On getting to the haircare aisle in Boots I am attracted to the large selection of travel size items, perfect for someone like me who travels regularly but likes to travel as light as possible. There were quite a few to choose from but I opt for the Umberto Giannini range. Why? The packaging is luxurious, the price seems reasonable but most importantly the description on the front of the tube describes exactly what my hair at this moment in time requires:

'Curl Friends Easy Comb Super Rich Conditioner - for the glossiest, frizz-free curls and waves'

I'm sold. At £1.49 for a 50ml miniature tube if this stuff lives up to it's description it'll be cheap at half the price.

Back at my hotel, hair washed and ready for the conditioner I grab the tube and squeeze. Problem number 1: The tube is identical to a small toothpaste tube so the thick cream has difficulty getting out. I have long shoulder length, thick curls so getting enough conditioner from the tube is a little time consuming. The conditioner itself is thick b
ut not silky nor creamy as with most conditioners and I found that I needed loads of this stuff to have my hair evenly covered. The smell of the conditioner resembles furniture polish, but in the quest for (as the bottle states) 'glossy, frizz-free curls' I continue.

After working the conditioner through my locks for around 5 minutes (which you should do with most conditioners in hair of my length and type) I start rinsing. The product is removed easily with warm water but after rinsing my hair is in no better state than when I started!

My hair feels unconditioned. I might have well just shampooed it, saved my £1.49 and not bothered! Disappointed and with my hair still tangled and dry feeling I opt for a ponytail. Get dressed and go off and enjoy my show, self conscious I should add that my hair looks and feels like shit!

So there you have it. My experience of Umberto Giannini's Curl Friends Conditioner. I can tell ya' he's no friend of mine, nor my hair! The pretty, half empty tube still nests in my bathroom but I think it's be better off in my bin. I wont be using this product again and I certainly wouldn't recommend it - it was useless.

One final note the tube does boast that Umberto Giannini is an 'Award Winning British Hairdresser' well I bet he never uses this rubbish on his clients heads - they'd run a mile!


Umberto Giannini Hair Cosmetics
53 Beauchamp Place
London
SW3 1NY
07000 862 3786

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