| Product: |
Tigi Catwalk Thickening Conditioner |
| Date: |
05/03/08 (122 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Full of great ingredients for conditioning the hair, good size bottle,
Disadvantages: Instant effects not astounding, price, availability
For a long time I'd been sitting back reading review after review on Tigi haircare products. They have somewhat of a following and endless positive reviews. Trying them out had been on my to do list but as they are not available in the shops it was something I'd never quite got around to. Then recently I saw my opportunity and took it.
There I was on asos.com making a perfectly valid purchase (ie. One that I could actually give a genuine reason for buying to the boyfriend) of some sparkly tights for an upcoming night out. I searched and searched online for some sort of 'free postage' discount code but there was none to be found, so I did the only sensible thing possible. I decided that to make paying the postage worth while, I would order lots and lots of things. Girly logic, it's brilliant. Amongst the sale items were a few Tigi products so I decided this was my opportunity.
A thickening shampoo is perhaps something I wouldn't have chosen firstly, but it was reduced to £6 so I figured what the heck I'll give it a go and go for a 'big' hair style next time we go out (coincidentally I also used it along side Lush's 'Big' shampoo).
When my product arrived my first thought was wow that's big. The tube it comes in holds 200ml, which in my mind doesn't provide much of a clue to the size. I certainly expected it to be smaller than it was. It is in a squeezy tube, which makes getting the product out easy and it looks fine but the packaging isn't anything amazing on this one.
I tried to get a smell from flipping open the cap and having a sniff but no such luck. When I was actually applying the conditioner I did get a nice smell from it, although it's difficult to describe exactly what. The conditioner has a variety of fruit extracts in it so I imagine it's a mixture of those. The fragrance didn't linger on the hair however. Tigi describe it as being clean smelling but I don't think this is how I'd necessarily describe it. It's a tough one, but it does smell nice, you're just going to have to take my word for it. That said it's not one of those 'wow can't get enough of it' smells.
When it came to applying the conditioner was my second surprise. In the past conditioners I have used have all been of a creamy consistency, some thicker than others. This however was a gum like consistency. You could literally stretch it between your hands. It was really easy to apply evenly throughout the hair. On the bottle it says leave on for 1-2 minutes or for an extra treat for 3-5. I've since read on the internet it can be left on for up to 10 minutes. So basically, leave it on for as short or as long amount of time as you can. Generally speaking, I find the longer something is left on, the more good it does. I opted for 5 minutes as I was in a bit of a rush to get ready to go out and I was just stood around in the shower, one eye on the clock, waiting for the 5 minutes to go. Don't those 5 minutes feel like the longest 5 minutes ever.
The product rinsed out easily and left my hair feeling quite nice, although there was a few tangles in it. Nothing too extreme, my hair wasn't really knotted up or anything, there was just a few but still, I've found with good conditioners usually there are no tangles in my hair whatsoever.
Drying the hair was easy, as was brushing it. This conditioner is supposed to leave hair looking and feeling soft, thick, full and healthy. The result? Well my hair did look nice and healthy, it was definitely a good result, but I wasn't amazed. It wasn't in my opinion particularly fuller or thicker, maybe a little, and I didn't find it to be particularly any softer. There wasn't anything wrong with the result, my hair did look nice, but it hadn't exactly fully lived up to its claims. This conditioner is supposed to leave hair looking and feeling soft, thick, full and healthy.
It is apparently a heat activated conditioner packed full of essential oils, panthenol, wheat amino acids, moisturiser and fruit extracts. The list of useful ingredients is impressive and it must be doing your hair good which I really like. It may be one of those products that actually work better if used regularly over time, as it improves the condition of your hair and therefore makes it healthier and softer. However, with its lack of availability and price tag, using this as my every day conditioner can't be an option for me so it was meant for just using on special events. I'll still be happy to do so, the results were good, but just not as big a difference from my usual products as I had hoped for.
I think if you are after instant results, then this is perhaps not the product to use but trying to remember this is a conditioner, then it does exactly that - it conditions the hair and I really do think used regularly the condition of your hair would improve greatly.
It has Panthenol is a conditioning form of pro-vitamin B5 which binds to hair follicles and seals them, lubricating the hair and leaving it looking shiny. It is absorbed quickly and provides moisture control to the hair and it is a natural constituent of healthy hair. It also contains Wheat Amino Acids which easily penetrate the hair shaft and bind to the inner fibres and it helps the hair retain moisture and gives the hair shine and gloss, and improves the overall appearance of dull, damaged hair.
The product also contains fruit extracts from Kiwi, Lemon Peel, Rasberry and Orange Peel which not only give the product it's lovely smell but also delivers a whole host of benefits to the hair. Kiwi helps retain moisture and prevent the hair becoming dry, Lemon Peel removes dulling residues and moisturises, Rasberry makes hair soft and shiny and Orange Peel is very rich in natural elements and moisturises the hair.
As well as this lovely cocktail of fruit extracts the conditioner contains Evening Primrose which helps keep hair healthy, and improves circulation which can help prevent hair loss which would of course result in thicker looking hair.
This is a really nice conditioner, and it clearly does a lot of good for the hair. If it was cheaper and more widely available I would probably use this regularly. However as a one off quick fix for nights out although it does leave the hair looking great, there are cheaper alternatives available that would work just as well for that job. As it is I will probably use my bottle up by leaving it on for 10 minutes once a week as a deep conditioning mask treatment.
I bought mine on sale on asos.com for £6 but the average price for it is around £10 although a bigger bottle (750ml as opposed to 250ml) is available for around £20 so if you were going to use this regularly it would work out better value. You do get a lot for your money but for me I don't love it enough to justify spending so much on it. It is only available on the internet or in salons which is another down point.
Over all it is without a doubt a good conditioner, but just one that didn't quite make me fall head over heels for it.
Summary: I'll be more than happy to use it up but probably won't buy again
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