I got this way back for as a gift to myself for my birthday. As a hair junkie I was itching to try this because this is super popular and highly-rated in the US, so I really wanted to see what all the fuss is about. Much like the here more familiar Uniq One, it promises to do everything apart from iron your shirts and I must admit I'm always very apprehensive about such products, but rave reviews got to me. I have to say that my gut was right one more time, but it at least does the basic thing I expected from it and that is protect from heat.
The texture was a surprise to me. I expected a regular liquid leave-in, much like Sexy Healthy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-in Conditioner simply because it's a spray, but this one is kind of a mix of a light lotion and an almost mousse texture. It's still easy to spray on the hair, despite the thicker-than-usual texture for a spray pump. You can also spray it into your palm and apply it that way if you wish to. It smells pleasant, but I can't describe the scent well other than it's one of those hair salon ones.
Moving on to the promises, I was most looking forward to the promise of reducing frizz, but there are nine more. Let's go through them one by one:
1. Repairs dry, damaged hair - honestly it's way too light to really help with the dryness. It's nothing like Kérastase Nectar Thermique, but I guess it should help with moderate dryness.
2. Adds shine - I don't know, I guess so. My hair is very dark, so it obviously has plenty of shine on its own. Blondes could tell you more at this point.
3. Detangles - my hair isn't that tangly, but I haven't noticed a massive difference when using this. The conditioner does the job of making the hair easier to comb anyway.
4. Controls frizz - much to my disappointment no. Sebastian Professional Potion 9 is still the best for this job.
5. Seals and protects hair colour - I don't dye my hair, so I don't know about this.
6. Prevents split ends - I haven't noticed a reduction in split ends or breakage. So no, it doesn't work.
7. Stops hair breakage - As I said above, no.
8. Creates silkiness - my hair is naturally never silky because it's so thick and this makes it a bit silkier, but not a lot compared to Kérastase Nutritive line.
9. Enhances natural body - I have plenty of natural volume, but this doesn't give me more body like for example got2b Volumania Mousse or Kérastase Forme Fatale.
10. Flat iron spray and thermal protector - yes and that's actually the only thing I'd categorize this as - a classic, light heat protector. It's doesn't weight down the hair, it does its job and that it. Nothing fancy about it.
So was it worth tracking down? I wasn't blown away by it. The rave about it is huge, but for me this is just a standard, light heat protection. I do like it, don't get me wrong, I actually like having such easy products, but there are so many other ones that do that bit more for my hair. I haven't tried Uniq One to compare the two, but I imagine they are very similar. Both filled with promises that mostly fail to deliver, but if they described the product more modestly and state what it actually is, I'd be a lot more pleased.
If you live in a place where this is readily available and don't mind paying 18 $ for a nice heat protection spray, then go for it. But for us who need to track it down on places like eBay, I don't think it's worth the trouble.
I got it on eBay for 13.33 € without shipping, which was obviously high.
Have a great day!