Fab or flub? No way to gloss over John Frieda hair product results

Do you dream of having glossy, shiny hair? Then a hair gloss treatment might be just the thing for you.

Designed to take hair from dull to radiant, hair gloss treatments are intended to add shine and tame pesky flyaways. While such treatments are available in most hair salons, several haircare brands are also offering at-home versions — at much cheaper prices.

A version I’ve read positive things about is John Frieda’s Luminous Glaze Clear Shine Gloss ($9.99 at Ulta). It is marketed as being suitable for all hair types (normal, highlighted or color-treated) and giving hair a clear, dazzling shine without changing its color or causing damage.

Given the options of using the gloss daily on wet hair or once a week on dry hair, I decided to incorporate the product into my shower routine to see what results it would yield.

First impression

When a product says it is free of ammonia, dye and peroxide, you don’t exactly expect it to reek of chemicals. So, you can color me surprised on this one because that’s the first thing that caught my attention when I opened the gloss and squeezed some onto my hand.

The smell was strong — much like that strong odor you would encounter in a hair salon when somebody nearby is getting a perm.

Beyond the unpleasant smell, the gloss is unremarkable. It has the look and consistency of a standard conditioner. It’s neither greasy nor heavy — which is great news for both thick- and thin-haired individuals who might worry about a product weighing down their hair.

Application was easy: After squeezing the excess moisture out of my hair, I applied the product from the root to the tips of my hair. From start to finish, this took about five minutes — including the three-minute leave-in period prior to rinsing.

Fab or flub?

Flub! Despite the promise of salon-quality shine, I failed to see any positive difference in my hair after using this John Frieda product.

In fact, it did not add any shine and even seemed to have an adverse effect on my locks. Every time I used the gloss, my hair became noticeably drier and frizzier.

In the end, I decided against using the full bottle for fear that the product was causing damage to my hair.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 1:06 PM with the headline "Fab or flub? No way to gloss over John Frieda hair product results."