FISHing for Compliments...

... Oh dear. In my quest to try and come up with interesting post titles, I appear to have reached a new low.

Thanks for sticking with me (if you have). It's much appreciated.

Anyway. As regular readers will be aware, I am often approached by PR companies, offering samples to try. Often when said products turn up (or in my case my postman gives me a "red card", and I drive three miles to the post office to pick it up) there are often extra products I wasn't expecting. 

So this (long winded and frankly dull tale) is how I came into contact with a couple of items from the FISH haircare line. 

So, apparently FISH is one of those ever-so-cool Soho hair salons - before the original salon was opened in 1987 it was a sex shop (yes, shocking to think of a sex shop in Soho I know...). When the layers of smut (for this is what I would imagine cover the walls of said shops) were peeled back, it was revealed that the place used to be a fishmongers which is where the salon got it's name. Everyday truly is a schoolday kids!

FISH salon also charges pretty reasonably for a central London hair salon too - I clicked on the price list of their website (HERE) with my cynical head on expecting to chortle at the prices and wonder how people managed with the cost of living down in "that London", but I soon had the smirk wiped off my face...

Anyway I should probably stop this rambling and get on with telling you about these products, because they are really rather good. 

First of all, the dry shampoo, or "Fresh FISH Revitalising Dry Shampoo" to give it it's full name. To me dry shampoo is a functional product only - I don't use it to give volume and bounce to my hair, I simply use it on days when I need to eek out another day between washes - usually if I'm on an early shift and I've hit the snooze button once too often. I also do subscribe to the school of thought that washing hair too often is bad for it - simply because it strips oils from the hair, so your scalp produces more and you need to wash it more, which, lets face it is a right pain.

I have to say since getting a fringe cut, I am finding I use it a lot more. But I wouldn't say I have one of those relationships with dry shampoo that a lot of beauty bloggers do - I hear raves about Batiste's ability to volumise that hair and enable people to go for a week between washing... Batiste has actually always been my staple, as it does the job, but I hate the way it leaves hair looking greyish, it also leaves a lingering scent which can be a bit annoying after a while. I expected this one to be the same really, but it was pleasantly surprising.

The first thing I noticed about both products was the packaging -  simple but functional, and I like the design of the can. You have to shake before you spray - there is a metal ball/agitator type thing which rattles about inside it to mix the product. Which is always a satisfying way to make sure the Mister is awake at the same ungodly hour as me, and feels my pain.

The aerosol of this works well, and distributes the product evenly - its also a slightly less powerful spray than the Batiste - I like that though because I feel like it gives me a bit more control over where I spray it. It has a pleasant scent too - quite coconutty - obviously it's a personal thing whether you like that or not. 

The absolute best thing about this though is that it is completely colourless - it leaves absolutely zero white patches on the hair (I'm a brunette, so Its immediately noticeable), so I no longer have to spend the day paranoid that there's a white patch in my hair. It also leaves a little bit of shine on the hair, so is not completely mattifying in the way that Batiste can be. So as dry shampoo goes, I'm impressed with this. 

I'd recommend it for people with dark hair, who don't want matte hair, and those with fine hair - people with thicker hair, and those relying on dry shampoo more as a volumiser may need the "blast" power of the Batiste. 

I was also sent this "Star FISH Dazzling Shine Spray" from the range - If I'm honest I generally avoid shine spray, as I find that they often weigh down my hair and can make it look oily, so I wasn't really expecting great things from this. Again though I was pleasantly surprised. 

Once more this has nice packaging and the aerosol produces a fine controllable spray. This has a similar coconut scent to the dry shampoo - initially it has a little bit more of a "chemical" smell to it, but that fades, leaving the coconut scent behind.

As a shine spray, this does a good job, and leaves hair noticeably more shiny, but not weighed down or oily. It does contain silicones, but the fine spray helps to distibute it well.

Again, this is a good one for fine hair, but thicker and coarse hair types may need something a bit more heavy duty.

FISH haircare is available at Boots instore and online  and KMI Club . Neither of these products are showing currently on the Boots website, so I have no accurate pricing info, however the rest of the range is priced very reasonably, so I'd expect these to be priced in the £3-5 bracket.

Of the two products I think I'd be most likely to repurchase the dry shampoo, as it was a real surprise, and for my hair type and needs (always consider your own though) it works really well. I love the scent and I also love the fact that it's colourless.

Have you tried anything from this range?