James Brown Volume Boost Shampoo: A Hair Raising Experience

I'm a total sucker for any haircare product that promises me a bigger, bouncier, more volumised barnet, so when reader Orla commented that she swears by James Brown Volume Boost Shampoo and Conditioner for really big hair - "combined with rollers", she said, "my hair goes huuge!" - well, I was straight out the door to pick some up for myself.

My local stockist was all out of the conditioner, but I procured a travel size of the shampoo and scurried home to take it for a spin. The blurb on the packaging sounded encouraging: rice proteins and beta glucans from oats apparently help impart volume and bounce to thin hair, cheating the look of thicker locks by creating natural, lasting fullness.

The instructions advise applying to wet hair from root to ends and working into a lather, leaving to work for two minutes, then rinsing off; repeating the process, they state explicitly, is unnecessary.

Immediately after washing, my hair does look and feel thicker regardless of whether it's been air- or blow-dried, and my scalp hasn't devolved into the kind of awful dry state that Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo left in its wake. Results aren't endlessly long-lasting, but they are noticeable which I think is pretty impressive for something that is, at the end of the day, a shampoo, not a styling product.

The only bad thing I have to say about James Brown Volume Boost Shampoo, €8.94 for the full size, is that it's quite difficult to rinse clean and I think there's a potential for product build-up, but otherwise I'm well impressed. I'll be repurchasing the full-size tube when this one runs out and picking up some conditioner, too (assuming it's back in stock!)

Have you tried James Brown Volume Boost Shampoo? Did you love it? Hate it? Tell all in the comments!