I won't lie, I was quite sceptical when I received these products. I thought to myself - how can a shampoo and conditioner really make a difference to the colour of my hair, unless it has a fair amount of dye in it?

I was even more sceptical when I opened up the tubes to see the product that was inside - while the shampoo was a deep, dark brown, it definitely didn't lather up to be a dark foam, and the conditioner was a sort of caramel colour. Could these products add depth and colour to my hair at all?

YES! YES THEY CAN!

While the conditioner has a pretty standard hair-product smell (one that you can't quite pin down to anything, but smells nice and clean and nourishing), the shampoo smells like chocolate oranges! Using them was such a treat, as they felt pretty luxurious to use.

I've used my shampoo and conditioner about 3-4 times now and I am so so impressed with them. My fine hair that goes flat very quickly doesn't get weighed down by the products, even though they seem so rich and moisturising on application, and my hair has been feeling soft and manageable, and looking glossy and rich in colour.

I've been battling with my colour fading quite fast at the moment - I highlighted my hair to a fairly pale blonde for about 7 or so years, and at the end of July I bit the bullet and went dark. My natural hair colour is a mid-brown, and I wanted so much to get my hair back to a healthier state. The previous highlights in my hair, that the newer colour is covering, mean that my hair won't cling to a darker colour as well yet.

After only 2 uses of the John Frieda Visibly Deeper shampoo and conditioner, one of my work colleagues (who sees me every day from Monday-Friday) asked if I'd popped into the hair dresser to get my colour touched up. I had not been in about 4 weeks! She honestly thought my hair looked darker. Since then I've been keeping a close eye on it, and while my hair isn't quite as dark as it would be if I'd been to my hair dresser, it is in fact darker than when I first started.

Unfortunately I didn't think to take a before photo of my hair (#blonde), but my hair is now looking pretty darned good. My colour was at the point where you could see a difference between my hair closer to my scalp (darker, as this hair has had less bleaching underneath the darker colour), and the hair on the ends of my hair (much lighter and looking slightly dull due to so many years of abuse). Now that I've given my hair a good week of use, the difference between my roots and ends is looking much less obvious. This product is fantastic for maintaining colour in between salon visits and for treating your coloured hair to prevent the fading that usually happens.

I will most definitely be repurchasing this line, as it's nice to find a range that will really make a difference in keeping your colour looking rich and glossy and shiny, especially when it's affordable! I'll also definitely be recommending this to other friends who have darker hair.