REVIEW: Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Biotin Volume Shampoo and Conditioner

I received these hair products to trial from BeautyHeaven, so I thought I'd also share my thoughts here.

Products:
Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Biotin Volume Shampoo
Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Biotin Volume Conditioner

Schwarzkopf say: "The unique formula with biotin-complex provides up to 80% more volume and fullness with feather-light effect. Essence Ultime contains a precious Ultime-4-Complex; a unique combination of pearl essence, panthenol, refined protein & keratin. Indulge your hair with luxurious care. Experience Claudia Schiffer's beauty secret."

These products were specifically designed for people with fine, flat hair (which I have!), so I was very excited to be accepted into this trial. I'm always on the look out for hair products and treatments that claim to give me volume, body, fullness and thickness.

First of all, the packaging is good. The bottles are slim and slide easily into my shower caddy, leaving plenty of room for a multitude of other products! The flip-top lid is easy to open and the hole dispenses a good amount of product, which comes out easily. The instructions and product information is stated clearly on the bottle, and is easy to read.

The fragrance is the high point of these products for me. I love it. It's subtle and lovely and almost like a beautiful perfume, leaving my hair smelling delicious.

Shampoo
Unfortunately, I haven't seen very much of a difference in terms of voluminous results, (maybe just a slight difference). My hair does look and feel healthier overall, though. I don't feel as though the product lifted my hair at the roots as it claims on the bottle. I normally use a volume shampoo and conditioner then follow up with a thickening foam (Sebastian Thickefy Foam) and scrunch while blowdrying, as I really need to do everything I can to avoid limp locks, but I skipped the thickening foam for this trial because I wanted to see how the product performed on its own. Maybe this is why my hair didn't look thicker and fuller, maybe my (admittedly expensive) thickening foam normally does a really good job. But I wanted to give these products a fair trial. I am pleased, however, that my hair seems healthier. As I say, it looks a tiny bit fuller, but I would have liked more volume at the roots.

Conditioner
As a person with very fine, thin hair, I'm usually wary of conditioners, as applying too much or leaving it in for too long will mean flat as a tack hair for me until the next wash. Having said that, I did experiment with applying different amounts of conditioner throughout my trial. It says to leave it in shortly, which I do anyway, so I was happy to not be directed to leave it on for any stretch of time. The product is a good consistency and isn't super-thick or excessively runny.
I like the way my hair felt after using the conditioner. My hair looked and felt healthier, but only appeared slightly fuller. As with the shampoo, I was hoping for more volume, especially at the roots. I did notice that despite the bottle saying "feather-light combing detangling" my hair still was tangled, as always (even using my Tangle Teezer, which significantly reduces pulling during combing, and is great for people like me who suffer from quite tangly hair). My hair looks silky and smooth and slightly thicker than normal, but overall, the product didn't really wow me. I'm happy that it looks and appears to be healthier, though. That can never be a bad thing!

Disclaimer: These products were provided for review on site as part of the Trial Team. No money was offered or accepted. This review is my honest opinion.