FHI Heat Hot Sauce is a hair product that seems to have a moderate cult following, so when I snagged a bottle in the Tracy Reese gift bag at Fashion Week, I was excited to try it.

Unfortunately, I can't say it lives up to the hype. Hot Sauce's main claim to fame is the presence of "heat activated jojoba crystals." I was expecting the little bead-like dots that you see in some bath products, but what I saw and felt was quite different. The "jojoba crystals" are the size, shape, texture and color of poppy seeds! They were rather hard and some of them stuck in my hair even after styling.

The texture of Hot Sauce is like a body lotion; it felt soft going in, but left my hair with a bit of a crunchy texture. Although Hot Sauce claims to "restore moisture to your hair," mine still felt as dry as it usually does in the winter without any product.

Moreover, this product claims to be "moisture-based" rather than "silicone-based," but guess what? There are two silicones listed in the ingredients! Personally, I don't have a problem with silicone based hair products, so this isn't a criticism of the silicones' presence - I just find it odd that FHI would make this statement when the ingredient list clearly reveals the presence of silicones.

Finally, the packaging looks cheap and tacky. I like the hot sauce bottle inspiration, but the label feels like shrink wrap (it crunches when you squeeze the bottle!) and even the printing looks runny and unprofessional. (Two misspellings in the ingredients list don't help, either.) At about $14 for a small 2 oz bottle, I expect more.

Have you tried this product? What do you think?