Current Styling Favourites

I'm very precious about my hair, who I'll let cut it, what I'll use in it, so I don't switch up my haircare routine much, if at all. When I find something that works, I stick with it.

My styling routine has been much of a muchness over the last six months, I've got three products that made the cut and work for my unruly mane. 

Post shower I always start with the Living Proof Prime Style Extender, run through the roots and lengths of my hair. This helps my hair hold whatever style I deem to give it, and gives me an extra day between washes. If I'm going for straight or wavy locks, I then go in with the Living Proof Perfect Hair Day 5 in 1 Styling Treatment before blow drying. This is like an anti-frizz, extra hold, volume and oomph potion. It makes my hair look awesome with very minimal effort, which is why I like it, plus Living Proof products smell incredible too. If I go for curls, I use the John Frieda Frizz Ease Unwind Curls Calming Cream post styling, to make my curls look natural and lived in, as well as smooth and healthy.

What hair products are you loving?

The No Maintenance Hair Product

I love having swishy just-got-back-from-the-salon-esque hair as much as the next girl, but sometimes I just don't have the time, and my natural hair lives in a state of untamable curls, waves and frizz, and leaves a lot to be desired. 

I'm always on the hunt for the perfect hair product, particularly one that requires minimum effort on my part (show me someone who enjoys styling their hair every morning and I'll eat my hair tie collection). Most recently, the Bumble and Bumble Don't Blow It (H)air Styler came to my attention, and I've been putting it through the ringer.

It took me a while to figure out how much of this stuff to use, but I find an amount about the size of a 20p coin is perfect. I distribute it through the midlengths of my damp hair, after towel drying it a little, and use my fingers to really comb it through evenly. Leave my hair to dry naturally either down, or in a bun or braid, and that really is it. It stops my hair from being frizzy, and just gives my natural curl a bit of a calm down.

No, this isn't going to give you freshly blow dryed hair without the effort, but nothing will. What it will do, is make your hair's natural state a little tamer, and I can definitely get on board with that.

What's your favourite no effort haircare product?

5 Easy Ways to Add Volume To Your Hair

1. Do your prep work. There's no use expecting volume if you're using a shampoo and conditioner combo that's not up to the task. Anything with 'hydrating' or 'moisturising' in the title, or something with a ton of silicones in will weigh the hair down and make it much flatter. There are a ton of products on the market for volume, but my personal favourite is the John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7 Day Volume line. The shampoo is light and cleansing, whilst the conditioner hydrates and gives the hair a healthy sheen, without weighing it down.
2. Don't overload your hair with product, pick one to do the job. A lot of the time we are so desperate to create volume, we pack our hair with product, and only succeed in making hair stiff and crunchy. Pick a product that doesn't need any help giving lift and texture. I like the Bumble and Bumble Thickening Creme, but more recently I've been using the John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7 Day In Shower Treatment. You apply this like a mask whilst you're still in the shower, and rinse it out before blow drying as normal, and it just gives your hair that slightly thicker, grittier texture with a bit more hold.
3. Blow dry those roots. There's a lot to be said for flipping your head when you're done with blow drying, and concentrating the heat on the roots for a minute or two. You'll look a bit nuts when you're right-side-up again, but those extra two minutes will give you a lot of lift and volume at the root.
4. Backcomb, backcomb, backcomb. Get in at the roots and tease your hair. You don't have to knot it to hell, just get a little body going at the top.
5. Don't forget to set. When you've spent all that time creating thick and bouncy hair, don't ruin it all by skimping on the hairspray. If you can, pick a hairspray that says 'weather proof' or 'anti-humidity' to make sure that the elements don't ruin your hard work.

How do you add volume to your hair?