You know the feeling: that exhilaration that comes when, after months (sometimes years) of trial and error, you chance upon the holy grail of beauty products. Perhaps it’s the ultimate under-eye concealer that covers up without caking, or the hairspray that keeps your S-bend waves in shape without any tell-tale signs.
If you’re well overdue for stumbling across such a find, read on: these are the five biggest game-changers in the hair care market right now – the products we’re absolutely the most excited about and the ones that have the power to totally transform your look.
1/ Dyson Supersonic hair dryer
“We haven’t seen innovation like this in the hair styling category in years, let alone in a blow-dryer,” enthuses InStyle’s acting beauty director, Laura Wilson. “Due to the digital motor that delivers a powerful airflow at a high speed, it dries your hair fast and is less damaging, which helps to protect its natural shine.” The motor also happens to be uniquely located in the handle of the machine rather than the head, making it easier to manoeuvre.
Wilson’s top tip? “Rough dry with your fingers until about 80% dry and tip your head upside down for added volume at the roots. Then use a brush while you dry to style the last 20%, and when you think it’s dry, keep going for another few minutes,” she suggests. “One of the biggest mistakes is not completely drying the hair, meaning you won’t get the most from your blow-dry, as the style will revert to its natural state if any moisture is left in your locks.”
2/ Ouai Dry Shampoo Foam
When Kendall Jenner’s hairdresser, the famed Jen Atkin, launched her Dry Shampoo Foam, the hype almost broke Instagram. The first-of-its-kind product acts just like your regular dry shampoo, but in foam form to prevent the obvious product build-up and dullness that many conventional mists can give. Bonus: it simultaneously hydrates and adds gloss to limp tresses.
Although it doesn’t look like it, the foam disappears like magic as you massage it in, sopping up oil and breathing life back into second-day hair.
3/ The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Cleansing Hair Scrub
We exfoliate our face and body, so why not our scalp? Enter The Body Shop’s game-changing shampoo scrub. Designed for normal to oily hair types, it contains Japanese green tea, mint menthol, salt crystals and honey to purify both scalp and strands of pollutants like product build-up, dust, smoke and sweat. Working the product in also stimulates blood flow, and you know what that means: healthier, shinier hair.
4/ Kevin Murphy Shimmer.Me Blonde
Introducing strobe cream… for your hair. We all know and love the glow a good illuminator gives our cheekbones, but our hair has always missed out in the highlighting department. Kevin Murphy has come to the rescue of blondes everywhere with his Shimmer.Me Blonde shine spray, which counteracts yellow tones in the hair for the perfect platinum finish.
5/ L’Oréal Professionnel Colorful hair
Just ask Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne – pastel hair is having a moment. Anyone contemplating the change but scared to commit will love the new L’Oréal Professionnel Colorful Hair, a collection of seven temporary pastel hair dyes. Designed to be applied in-salon, the range is completely customisable in terms of colour depth and comes out in 3-15 washes, depending on your hair.