- The Observer, Sunday August 6 2006
Beach hair
Lee Stafford
Messed Up Light Spray Wax, 150ml, £4.49, Boots
Magic. Spray it on and transform that sleek-office-do into rock star who missed her flight.
5 stars
Hari's
Hair Doh, 118ml, £12, www.harissalon.com
Smells delicious. Good for getting defined, yet scrunchy ends. A little goes a long way.
4 stars
Philip B
Jet Set Precision Control Hair Spray, 260ml, £24.50, Harrods
Smells like Diptyque candles but wasn't giving me the firm hold at the roots that it promised.
3 stars
GHD
Sea Spray for Matt Waves, 150ml, £12.95, 0845 330 1133
Spritz this sea-salt enriched spray while twisting your hair. It says to then follow with step 4, but where is that ...? Hair looks OK though.
3 stars
Travel hair dryers
BaByliss
Whisper Jet, £15, Argos, Boots
It's powerful, the handle folds, it comes with a European adaptor and a funny nozzle thing. It's brilliant.
5 stars
Braun
E Go Travel, £14.99, Argos, Boots
Something quite blokey about this one. No handle so takes a bit of getting used to, but very compact.
3 stars
Vidal Sassoon
Hair Hydration, £14.99, Boots, Argos
Lightweight and lilac-y. Your 5-year-old will want it. I'd prefer something a little more adult.
3 stars
Boots
On the Move, £9.99, Boots
They weren't going overboard in the design department when they came up with this. Not as powerful as the others but has two travel adaptors.
2 stars
Travel shampoos
Charles Worthington
Take Aways, 75ml, £1.65, nationwide
Left hair super smooth, super shiny, without being lank. Comb glides through.
5 stars
Louise Galvin
Traveller, 4 x 120ml, £85, louisegalvin.com
Shampoo left hair feeling coarse, but conditioner sorted this out.
4 stars
Aussie
3 Minute Miracle, 250ml, £5.69, nationwide
Left hair bushy and unkempt, and still hard to comb through the tangles.
3 stars
Philip Kingsley
Moisture Balancing, 75ml, £4.95, 020 7629 4050
Cute packaging, but hair felt dry, even with lashings of his PM36 conditioner on top.
1 star
Hair protection
Redken
UV Rescue Daily Sun Milk, 150ml, £13.50, salons nationwide
It's milk-based so doesn't leave an oily coating on your hair. SPF12 means also protects your scalp.
5 stars
Kérastase
Voile Protecteur, 100ml, £15, 0800 316 4400
Light protective mist. Doesn't weigh down hair so no looking like a neanderthal cave person by the end of the day.
4 stars
Matrix Biolage
Protective Hair Non-Oil, 150ml, £7.15, salons nationwide
Smells a bit like nail varnish remover. Gives nice beach hair look.
3 stars
Phyto Plage
Protective Beach Spray, 100ml, £11.50, 020 7620 1771
Head looked as though had been dunked in a bucket of grease. Not a good look for après-beach cocktail hour.
2 stars
Deep conditioners
Frédéric Fekkai
Color Care Mask, 200ml, £18, Space NK
Sumptuous to apply, and left hair looking like I'd just been for a super-sleek blow-dry. Loved it.
5 stars
Cobella
Protein Masque, 150ml, £4.99, Superdrug
Didn't feel as though it was detangling when applied in the shower, but when dried, hair was soft and smooth.
4 stars
Neal's Yard
Rosemary and Cedarwood , 75g, £7, 0845 262 3145
Smells gorgeous, but takes 30 minutes to work and life is way too short for that.
3 stars
MOP
Extreme Protein, 200ml, £8.50, 01282 613413
End result was disappointing - hair looked very fluffy.
2 stars
Hair shimmer
Nicky Clarke Red Carpet Style
All A-Shimmer Finishing Spray, 75ml, £5.49, Boots
Good instructions, gave hair a glamorous sparkle without going too disco on me.
4 stars
Bumble and Bumble
Little BB Shine, 25ml, £15, 020 7836 0818
Oscar-winning golden packaging; slight shimmer, doesn't weigh hair down.
4 stars
Wella Lifetex
Shimmer Splash, 150ml, £8.60, www.salonfinder.co.uk
Styling meets sun protection. Too much, you get drowned-rat effect.
2 stars
John Frieda
Spun Gold Balm, 35g, £3.95, Boots
No particular shimmer and rather sticky. Were my hair a little thinner, this would really weigh it down.
2 stars
Shampoos for men with thinning hair
Clinique For Men
Hair Maximizing Shampoo, 200ml, £10, major stores
Easy to apply and quick to work. Hair soon had extra body.
5 stars
Schwarzkopf
BC Activating Shampoo, 250ml, £7.20, salons nationwide
Complicated. Too many solutions to apply but, even so, it worked! Smelt good too.
3 stars
Revlon
Nutrasome Thickening Shampoo, 200ml, £7.95, Boots
Left my hair feeling more greasy than thick.
1 star
Redken For Men
Densify, 400ml, £7.70, salons nationwide
It's only effect was to make my head itch. Awful.
No stars
