Five ways to guarantee yourself a good hair day

Beauty writing makes you cynical quickly – every new product to cross your desk is presented as a reinvention of the wheel. When it comes to hair, the demands of most people are similar; however they might measure the term ‘better’, they want products that make their hair better, not worse.

Less damaged, easier to control, requiring fewer salon visits, and all this with as little effort on their part as possible.

Davines Oi Range, a luxury haircare line developed in Italy, promises to give hair extraordinary softness, shine and body. My oily-rooted, frizzy-ended Irish hair can overwhelm the promises of most haircare products without much effort.

To be frank, I only used the Oi Shampoo and conditioner because my usual stuff had run out, and I did so without paying much attention to the products.

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When dry, my hair was so bouncily clean, soft and glossy that I had to pay attention. This range delivers on its promises, and it smells sumptuous – it is a guaranteed better hair day.

A good investment shampoo and conditioner will improve the quality of hair, but washing it less often is a cost-free way to make a difference. Very oily roots are a pain – the scalp is uncomfortable and congested, hair limp and malodorous.

Abstaining from the call to wash is tough, but the more frequently you wash, the drier your ends will be, and the oilier the roots. Batiste Dry Shampoo and Volume (€4.99 at Boots) is a classic.

I have been searching for the holy grail of dry shampoos for years, and the perfect one simply doesn’t exist, but I will always go back to this affordable classic – the new volume version gives lift and lets some air into oily hair, buying you an extra day or two before washing.

If it is really bothering you, just throw it into a pony tail (or pin it back) on the last day.

If there aren’t hair ties and pins strewn all over your house, then frankly we simply cannot be friends. With that in mind, I recommend the following product advisedly, only to those who can afford such an extravagant purchase and have the presence of mind not to lose silk hair ties.

SLIP make the deliciously buttery silk pillow cases that I have written about before, but their set of six skinny silk hair ties (€45 at net-a-porter.com) are incredibly kind to hair, preventing tearing and damaging friction associated with elastic hair ties.

Have you the absolute notions to do it, you might even dabble in the revived scrunchy trend with SLIP Black, Gold and Leopard Scrunchies (€45 at net-a-porter.com).

They feel glorious and are very comfortable to wear, but I haven’t got the nerve for scrunchies since a rough break up with them in the nineties; I will tie my hair up in an old silk scarf at bedtime, however.

Tidy flyaways with the lightest whisper of Kennedy & Co Matte Hair Clay (€12.95 at stockists nationwide).

Designed for men, it works just the same on women with a pixie cut, or on up styles – anyone can use this simple and effective product.