I don’t do much to my hair, but sometimes even I make an
effort. This usually involves getting out a specific styling tool,
normally either a curling wand or straighteners used for
waves rather than straightening. And I’ll tell you what my
problem with them is: although I am making a sacrifice by
allowing them to basically cook my hair into shape, they are
not really acknowledging or rewarding the depth of this sacri-
fice (it is not good to cook your fine, fiftysomething hair, in my
view, and I always approach the cooking grudgingly and with
some trepidation). The fact is, the tools are not giving me enough back. I fiddle about for a bit
and everything looks lovely for a while, but halfway through the evening it’s already on the
slide. By bedtime the baked-in waves have largely fallen out. And I want longevity, not hair
that reverts to its nest-like disposition after two hours in a warm room. Postmenopausal hair
is fragile. If you do something to it, you want to get your quids’ worth.
Admittedly this is probably not actually the tools’ fault, but still, it’s really annoying. I have
tried zillions of products to get the waves to stay and, although some of them do work,
I don’t like either the altered texture they give or the feel of them in my hair. What I am after
is soft and glossy — better than my own hair — but with the waves somehow miraculously
also practically glued into place by magical means that don’t involve even the suggestion of
crispiness or stiffness, or leave my hair looking heavy or done. So: it’s only taken about 20
years, but I’ve found the product that does this. It’s not new, but my goodness it’s the keeper
of keepers. Also it has a very specific purpose, which is to do exactly what I’ve just described,
so if you blow-dry and go, or air-dry, or otherwise don’t faff about with heated curling-
waving-straightening implements, it’s not for you. This product, L’Oréal Professionnel
Tecni.Art Pli Thermo-Modelling Spray (£16.50), does one thing and one thing only, and it
does it brilliantly.
The directions suggest you use it liberally. I wouldn’t — start small, because even this
marvel can go crispy-wards if you put on too much. But if you spray with restraint and then
work it through all over gently on towel-dried hair, it’s a miracle worker. Not only will it make
curls and waves stay for hours and hours (I woke up and they were still pretty much in place),
but it’s a fricking genius at adding tons of volume if you apply it to the roots and use a round
brush before going in with the curling wand or whatever. This means that you can have
straightened hair with volume at the crown, or curled/waved hair with the same, and that
your hair will stay like this until you brush everything out. It’s so good that it made me
wonder if you could create a 1920s marcel wave effect, until I remembered that I would look
literally insane wandering about with a marcel wave. But still. I bet you could.
Also: it adds shine and generally makes the hair look in good and elastic nick. ■ @indiaknightIndia Knight
INDIA LOVES
BUY Your Daily Veg by Joe Woodhouse (Octopus £22). I used to have to work quite hard at
loving certain vegetables — no sobbing with delight at broccoli for me. All that changed with,
in order of release, 1) Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden, 2) Anna Jones’s One Pot, Pan, Planet
(both of which I have recommended before), and now 3) this fantastic, user-friendly book by
Woodhouse, which is full of super-easy and properly delicious recipes.No more crispy curls for me – this wonder spray
holds everything in place
Not only will
it make curls
and waves
stay for hours,
it’s a genius at
Victoria Adamson adding volume
THE HAIR
SPECIAL
The Sunday Times Style • 41