Hair: Ban the Blow Dry - Week 1

Last week, I declared that I was giving up one of my favourite habits/addictions/essential for life things. It's been hard.

Yes. I'm Rachel, and I'm in love with my hairdryer.

Giving up my almost daily blow dries has been a huge wake up call. So far I've learned that:

1. Hair as thick as mine does not need daily washing/drying. I'm currently on day three and a bit of a dry shampoo spritz has it looking just fine. Lesson learned.
2. That I absolutely shouldn't have left it somewhere in the region of ten weeks between trims (shocker!), although I was rewarded with only an inch off (better than the predicted two inches) and a delightful new hairdresser.
3. That I no longer trust any hair product which claims itself to be an 'oil'. The primary ingredient of oil tends to be, well, oil. The primary ingredient of most hair 'oils' is the strangely non-oil product, silicone. I have a serious short-term love/long-term hate relationship with silicone, and I can't believe I have been a total marketer's dream and not checked ingredients lists. Actually, I totally can believe it. Shame on you, Rachel! I will be talking more about silicones next week, but the short version of the story is that they give gloss to start with, but can then block moisture from entering the hair, resulting in serious dryness. Sad, when you think that the gloss they do give you is almost getting you into soul-selling territory...
4. Oil which really is just oil is a pretty nifty conditioning treatment. Just make sure you wash it out. There really isn't enough dry shampoo in the world!

So, as promised, here are this week's #bantheblowdry hero products!

From left to right, we have Philip Kingsley's Weatherproof Hairspray, John Freida's Luxurious Volume dry shampoo and Tara Smith's Shining Moment Glosser. Onto the reviews!

Let's jump out of order and start with John Freida. This spray does exactly what it promises: it gives you volume and it's luxurious. Need I go on? Well, yes! It feels like grown up dry shampoo: you know, the kind that looked at its powdery finish and felt it needed to get a little more refined. Essentially, it's the spray equivalent of a woman in a Chanel blazer who's sporting a perfect manicure and a pair of nude Jimmy Choo courts. It leaves you polished, as though your hair was blow dried that morning. Basically, it's my dream dry shampoo and I have one at home and in the office. Purchasing for multiple locations is a sure sign that I love something. It's available for the bargain price of £5.89 at Boots.

Next comes Philip Kingsley. Another product that meets its claims: this has enabled me to leave the house in icky damp weather and arrive at the office with hair that looks exactly the same as it did when I left the house. As my hair is frizz-prone in bad weather, and especially now I'm not having permanent blow dry treatments, this is a total godsend. Nothing short of a miracle! Available from around £7.

Finally, I don't need to tell regular readers anymore about this product, but I will anyway. It's been the perfect thing to boost my hair when I've left it in its naturally curly state. Flat, dull curls are blitzed in a few quick spritzes. Another one I don't want to be without. £12 from Marks and Spencer.

So, we're entering week 2 and my willpower to keep going is pretty good. That said, it's completely freezing tonight, so I feel a sneaky cool-setting date with my hairdryer coming on. Help me!!