Mirror: Shine on, let the light of hair love shine

Shiny Happy People, have Shiny Happy Hair.  And now, thanks to this month’s review, so does Team .Cent!

Shiny hair is the bane of many people’s lives unless you happen to have gorgeous brunette locks, have a fabulously healthy diet and/or live somewhere less polluted than London.  Shiny hair gives the impression you lead a glossy carefree life, yes it may well be an impression, but that’s generally what you think when you see that shiny mane swishing about in front of you.  L’Oreal Colour Trophy even judges down to the shine factor in it’s annual trade hair competition.

Seeing as we don’t really have that, .Cent has been on a mission to find you the best of the Shine Sprays to fake your way to hair happiness.  Here’s our take on the best of the styling products to create that mirrored image that money can buy:

Creative Director Jo tested out Redken’s Shine Flash 02 and said; “I have really thick hair which by nature makes finding products that actually penetrate very difficult.  But I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised by this product.  I can’t say I noticed a whole lot of shine either on my clean hair, or hair a few days after washing.  However,vwhat was evident from the start was the wonderful feeling it left on my hair. A soft, soft shine but most of all a super glossy feeling, yet no grease, and no stickiness, just wonderfully flowing hair.  I would definitely use this product again!”

Aveda’s Brilliant Spray on Shine was trialled by Beauty Editor Alexis who fell in love with the smell:  “From the first spray, I was hooked on how gorgeous this smelled.   Misting around my head in a halo motion is the general technique and I felt this added a really lovely, subtle shine and finish to my hair both immediately after freshly washing and drying, and then as a top up between washing hair.  The packaging is classic Aveda – simple, stylish and the ingredients are packed full of natural nutrients which is perfect for my unruly curls. A real winner.”

Fashion Editor Donna got to grips with the new couture range from uber brand Kerastase, “I tried the Gloss Appeal Shine Spray, and no word of a lie – I was blown away.  It looks incredible before you even use it, made my hair super shiny and it didn’t feel sticky at all.  It’s an instant hair staple now and I really am in the low maintenance camp when it comes to my hair.  Amaze.”

Mary our beauty intern trialled out the multi-purpose, Shine & Gloss Spray from luxe brand James and Bailey London’s range of argan-oil based products. “My coarse curly hair is a nightmare and always looks dry, so I was excited to try this.  When I sprayed onto dry hair it created a lovely glossy finish and gave the impression my hair was healthy.  I used a few times over the week as well before washing and it really didn’t build up or weigh my hair down, but actually seemed to help nourish it!  A number of people also commented on the lovely fragrance when I walked past!”

Art department Alina used TRESemme’s Keratin Smooth shine spray finding: “I wash my hair every day and use loads of products such as conditioner, toner and hair masks as I have bleached, and therefore very dry and brittle hair.  I don’t put many styling products in so I put the shine spray straight on my freshly washed hair every morning.  The spray smells nice and isn’t oily but I didn’t notice so much of a difference if I’m really honest.  It has made my hair a lot smoother and easier to style however.”

Editorial team member Aina sprayed Macadamia’s Healing Oil Spray on her hair and said; “It has made my hair less frizzy and smooth as well as dries my hair so much lot quicker when wet which is an added bonus.  This really has given a lovely shine effect to my hair.  I’m happy with it.”

Kate from our beauty team tried out Joico’s Design Works Shaping Spray and said; “I was really pleased – it has a super fine texture so feels light on the hair. It gives a soft shine and leaves the hair silky with lots of movement not oily or heavy even if my hair isn’t freshly cleaned.  I found also it’s a great styling product and it is so easy to style your hair after using it. My hair maintained its bounce while keeping the shape. It has a fresh fragrance too which is lovely.  I’d definitely use this product again.”

Elise from our editorial department tested out VO5’s Smoothly Does it Tame & Shine spray   and found it didn’t add too much of a difference to her admittedly already glossy locks.  “Whilst the shine factor didn’t really increase after using this, I did like the smell and feel my hair had after spraying on.”

Shine on lovers.