I love my old lady hair again – BECAUSE SAM MCKNIGHT

Women, even marvellous intelligent ones like all of us, are really good at finding things we don’t like about our physical selves and obsessing on them – but we all also have something we’re OK with, don’t we?

I’ve got short legs, no waist and shoulders totally out of proportion to my hips (I’ve basically got Mick Jagger’s body, with a pot belly and joke-shop boobs), but I’ve always been glad of my hair.

Thank you, Mummy.

It has natural body and generally does what it’s told - or it did, until I hit perimeno. Then my hair went POSTAL.

It didn’t go curly, it went bent and sprouted all these weird wiggies, short bits of hair which stand up from my head completely randomly. Nothing will make them lie flat.

I call them my antennae and there is no controlling them as they strain to pick up Radio Caroline, or alien communications. They are unbearably aging and lowering. They make me feel like everything in life is beyond my control.

It was all so dehydrated and wizened it looked like Shredded Wheat.

Sometimes I’ve been so desperate to calm things down up there I’ve put on a velvet Alice band, which made me look like a South Kensington matron from 1980.

The full Shredded Wheat action and the horror of the Alice Band desperation.

Then Sam McKnight brought out his range of hair products. And bingo! I have my trusty, reliable hair back.

I should say at this point that I’m not on any of those set ups where I get money if any of you buy products I write about. There are no paid links here. I’m telling you this as the kind of beauty product tip I would give my best friends, not an income stream.

Also in the interest of total transparency, two more points.

1. I was lucky enough to be sent samples of Sam’s products when they came out, but I’ve bought them with my own earned money ever since. One use and I was devoted.

2. Sam is a friend. We haven’t been to each other’s houses (which is my benchmark), but having both worked in fashion in the same era and having a million mutuals, we’re pals.

From that personal experience, I can tell you that along with his peerless hair skills and creativity, he is the loveliest guy, with a top sense of humour – which is another factor that’s made him so successful.

His easy manner, warmth and bants make women like Princess Diana and Lady Gaga love having him around. Imagine a life surrounded by toadies and haters in equal number and up pops this funny, charming Scotsman who makes you look and feel your true best? That.

And it’s clear from his Insta posts that he had a great relationship with his late mum – he likes women.

Sam with Princess Diana, who never looked more radiant (and makeup artist Mary Greenwell, who is another very superior human being).

So, now we’ve got all the disclosures of the way, I can tell you, with the deepest sincerity that these are the best hair products I’ve ever used.

I’ve tried most of the range and I adore the shampoos, conditioners and hair mask, because as well as doing a great job, they have the most glorious smell.

Sam developed the house fragrance with Lynn Harris of Perfumer H (and she had Miller Harris before that), my favourite scent creator. It’s heavenly.

But while I’ve been thrilled with every single product I’ve tried, there are four in particular that I have on permanent repeat purchase for my Hair Ritual, which is always done the day before I need it to be on fleek (I can’t be bothered fussing around in the morning).

Happy Endings Nourishing Balm

This is stage one of my War on Wiggies. After washing and a rough dry with a towel, I smooth a couple of squirts through my wet hair.

The next stage of my Do Ritual is a tip that Sam gave me in person many years ago.

I let the hair dry to the damp stage naturally, then I throw my head upside down and blast it with a hairdryer until it is pretty much dry. This creates amazing root lift and bounce.

When I first stand up again I look like the lady on the Elnett cannister, who has been my hair ideal since childhood. Sadly it quickly flops from that souffle perfection, but the root lift is in place.

The Full Wiggies horror. After the upside down drying. Elnett queen. After Love Me Do - just needs the stolen hairspray for the last touch.

And while I love that classic cannister, not so much the product inside which turns your head into a toffee apple. Sam’s version is the way to go, appropriately called Modern Hairspray, another of my four prods (see below).

Love Me Do Nourishing Shine Oil

Stage 2 of the wiggie war is a few drops of this rubbed onto the surface of the hair, just before bed, with particular care in key antennae areas.

The overnight transformation from wild woman to groomed go-girl amazes me every time. It also works beautifully on a shorter time frame, but I find the overnight SHAZAM particularly satisfying.

Modern Hairspray

This is normally the last stage of my Hair Ritual, to lay down those persistent lingering wiggies, but I haven’t got any at the moment – because my daughter has stolen it. I literally have to hide these products from her.

Lazy Girl Dry Shampoo

My really quite filthy do after the dry shampoo miracle.

Sam’s miracle dry shampoo creates Elnett lady hair that stays that way. It makes several-days-since-a-wash, pushing-my-luck hair look better than freshly laundered. Shiny and big. And it has the glorious smell.

(To get the big volume look that is Sam’s trademark with clean hair there are lots of specific ace products in the range, including a new set with big rollers and a drying hood, which made me squeal with delight when I saw it.)

So those are my favourite hair products ever. Have any of you tried them? I would love to know.

The prods.

And finally, a picture from Sam’s website, that will give you insight into his personality…

POST SCRIPT

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