Frizzy hair? Reach for the body butter

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has described her battle with the condition, following the birth of her son Moses in 2006

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has described her battle with the condition, following the birth of her son Moses in 2006

Published Feb 15, 2011

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What is Gwyneth Paltrow’s secret to glamorous locks? An expensive shampoo? A Brazilian blow dry?

No, according to hairstylist David Babaii, it’s that little-known styling tool, the loofah brush.

For the cover shot of this month’s US InStyle magazine, he rolled pieces of Gwynnie’s damp hair around the loofah before blasting with heat to add texture, and tamed flyaway hairs using a bathroom-cabinet tongue brush.

We quizzed a number of celebrity beauty experts about their quirky secrets and uncovered some surprising tips…

Tomato sauce

Darren Fowler, international artistic director of Clipso, has worked with Juliette Binoche and Tori Amos. If you’ve been swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool and your blonde hair has turned a nasty shade of green, try using tomato sauce before your shampoo.

Apply it to your hair and leave in for a couple of minutes before rinsing with warm water. The red tone will help to neutralise the green, returning your hair to its former golden glory.

Tin foil

Ben Cooke, co-founder of celebrity salon Lockonego, was responsible for Victoria Beckham’s “Pob” hairdo: To create wavy hair without curling tongs, use sheets of tin foil. Twist 15 sheets of tin foil into 8cm-long wands – the thinner they are, the tighter the curl.

Wind sections of hair around the wands and twist the ends of the foil together to secure. Blast hot air from your hairdryer for three to five minutes all over your head to activate curls – the tin foil will stay hot for about five minutes.

Once cool, unravel your hair for bouncy, voluminous locks.

Condensed milk

Lea Harrison, of the Michaeljohn salon in London: Felicity Kendal’s hair colourist Lea Harrison often applies condensed milk to her scalp when doing her bleach highlights. “This prevents irritation and soothes the scalp, which can get sore if it comes into contact with peroxide,” says Harrison.

Fabric softener sheets

Darren Fowler: Fabric softener sheets are brilliant for removing static from hair after a blow-dry. Gently glide them over the hair from root to tip – the result is beautiful, static-free tresses.

Cling film

James Read, fake tan therapist, has worked with Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga and Lindsay Lohan: If you struggle to do your back when you’re applying fake tan, get a long piece of cling film, lay it on the floor and apply some of your fake tan mousse or cream to the middle of it.

Stand in front of the cling film, take an end of each strip in each hand and apply it to your back using the same motion you use to dry your back with a towel.

Baby spoon

Kabuki, artistic director of myface. cosmetics, works with Kylie, Madonna and Gwen Stefani:

Make-up artist Kabuki always has a rubber-coated infant feeding spoon in his false eyelash kit.

“It’s the perfect tool to tone down mascara,” he says.

Hold the spoon under the lashes and use a clean brush to apply a non-oily make-up remover over the top of the lashes.

The remover and unwanted mascara runs into the spoon and away from the face, so the false lashes stay in place. The other eye make-up remains, too.

Hair gel and sticky tape

Kabuki, myface.cosmetics. When make-up artist Kabuki did Lady Gaga’s face for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, he used lots of black glitter around her eyes. The glitter was fixed with alcohol-free hair gel and sellotape was used to clean up any stray flecks of glitter from her face.

Feminine wash

Issidora works with Grace Jones and Sharleen Spiteri. Make-up artist Issidora cleanses her face and takes off her make-up using FemFresh.

“It might sound odd, but this gynaecologically approved product does not contains soap,” she says.

“It lathers beautifully and, if you use it with a loofah, it not only removes every trace of make-up but exfoliates, too.”

E45 cream

Jonathan Long, the co-founder of Lockonego, has worked with Yasmin Le Bon and Louise Redknapp: When you don’t have any serum, mousse or shine spray, but your hair needs to go from parched and frizzy to glossy and glamorous, reach for an unscented body butter.

“Massage a pea-sized amount into the ends of the hair for instantly soft and hydrated locks.

“E45 works a treat,” he says.

Pencil

Ariane Poole, make-up artist, works with Lisa Snowden and Tess Daly: One of Poole’s best tips when it comes to the tricky matter of dealing with false eyelashes is to wrap them round a pencil before attempting to apply them.

Often when false eyelashes have been sitting straight in their packaging for so long that they have lost their curve, they don’t fit the shape of eyelid properly and can ping off.

Wrapping them round a pencil breaks their spine a bit, so they fit more closely to the lid. – The Daily Mail

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