Think you know the best way to use hair products? Think again. Most of the products on the market now don’t just stick to the status quo – they also offer something extra.
Words by: Sarah Murray
Photos: Bauer Media Studios, Thinkstock Images and Supplied

Dry shampoo
Everyone loves dry shampoo because it’s your saviour when you haven’t had time to wash your hair – and believe us, we still use it for that reason alone. But the latest breed of dry shampoos won’t just absorb the oil in your hair, they’ll do a whole host of other things. We’re hooked on Batiste Strength and Shine, $19. This go-to product recognises your hair has it tough and can become weak through daily use of heated tools, so it’s infused with an amino acid known as L-arginine, which works to strengthen the hair structure.

Shampoo first?
We have all grown up with the ingrained knowledge that it’s shampoo first, then conditioner, right? Well, now Kérastase is turning that long-held assumption on its head with its new range, Kérastase Résistance Thérapiste. The first reverse care routine we have seen, it suggests using the Bain Thérapiste shampoo, $42, following the Soin Premier Thérapiste conditioner, $50. Why? So that the conditioner infuses the hair fibres in order to protect the hair during the shampooing phase. Of course, if you really are a stickler for tradition, you can always shampoo first…

Blue-toned shampoo
If you’ve got blond hair, the chances are your hairdresser has recommended you use a purple or blue-toned shampoo and conditioner which work to minimise those brassy (orange-esque) tones. But brunettes have never needed them… until now. With the rise of balayage, countless women with naturally dark hair are getting the ends dyed lighter. And thankfully, Joico has cottoned on to the trend and come up with a solution. Enter a blue-toned shampoo especially for brunettes. The special formula in the Color Balance Blue shampoo, $34. Colour-corrects on contact, banishing those overly warm orange tones that can turn up in graduated dark hair that’s been lightened.

Split ends
When your hair is looking a bit tatty at the ends, there used to be one thing you would have to do – go and get it trimmed. But now Redken has come up with a product so you don’t necessarily have to cut your hair to make it healthier. The Redken Extreme Length Sealer, $33, has a brush-like applicator which allows you to paint on the biotin-infused serum from your mid-lengths to the tips. Word has it if you use the whole range you can extend your hair length up to 15cm in a year!

Volumising powder
If you’re anything like us, when you see a little bottle of volumising powder you tip it upside down into the palm of your hand then try to direct it to the right section of your hair. It can be tricky and usually the powder doesn’t end up where it’s supposed to. That’s why we loved meeting the creative director of Matrix Australia, Uros Mikic, who showed us an updated way to apply it. Mikic grabbed the bottle of Matrix Height Riser, $21.50, held it to his head and pointed it to where he wanted the powder to go, then squeezed it. The powder puffed out and hit the exact spot it was meant to. Why didn’t we think of that?