Hair by Sam McKnight has stopped my short grey hairs sticking up!
Photo: Sam McKnight (via Facebook)
What can I do about these badly behaved grey hairs that are always sticking up? I asked the make-up artist Lindsey Poole. For a while now, I’ve been considering investing in a new styling product. I have shorter grey hairs at the front and around my parting and they stand on end after washing. But rather than trial, error and unnecessary expense, I waited for Lindsey’s expert overview. She always knows the best solutions and immediately introduced me to Hair by Sam McKnight ( a range of products from the ‘stylist to the stars’). On Lindsey’s recommendation, I’ve been using the Happy Endings Nourishing Balm to tame the strays – as well as my new Zuvi hairdryer – and things are looking much smoother around the hairline.
Hair by Sam McKnight products aren’t cheap, but a little goes a long way. Here’s what Lindsey has to say:
These are my go-to products. Hair By Sam McKnight performs brilliantly without adding too much weight (a lighter product helps the hair to look more natural). Plus, they all smell absolutely gorgeous. I love the Cool Girl range. If you don’t feel like doing much to your hair in the morning, or you wake up and it’s looking a little flat, the Barely There Texture Mist will add bounce and volume in between washes. To create fullness after washing hair, spray a little Cool Girl Super Lift into the roots of your damp hair (you don’t need to use too much), then blow dry it using a circular brush to add volume. If you have flyaway roots and dry ends, Happy Endings Nourishing Balm will help to to smooth them, without making hair look greasy. I often use it to flatten shorter hairs along the forehead or parting ( ask Alyson!).
Does anyone else have this issue? I’d love to hear your recommendations.
More advice from Lindsey Poole HERE And a few more tried and tested grey hair products…
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Discussion (29 Comments)
I was trying to find one with hair sticking up but then decided to use the product shot. (However, I think there are plenty of photos of my unruly hair online!)
Sarah Cleverdon says:
I am rather fed up with shelling out on very expensive hair products that promise much but deliver little. Perhaps they are formulated for young hair? Grey hair is different but surely hair is basically the same stuff.
Sam McKnight seem engaging and experienced but why so expensive?This is the most I’ve spent on a hair product in a long time, Sarah. And it’s why I asked for Lindsey’s advice because she tries out lots of different products. And, also why I’ve asked for reader recommendations ( so keep an eye on the comments box). The pricing is to make this a ‘ prestige’ product, like Vidal Sassoon/ Jo Hansford/ other great hairdressers etc
As my hair went greyer I found myself using more conditioner AND switching to shampoo for dry hair . Finally I had a short haircut – after years of covering my ears because I was told that they stuck out too much . Under the dye it is now entirely white and doesn’t look straw-like . I don’t rinse out all the conditioner so that it becomes a styling aid .
NCR says:
I now skip conditioner and use a hair mask instead instead in the shower and use it like a conditioner, if dry will sometimes use perfect hair day hair repair to help. Hate to blow dry.
Sara says:
One product suggestion and one question/ query:
Product suggestion is Clairol’s Colour Wow Dreamcoat Supernatural Spray ( a real mouthful). My hair is all kinds of colours, doubtless including unruly grey, but covered still by colour. This product gives my ageing and hence drying hair a fabulous silky feel and appearance. Again, not dirt cheap but a little goes a very long way especially as it is used only once every 3-4 washes. I made the mistake yesterday of applying far too much, but by today, the excess has disappeared and my hair feels and behaves as (good) hair should, I.e it is smooth and feels pleasant to the touch.
Query: why is it important to appear as a “prestige” product? Should we automatically turn our noses up at something that is less expensive? Sounds to me as if there’s another campaign in the offing Alyson? Your wonderful ‘beach body bollocks’ over the pressure on women to conform to a false ideal body shape might morph into us not being swayed into believing that expensive equals best. Another slogan in mind?True, we know expensive doesn’t equal best – I have included the brilliant PRO:VOKE purple shampoo in the gallery which costs £4.49. Leave it with me, Sara…
Claudia says:
My gray-silver hair is dry, and I stopped using shampoo years ago. My stylist shampoos when I get a cut, but I use conditioner about once a week, then blow it dry. It took about ten days (brushing with a natural bristle brush to spread the natural oils), and then my scalp adjusted. I get lots of compliments.
Sarah P says:
The good news is that my greys are no more unruly than the rest. The bad news is that my formerly straightish hair turned curly once I hit perimenopause (7.5 years ago), so now the whole thing is unruly! I’ve tried various things to stop the short hairs from forming a halo of mini curls around my head and some products work for a few hours, but it never lasts. Humidity seems to make it worse, but the airflow on tube journeys also causes any hair I have smoothed to bounce back into a curly halo. Am I the only one whose hair completely changed at perimenopause?
Liza Green says:
I wish I had a recommendation to offer but whilst my grey doesn’t stick up, wish it did, my hair has gone flat and lifeless and altogether boring, certainly not the abundant voluminous locks I once had. Living proof used to make a fantastic proper hairspray that worked wonders so of course they stopped making it! Their other volumsing spray is more like a powder and leaves my hair feeling yucky. I’ve tried countless products and whilst the condition of my hair is good my bank balance isn’t! Thanks for these tips I may succumb yet again in desperation.
Cindy from Canada says:
My hair color is salt and pepper, and I use AG shampoo for silver hair (once a week) , best thing is it’s sulphate free. I also use Natulique hair pomade along with Moroccon Hair oil to style (both products are also sulphate free). These products are not expensive. As my hair is very short, I don’t use a hair dryer, I style and let dry naturally. A great haircut also helps.
Barbara Cotter says:
My tips for anyone with curly greying hair – After much trial and error I’ve landed on the wonderful Davines curl building serum which I scrunch into soaking wet hair before squeezing hair in a microfibre towel then drying lightly with a hairdryer. (I like my hair to look natural with undefined, wavy curls. My beauty standard is the untamed locks of a child – impossible now I’m almost 60, I know!)
Because my hair is long, I run some Oribe gold lust oil through the ends whenever I pass by the bottle! It gives my hair shine and it’s not heavy – any other oil is way too rich for my fine, curly hair (and I’ve pretty much tried them all). Maybe this dampens down the strays because I don’t really notice any.
I no longer spend on colour and I have my hair trimmed twice a year so justifying the expense of premium products. I also don’t really care which shampoo/conditioner I use though I do plonk a purple one on every now and again.
Oh and I wear a cap/hat when out in the sun to avoid the dreaded yellowing!Thanks for the recommendations, Barbara – a couple of curly-haired friends swear by Davines.
Mo says:
My natural hair colour has been going whiter and whiter since I stopped colouring it twenty years ago , aged 50.
My hair is very thick and I keep it in a pixie cut and always use Provoke shampoo mixed with Tresemme ( to avoid the old purple rinse effect!)
Weekly I use Aveda Botanical Repair leave-in conditioner. This tames unruly stray hairs but does not kill the natural bounce or shine.
I love the views and tips on this site.Goddessinthedetails says:
My hair, whether grey or brown, doesn’t misbehave but it is fine and there’s less of it since menopause. Can wholeheartedly recommend the Oribe thickening spray (not cheap though). Best shampoo I’ve ever tried was the Sisley Rituel Volumising one — in a sample from Space NK. The price is horrendous, though; can’t bring myself to ‘invest’ that much. I’m about to try Klean shampoo for hard water areas; I suspect the hardness of the water where I live is having its own detrimental effect. If it’s good, I’ll report back if anyone is interested.
caroline says:
Yes, please, do report!
I live in a hard water city in the U.S. My hair is horrendously frizzy and thinning on top. Not a good look. (Yup, doing the oral minoxidil/spironolactone; hoping it helps.)
Scrunching hasn’t worked for me so I’ve resorted to blending a little caster or Olaplex oil with a leave-in conditioner into wet hair and wearing a low ponytail until hair dries (takes hours but no good at blowdrying.) This procedure makes things smoothish, not great.Okay, reporting back to Caroline. –Used the Klean Hardwater Shampoo and Conditioner for the first time today. I must own up and say I don’t dry my hair very correctly – I just wrapped it in one of those turban things and then got so interested in other things I forgot to unwrap it for two hours. Sprayed with my usual Oribe volumiser and dried for a minute with the posh hairdryer that Alyson recommended (I bought it on the link). I think the volume is better than usual, the shine is good but I wouldn’t say my hair is totally without frizz and nor did I think the conditioner detangled my hair as well as the ‘Money’ mask I was using as a conditioner. However, I know if I had dried my hair more correctly, there wouldn’t be a frizz, as I’m not frizz-challenged.
Anne says:
Aveda has been my go to for years and now I use their Invati range which helps any hair loss or breakage. The Colour Renewal Conditioner just lifts the colour without covering my grey. Highly recommended products.
I use Miracle 10 shampoo, Daviness Heart of Glass conditioner-intense treatment halfwayrinse and use Daviness Volu spray on my roots for volume. On the recommendation of a hair care professional I am using a leave in conditioner, Loreal Elvive and it is working great. I am totally Grey with very fine dry straight hair. I live with hard water too, yet another challenge.
Nicola says:
Alyson you wrote an article a while ago in which Tan France recommended L’Oréal Elvive purple shampoo I find it excellent, stronger and cheaper than what I was using. I use John Frieda potions for frizzy hair days. But when out resort to just using hand cream to smooth which works perfectly on my hair equaling great hands and great hair!
Mrs Tonia says:
I’m pleased with the results using French brand Rene Furterer. One called Naturia, a mild shampoo. Also a conditioner by same brand. Good texture and manageable hair using these products. No purple shampoo ever on my salt and pepper grey hair. It was too drying. Also use of rubber bathing caps when swimming. This has really helped my hair. Plus use of straw hats and cotton baseball caps to keep my forehead and hair covered up. All of these things have helped the texture of my hair.
I also rate the french Phyto range of shampoos and conditioners. Using the gentle ones called Douceur at the moment. Pleased with this brand which I’ve used for many years.
Patrish says:
Put a bit of body lotion or hand cream on your hands and gently pat down the hairs that are sticking up. My hair has been very short and the bit of natural curl I have had all my life is gone now that my hair is white. (for 30 some years now).
When you know you have an hour or two before you need to be anywhere, or before bed, take a bit of the same moisturizer and run it through your hair and sleep on it.
From a formulating cosmetic chemist…..it works.Sometimes when I’m in a rush I run moisturiser or hand cream or whatever I’m using through my hair. Thanks for substantiating this technique, Patrish!
I forgot to add to the second bit….SHAMPOO after you cover your hair with moisturizer after it has time ‘to work’. Sorry.
And, chemically, most of the of the ingredients are similar to those used in hair preps. If the hair is really white, don’t use any moisturizing creams that have a yellow tint as the color may transfer. If your moisturizing creams are white, go for it!
Pippa says:
I don’t have short, sticky up hairs but I do get frizziness, particularly when it’s humid/raining. The best product I’ve found for managing this is Aveda’s Botanical repair leave-in conditioner. I’ve tried some of their other products and they don’t work as well.
The other thing I rate is (the now defunct) Nudge boutique’s delicious bar conditioner. I have one last bar (she closed it down at the end of last year) and I’m eking it out carefully.
Thank you for the other suggestions here – I’m not sure I’m brave enough to go shampoo-free, but I know many people swear by it so maybe I should give it a go. My father did it with his mane years ago, but it did go very yellow-y rather than snowy white.
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Before-and-after shots would be lovely!