Review: Achieving Big Hair with Bumble & Bumble Pret-a-Powder

While many of you may brandish the straightening irons on a daily basis, my days of sleek, smooth locks are long gone. I'm not saying that every day is a bad hair day - though I definitely have my fair share of those - but that nowadays, I'd much rather plump for bouncy, voluminous hair with a bit of a wave or a curl.

Achieving lasting volume is no mean feat. Over the years, I've tried root-boosting sprays, mousses and powders alike, but the goal has never quite been in easy reach. Many of them - much like my hair - fell flat, leaving my hair limp and crispy with product. Or worse still, they left me with greasy-looking locks, despite having just stepped out of the shower. The closest I ever came to success was the TreSemme plumping powder, which when sprinkled into the roots and rubbed in, gave me the big hair I'd always dreamed of. It wasn't long, however, until my hair began to feel sticky and greasy, so much so that I'd race straight to the shower each evening after work to wash it out. So, it's fair to say that when the Bumble & Bumble Pret-a-Powder came onto my radar, I wasn't exactly racing to Boots, eager to join the queue.

Months later, things changed, and after hearing a torrent of complimentary conversations about the hair powder, I finally caved and bought it.

Bumble & Bumble Pret-a-Powder claims to be equal parts dry shampoo, style extender and volume, which immediately sets it apart from the other hair powders on the market. Priced at £21.50 for 56g, it's far from cheap, but given that you get the benefits of oil absorbency and volume all in one, it's a product that's worth a few moments of any beauty lover's time. If, like me, you are still putting off learning to blow dry your hair properly, or like most of us, you simply don't have the time, then Pret-a-Powder will be your best friend, adding extra oomph to lacklustre locks, and filling in the gaps between washes. 

To use, I sprinkle liberally through my roots and massage in with my fingertips, and hey presto, big hair is mine. You can use a fair amount of product before you start to look as though you've been antiqued, which means that you can go a little bit crazy in your bid for extra oomph, should your style require it.

While I don't find the volume this provides to last all day per-se, all it takes is a quick scrunch of the roots to get things looking as they should again. I tend to do this several times throughout the day, and never find it necessary to apply any more product once my hair is styled. Pret-a-Powder does an excellent job of freshening up day-old hair, and I keep a bottle in my handbag for those moments when you catch sight of yourself in the mirror and have a sudden urge to run home and start again.

In spite of the price, this has become a hair-styling staple for me, and although the bottle is a little bit on the small side, it seems to last a remarkably long time. It's ideal for anyone with oily, fine or lacklustre hair, and it definitely gets the seal of approval from me.

What are your favourite volumising products? Are there any other Bumble & Bumble products you can't live without?

xx

Umberto Giannini Incredible Body Big Hair Volume Styling Set

Now if ever there was a fan of big hair, it would be me. While my hair is quite thick, it lacks that natural volume and oomph I so desire, so I was delighted to be sent the Umberto Giannini Incredible Body Big Hair Volume Set* (bit of a mouthful!) to try just before Christmas. I've always enjoyed using this brand, and find the products really reasonably priced for the quality, so I was eager to put these goodies to the test and see what they could do for me. 

Sorry about the grainy photos today, but I really struggled with the lighting when taking these photos, as it was a particularly dark and dreary day!

The set consists of the Volume Blow Dry Spray and Full Volume Hairspray, both designed to give hair the boost it needs to take on a glamorous night out, as well as all the styling tools you could possibly need to help you achieve the look.

The Incredible Volume Blow Dry Spray is spritzed onto both the roots and lengths of damp hair before blow-drying. It has a really pleasant, 'just-stepped-out-of-the-salon' smell, and left my hair voluminous and bouncy, without a hint of crispiness in sight. My locks felt so much more manageable after use, and as an added bonus, fly-aways were also kept at bay.

To achieve a full-on Hollywood hair-style, I sectioned my hair with the clips provided and backcombed the roots using the specialist brush I received as part of the kit. I then finished with the Full Volume Hairspray to keep things in place. Again, this smells pleasant and there was no crispiness or dryness to contend with - just weightless, shiny hair that was easy to control.

For me, the Full Volume Hairspray is the star of this set, as even when used alone, my hair stayed perfectly in place, seeing me through the whole of the next day and right up until the next wash. I also had my mother try this one out for me (her hair is much finer and more fly-away than mine) and even after a two-hour walk in strong wind on a damp day, her hair was still in place, without a hint of frizz in sight. She was really impressed with this one, and has already bought her own bottle!

The Incredible Volume Blow Dry Spray is a lovely product too and works well before a night out, but needs to be used in conjunction with the backcomb brush if you want to wake up with big hair again the next day.

In all, I think this is a lovely set, and it really does provide you with everything you could need for big hair.

The RRP of this set was £16.00, but as far as I can see, it's unfortunately no longer available. However, you can still get your hands on everything that was inside this box - the sprays retail at £5.49 each (for 200ml) from Boots (a price at which I'd be perfectly willing to repurchase), and if you fancy getting your hands on some UG styling tools, try this set - for £8, you get a backcomb brush, rollers, a hair pin, grips and hair clips! 

Keep your eyes peeled for a FOTD post coming up, complete with big hair created using these products.

Have you tried any of the products from the Incredible Body range?

What's your favourite product from Umberto Giannini?

xx

Top Picks for Big Hair

I don't know about you, but I am forever in pursuit of big hair. I'm not talking enormous beehives, but I can't live without a bit of volume in my hair, whether I'm wearing it curly, wavy or straight. I just find that it suits me a zillion times better, and I will not be embracing the flat-to-the-scalp looks I have been seeing around of late for anyone.

So, without further ado, here are my favourite products for giving my hair that extra bit of oomph.

Batiste Dry Shampoo

Everyone knows about Batiste dry shampoo. Some of you love it, some of you hate it, but there's no denying it gives the hair a boost as well as soaking up excess oil. What's not to love?

Just spray it into the roots of your hair, rub it in and leave it for a couple of minutes before brushing out any white residue. I sometimes spray it beneath the top layer of my hair so that I don't need to brush it out, and that way my hair stays all the more voluminous.

I'm yet to try the XXL version but it's currently at the top of my shopping list, so I'm sure that it will soon be replacing the normal stuff on my shelves.

Tresemme 24 Hour Body Root Boosting Spray

I like to spritz this into my roots before blow drying for some extra lift. This is great for when you want a more subtle look, rather than the enormous hair you might be after for a night out. There is also a mousse version of this, which I haven't got at the moment, but when I do I often scrunch some through my hair before using the spray. The two work together to boost your roots as well as leaving your locks looking well-groomed.

Tresemme 24 Hour Body Sky High Plumping Powder

This stuff really does the job. Sprinkle some into your roots and rub it in and big hair shall be yours. However, the unfortunate thing is that it is really rather sticky, and I do find that after a few hours my hair goes flat again and begins to look a little oily (probably from where I've been touching it and spreading it around). There's no getting away without washing your hair after you've used it, either.

Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Backcomb in a Bottle

Simply spray this through your roots and tease your hair into place. Personally, I like to give my hair a quick manual back-comb after use, and I find that that the two work really well together. The spray holds the back-comb in place as well as providing some good volume of its own. Again though, you can't go a second day without washing your hair after you've used this.

So there you have it, my top picks for big hair. If any of you have any holy grail root boosting products then do let me know your favourites in the comments below.

Hope you're having a great week!

xx