Hair: Perfecting the "au naturel"

Spurred by these Rag & Bone campaign shots of Miranda Kerr (discovered via my friend Kimberley's lovely blog hopeful aspirations), coupled with my penchant for Facebook stalking a certain high school acquaintance who embodies effortless beauty and can't seem take a bad photo (dammit), I am encouraged to emulate their carefree aura by perfecting the "au naturel" hairstyle. (Long sentence, I know. Phew.)

It's an uphill battle for someone blessed with my frizzy, wavy, fluffy, all-round naughty head of hair. I have been putting a straightening iron to it since I was fourteen. I don't even want to think about how much time, after seven years, I have wasted singeing my poor locks with my beloved ghd.

So therein lies my new mission. To free myself from the time constraints of heat styling and my crippling fear of humidity. To embrace my hair's natural inclination. And to enhance it, to the best of my ability. (And by "my ability", I mean my talent for dousing my hair with product upon product upon product without rendering it a flat, crunchy mess.)

Yes, the irony of it all is that my definition of "au naturel" is not, unfortunately, natural at all. Nor is it effortless. It's simply the absence of heat tools. Baby steps, but a feat, for me, and I will applaud myself for making it, thank you very much.

So, where to start...

1. No sulphates. I have been embracing sulphate-free shampoo for almost a year and it's fabulous. So much more gentle and kind to my scalp and hair follicle! Living Proof No Frizz Shampoo is brilliant.

2. Hair mask as a conditioner. A young hairdresser with enviable hair gave me this tip earlier this year, and I have been following it ever since. My hair has been so silky and smooth! The trick, of course, is to only use the mask through the ends of the hair, and nowhere near the roots (or it will look greasy). My shower houses a big tub of the Kiehls Olive Oil Hair Pak. 

3. Mousse. I never even considered adding mousse to my regime until I read Amazing Face, in which Zoe Foster sternly advises it should be a staple for every self-respecting hair maven. I use a Goldwell one and I love it.

4. Bumble and bumble. New York hair salon brand Bumble and bumble is so cool and pretty that I can't resist their products... so, naturally, I own about 50 of them. (Not quite, but close.) With bB, it's all about layering, so the wishlist is never-ending. I intend upon using, in order: prep, styling lotion, grooming creme, (un)dressing creme and brilliantine. All amazing. You can see the (un)dressing creme weave its magic here:

And that's it. No more heat styling (unless it's a special occasion, or there is some kind of disaster, or I feel like it... I'll be honest, I'm not great at self-discipline). Wish me luck! 

Have you tried ditching the heat stylers? Do you have any tips and tricks for chic, pretty "au naturel" hair? Are you as besotted with Miranda Kerr's new campaign as I am? 

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