This Hair Smoothing Balm Is A Sleek Bob Holy Grail
November is upon us, which means the shopping Olympics have commenced. Whether you’re a Black Friday master or a nervous newcomer, you’re in the right place. This year, you won’t succumb to the perils of the impulse purchase, but rather navigate the fashion and beauty sales like a true expert. Avoid the overwhelm and join ELLE UK's Senior Shopping Editor daily as she reveals the one single thing you need to see from the behemoth November sales. We promise you’ll emerge with your sanity intact (and some very good purchases under your belt).
Ah, the bob. The chin-skimming chop that first shocked society in early 1900s Paris, and signalled a sensual new wave of liberation with the flappers in the 1920s. Fast forward to 2024, where my fluffy, frizzy bob forced my mother to act – as in, attack my hair with the smoothing hair balm she swears by.
I’ve kept my hair above my shoulders for almost two decades. I’ve written about my F-O-M-C, ‘fear of meeting collarbones’, before. But it’s been through the wars: botched by teenage dye jobs, sizzled from past-it straighteners, exposed to the elements, sun and sea. Keeping it sleek has been an enduring challenge. I want the polished hair of Erdem’s SS25 models, the sharp silhouette of Gigi Hadid on Versace’s catwalk, the powerful bounce without the crash landing split ends of a JW Anderson model’s bob.
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When I was last at home and sitting at the table for breakfast, I felt hands pull in quick motion through my midlengths. Turns out my mum had had enough of staring at my frizz too, and had taken the matter of my not-so-sleek bob into her own hands. Looking in the handheld mirror in the stark morning light, the difference was quite staggering. My hair looked slick but not heavy with product, textured without looking bulky. It felt light and smelled good.
Happy Endings Nourishing Balm
Enter: Sam McKnight's Happy Endings Nourishing Balm. This styling and conditioning balm from the celebrity fave hairstylist works to seal up split ends, leaving your hair smooth and shiny. The Pro-Vitamin B5 and Shea Butter, as well as the mushroom-derived Chitosan microcapsules in the ingredients put in the work. The scent is of frankincense, juniper wood and water lily. Think of it as both a style finisher and a haircare holy grail – a vegan, sulphate and paraben-free one too.
My mum – begrudgingly – lent me her travel-size bottle that she covets from her Liberty Advent Calendar, but I quickly added the full-size product to cart. It’s now a must-have product in my toiletries bag: a way to smooth a curly bob in the summer heat and a silkier look that’s straight and pinned behind my ears in winter, staying put when the hat comes on and off.
Regardless of your hair length or concerns, you can build a full haircare routine to keep it looking healthy and strong season after season. Keep your hair trimmed regularly, and seek out tried and tested (by team ELLE UK, naturally) fixes like hydrating masks, and give more innovative products like glycolic-acid hair treatments and Lamellar waters a whirl. Need an even quicker fix? Briogeo’s Yuzu + Plum Oil Sleek Stick will lock any chic bun or high ponytail into place. The hype is real and justified for brands like Color Wow too, and its Dream Coat Supernatural Spray (currently on sale!) is a heavy-duty frizz fighting saviour.
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