We ladies tend to fuss over our hair like birds preening their feathers, but some of us take hair care to new heights. These everyday gift picks are perfect for the friend in your life who’s cuckoo over her tresses.
An on-the-fly frizz fighter
While the root touch-up looks like a blush brush, there exists another clever tool for hair care that resembles a makeup applicator. Packaged much like a tube of mascara, the John Frieda Full Repair Touch-up Flyaway Tamer comes complete with a wand for swiping a crystal-clear Inca Inchi Oil formula onto flyaways, frayed ends or unruly parts. Stash this sucker in your purse and pull it out whenever that widow’s peak your mom swears was a genetic gift starts giving you a hard time. Again (Amazon, $8).
A hairbrush de-gunker
Is the idea of raking the built-up hair and “debris” left behind on your brush kind of gross? Sure. Is it also slightly cathartic and something you do anyway? Absolutely. Save your friend the trouble (and ick factor) of having to de-gunk her favorite brush by hand — order her a Philip B Hairbrush Cleaner. Although these bad boys look a little like alien invaders capable of spontaneously latching onto your face, they’re totally safe and will help your friend’s hairbrush perform its best (Amazon, $15).
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A knot ninja
We can withstand the 400-degree heat from our flatirons and the arm contortion curling our own hair requires, but women can still be reduced to a whiny mess at the evil hands of a hair tangle. The Tangle Teezer Hairbrush is one of those nifty items you see your hairstylist use to do hair magic. Essentially a soft-bristled, handleless brush, this palm-sized tool glides through hair without pulling (Amazon, $13-$18).
Camouflage for roots
It certainly isn’t always feasible for a color-treated gal to book it to a salon at the first sign of regrowth, but that doesn’t mean she has to settle for the telltale juxtaposition of dark roots against chemically assisted color. Color Wow Root Cover Up looks a bit like a blush brush, but it doesn’t go on your cheeks. A professional powder compound, you swipe it on your roots to cover gray coming in or to camouflage dark regrowth. Voilà! Hair magic (Amazon, $35).
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An extra-hold hair spray that stays
It’s a common conundrum for women on the go: How do I get my hair to stay put without looking like it was cast in a resin mold? What you need is a hairspray that isn’t too stiff or sticky — one that will keep your hair looking as flawless all day as it did when you styled it in the morning.
There’s a reason L’Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray has been a beauty staple for the better part of six decades now — it works. Before it became available in the U.S. in 2008, hairstylists actually smuggled it in from Europe, so you know it must be worth its weight in gold (Amazon, $15).
An at-home shine treatment
Hair never looks more lustrous and shiny than it does after a gloss treatment at the salon, but who has time for that every day? Give your tress-obsessed friend the gift of sheen with an at-home shine treatment like John Frieda Luminous Color Glaze Clear Shine. Since this snazzy box treatment doesn’t contain any color, it can be used on any hair shade — natural or otherwise — for a daily dose of dazzle. Perk? Your hair gets shinier the more you use it (Amazon, $10).
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