How to get Dawn French shiny hair?

[Scifi101]

What products do you need to use?

I think a lot of it is genetic, but these things are staples for me, and I have really shiny hair:

Herbal Essences Dazzling Shine shampoo and conditioner (lime green bottles)
John Frieda Frizz Ease serum.
Straighteners

The darker your hair the shinier it will be. I used to have really dark brown hair that had a proper mirror shine. It was amazing It’s lighter brown now and I can still get nearly as much shine but I have to work harder for it. I use a LOT of conditioner and leave it in as long as I can. Once a week when I don’t have to be anywhere I shove loads of conditioner (like a quarter of a bottle) onto my DRY hair and leave it in as long as I can- pref overnight or all day.

It works for me.

I used to have a bob like DF's (now my hair is wash and go short). I never got it looking consistently lovely, but I found it helped not to use conditioner more than once every three or four washes, and to dry carefully and slowly with a drying brush....my usual style is to blast with a hot blow dryer to be quick, but that's no good for shine.

My problem with conditioner is my hair is very fine, and conditioner builds up and causes dullness. I think if your hair is thick enough to need the frizz ease stuff then probably conditioner is ok.

Yes. I have LOADS of hair.
Hairdressers usually need a break halfway through it

Semi permanent colour made mine really shiny

Love the idea of Dawn French being on MN and surreptitiously answering this ❤

Don't dye your hair (especially lightening/bleach)
Don't blow dry your hair or use straighteners except once in a while
Wash your hair less frequently - it will adjust
Treat it like spun silk
Silk pillowcase
Brush very very gently.
This is the way to a natural shine. Of course you can blow with a red-hot dryer, use all sorts of chemical finishes and straighteners and you will have shiny hair - for a day, or half a day. It's a faux shine though (as such) and won't last. Naturally shiny hair is hair in very good condition (plus, luck to have a straighter hair type with flat-lying cuticles).

But if you want a quick fix shine, OGX's Argan Oil of Morocco Weightless Dry Oil spray will give hair an amazing shine to a finished style (plus, it's organ oil so good for the condition too). Go easy and not too much or it will look greasy, but if you can perfect the minimum spray for maximum shine and no greasy look it's a winner

Thanks everyone. I don't have brown hair but I am going to give the products suggested a go!

Best conditioner please? My hair is needing TLC.

Cold water final rinse - as cold as you can bear .
Really works

I have really shiny hair. Going against the grain to previous advice as I blow-dry it almost every day, and never use conditioner. I take an msm supplement which I think makes a difference, but I have also never dyed my hair.

Colour it dark. Get a fringe. Olaplex, or similar, treatment. Straighten the heck out of it. Glossing spray or an oil to finish.

That's how you get the shiny glass look, like Claudia Winkleman or Dawn. I don't like my hair very straightened but a hair dresser did it so he could blunt cut the ends perfectly and it was like silk. To the point where it was so gleaming under bright lights that it was difficult to look at properly. He sectioned it all so every single strand was straight. Was a bit wiggy for my tastes but that shine was impressive.

For 'normal' shiny hair, a good moisturising hair mask every 2-3 weeks and a protein or strengthening one every 4-6 weeks really helps. Running straighteners lightly through the top part to smooth it, if you're having it fairy straight, is good. Cold rinse to finish. Cold blast with hair dryer at the end of styling. Oil in ends before and after styling.

Ah by 'normal' I meant natural. Couldn't think of the right word.

Enid- if you want the shine without the wigginess- straighten it in sections like he did till it’s mirror shiny, then use the straighteners to add just enough wave/movement at key points to break up the block of it :)

My all time favourite conditioner for shine is the one that comes in the Nice & Easy permanent dye boxes. I wish they did that in litre bottles.