Want thicker, fuller hair? Yes please Swell

It’s not often I get excited about a hair product. In fact the last time I wrote about anything hair related, was conditioning oil for unruly beards, something I have a vested interest in, Dr husband! But on the discovery of a hair care regime that means I don’t have to wash my hair for 3 days, I couldn’t help but write about it. Anything that makes life that little bit easier. You maybe the lucky sort who has hair that can be left for a week, but if you have thin straggly hair, like mine, that only looks fresh for about an hour after it’s been blow-dried, then you’ll appreciate Swell.

I met Andrew Bidwell, co-founder of Swell, back in September at a The Bloggers Hangout Fashion Week Beauty Bar. Known as the King of Extensions, he is one of the top hair stylists in the UK, and has appeared on Gok Wan’s How to Look Good Naked. He currently works in W1, London at the Atherton Cox Salon. Andrew took pity on me, and offered to blow dry my hair to give it volume. First he sprayed it with his Ultimate Volume Root Complex, which is designed to give nourishment to the follicles to give roots immediate uplift. Whilst working on my hair he noted that my hair washing technique wasn’t up to scratch. I didn’t mention that with a 16 month old, it was a definite positive if my hair was washed at all! Dry clean ends with greasy roots, was the cause of my limp hair that night, plus cheap shampoo full of goodness knows what ingredients. So he kindly gave me the following top tips:

• We need to be washing our hair at the roots and the scalp from underneath and not the top of our heads. The suds created when you rinse will clean the ends of your hair.
• Don’t over scrub, this creates oiliness at the roots.
• Rinse thoroughly.
• Conditioner only needs to be applied to the ends of the hair not to the roots.
• Don’t wash your hair everyday.

Of course, he did an amazing job of my hair that night. That didn’t surprise me, he is a professional hairdresser after all. But whilst chatting to him, he told me all about Swell and I was intrigued. Swell’s shampoo, conditioner and root complex are designed for people with fine, limp and thinning hair to give condition as well as volume. They contain several wonder ingredients, including: Peruvian Maca that stimulates hair growth by 93%, and Swiss Apple, which reduces hair loss by 50%. There are also no silicone nasties to weigh your hair down.

Swell were kind enough to send me the Complete 3-step System, Ultimate Volume Shampoo, Ultimate Volume Conditioner and Ultimate Volume Root Complex, which I have used for several months now. Here’s my verdict:

N4 Mummy Loves

• 2 days of super fresh clean hair, that looks and smells like you’ve just washed and blow-dried it. (3 days if you are happy to put your hair up on that last day.)
• Volume! After I blow dry it, my hair stays lifted and has life. The days of limp, lifeless, greasy hair are over.
• The smell! I particularly love the aroma of the Ultimate Volume Conditioner, it’s from pure essential oils, luxurious. Though at £28 for 250ml I’d be disappointed if it didn’t have a good smell.
• No testing on animals.
• No Parabens or chemical build-up.
• Minimum of 97% natural formula, so no silicones, which make you hair appear shiny but then weigh it down.

Home Truths

• It’s not cheap! £79 for the Complete 3-step System is an investment. But after nearly 3 months of use I am less than a ¼ of the way through each 250ml bottle, so it will last. There is a trial pack that’s just £23.50, which would be a good place to start.
• Less is more, if you put too much of the shampoo or conditioner on your hair it will weigh your hair down.
• They say to use the Ultimate Volume Root Complex everyday, but I only use it when I’ve washed my hair and I’ve still seen a massive difference in the volume of my hair.