BACKCOMB IN A BOTTLE - DO THEY WORK?

As you may or may not know (if you've read my hair care posts, you will!) I love a bit of backcomb for texture and volume...actually, I love it a lot. However, years of backcombing and brushing my hair causes stress and tension and believe me, your hair will break. 

I thought mine could withstand the day in day out, constant strain but I was so wrong and boy am I paying the price for it now. No one and I mean no one loves big hair as much as I do (I can promise you that) but after an eye opening realisation of the current state my hair has been reduced to because of doing this (as well as using heat products and extensions), my hair is quite frankly unrecognisable to what it used to be like. I know that sounds dramatic and I'm so lucky to have what I have - but I just want to warn you that if you backcomb - please, please stop or at least don't do it every day because even though you think you're not harming your hair as much as people tell you, you are and within 6 months, you'll be able to see the difference. I won't go into the damage clip in hair extensions have caused because THAT is a whole other story in itself which I will post about probably next week if you'd like to hear about it (let me know in the comments)! 

Anyways, back to the point of this post (sorry, I usually go off on a tangent!), because of my strict no backcombing vow (I'm trying to stick to!) I've decided to try a few products to give the same effect, just with less damage. Two of these products I've used for quite a long time in conjunction with backcombing my hair using a fine tooth comb, however I wanted to test what they are like alone - with no comb to help the process. The third product, I've only recently tried but I'll tell all below so keep reading!

 L'Oréal Paris Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray

The first product is the L'Oréal Paris Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray. I really like this product. Even though it says it acts as a backcomb in a bottle type spray, I'd say it is more for texture but I would sometimes use this to set the backcomb I'd manually create. I really find this product helpful to use all over the hair so that when I put it in a bun, it won't just slip out. This product is great on freshly washed hair, for the reason mentioned previously. Have you ever thought dry shampoo just isn't enough to provide the volume you need to keep it up all day? Turn your head upside down, spray this all through it and scrunch your hair with your hands and let it dry for a few seconds (with your head still upside down) and also spray a bit on your fringe (if you've grown your fringe out) upside down and scrunch that up too. Flip your head back and give it another spritz throughout and let that dry. Only a couple of seconds should do it for the drying process! I like to use this product not just on the ends but to the roots a little too. Not too much though because you don't want to block the follicles and stop them from breathing and consequently, growing. So overall, I do think this product works. It could give a little more texture and it would be great if the backcombing aspect properly worked but for £2.53 (on offer - usually it's £3.79) what more do you want!? Cheap and affordable and does the job, simple!

Schwarzkopf Got2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray

Okay, the second product is my holy grail hairspray which acts as a "freeze spray", called Schwarzkopf Got2B Glued Blasting Freeze Spray. You might have read about this product in a previous post of mine and if so, you'll know how much I love it! This one acts as a freeze spray (which is literally tornado proof) which gives you that extra bit of firmness than a usual hairspray. You know when a hairspray is described as "Extra Hold" or "Maximum Hold" - nothing has a stronger hold than this. I do also include a caution with this freeze spray - it dries your hair out - yes it brushes out as most hairsprays say they do, but when you brush out this one, you'll notice your hair can become very dry... At least if you use as much as I do!! This one not only works as a typical hairspray though, it works as a great backcomb & texturing spray. A great tip for achieving a backcombed effect with this hairspray with no physical backcombing with a comb is to simply:

1. Part your hair and where you'd normally use your comb, spritz the freeze spray in place and use the bottle, yes the bottle of this spray and wrap that piece of hair around it, placing the bottle in at the root where you have just sprayed. Wrap the hair around as if you are wrapping it round a velcro roller.
2. Hold the can in place so the freeze spray you've just applied to the hair is tightly wrapped around the freezing cold can. As the diameter of the can is larger than a typical normal can of hairspray, this makes the volume you're creating also larger. I'm quite rubbish at explaining this as you'll probably tell... Sorry!
3. Take the can away and there you have it, you have some serious volume going on without physically backcombing!

This product retails for approximately £2.60 in Savers and elsewhere like Boots, it's a little more expensive at about £4 odd. Still very affordable but I always get mine in Savers because I use so much of it!!

Quick Tease 15 Backcombing Finishing Spray by Redken

This next product is one which I purchased last week. It's the Quick Tease 15 Backcombing Finishing Spray by Redken. I have trouble purchasing this in stores so I purchased this on Amazon for £14.26 for 250ml. I was super looking forward to trying this product because I saw it on TV (I think it was on This Morning) and so I thought I had to give it a go! I have to say, although I really, really loved this product I probably wouldn't repurchase it because it didn't last me long at all. When I say it didn't last me long, I don't mean on my hair, I mean the product as a whole in the bottle didn't last long. Also it did a very similar job to the L'Oreal #TXT Volume Spray I spoke about earlier. It's very similar in product so by paying £11.73 more for this product, it's really not worth it. Unless you can afford to dish out nearly £15 everytime you come to the end of it (which I can't!) then I'd stick to the L'Oreal. However on the plus side this product acts as a finishing spray as well, so if you want the backcombed look, spray in at the roots but if you'd rather it just act as a finishing spray lightly dust your hair with it at the end of finishing your style. It  has a great hold and doesn't leave your hair looking sticky or looking like you have too much product in it. I think why it possibly didn't last me too long was because I was using it as a backcomb spray and a finishing spray so it was getting double use. Overall, great product; love the finishing spray aspect of it but for the price, I'd stick with the L'Oreal but if it was a bit cheaper (around £6/7), I would likely try this one again.

Hope this post was helpful to you if you're trying to choose a good backcomb product! I tried to keep this one as short as possible but you know me and my tangents, I can't help myself!!

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Thank you for reading!

Chloe xx

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