DIY HAIR SMOOTHING HACK: FOIL

When I was in high school, I discovered that if you rolled tin foil into a thin sausage, and then secured the two ends of the sausage into a circle, you had an instant bracelet. Like this:

2 x bangles, 1 x ring, 100% foil.

It was lifechanging! I didn’t need money to buy jewellery, which was lucky, because we didn’t have much growing up. But we did have aluminium foil, which meant infinite accessories were there for the making, courtesy of my parent’s kitchen drawer.

I went to one of Sydney’s rare uniform-free schools and would start my morning by rolling my foil bracelets and stacking them up my arm. But then I thought: why stop at bangles? There were chokers to be made. Three, one on top of the other. Anklets. Rings. I felt fabulous. Elevated. Very fashion. Dripping in silvery goodness. I was creative, shy and never felt like I really fit in. But my foil became my armour, and it was definitely more kitchen couture-vibes than tin hat.

 I haven’t made a foil accessory in a while, though I have always loved its sculptural quality (you can just as easily use it to cover a roast chicken as you can scrunch and mould it into a dog figurine. Why would you make a dog out of foil? Why WOULDN’T YOU? I say. Scroll to the end for evidence.).

Anyway, the main reason for this post is this: I was recently reading some of Sarah Jossel’s past beauty columns for Sunday Times Style. Sarah is a brilliant UK-based beauty editor and someone I admire. And she demonstrated a new use for foil which I found to be a revelation.

Foil. Can. Take. The. Frizz. Out. Of. Your. Hair.

It does this by removing static. It’s science. Similar to if you’ve ever had a static skirt and rubbed a metal spoon over your legs to kill the electricity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wob2PMAddE

Sarah Jossel's viral foil hack video. Simple, cheap, clever.

All you do is this:

1. Rip off a sheet of foil.

2. Grab a chunk of hair.

3. Wrap, pull and smooth (gently) from root to tip, as if your hair is a pole, and the foil is a small child sliding all the way to the bottom.

 

I tried it. I could not believe my eyes. It actually works. My hair is a very challenging texture. Fine but plentiful. Naturally curly but also sort of frizzy. Very fluffy. Woolly. My sister calls it fairy floss. Bordering on birds-nesty at times. I have been attacked on more than one occasion, by Mynah birds trying to extract a strand or two. Yes, really! In truth, I have been attacked by several winged creatures including, but not limited to: a bush turkey, a flock of seagulls, a flying cockroach and two bees (stung both times without provocation)... but I DIGRESS.

Hello, from the bird's nest.

I am forever trying to enhance my curl, zhush up the volume and tame the fluff. So I was very impressed with this foil hack. Will keep a sheet of foil on me at all times should humidity ever wreak havoc.

Of course I also have an entire arsenal of products that support my naturally bouffy state and these are a few of my favourites.

I discovered Unove on Amazon. It's a Korean brand and it's really good. Unove's Heating Guard No Wash Treatment is a surprising, balmy texture that instantly smooths and tames the hair, while delivering heat protection up to 200 degrees celsius. It is my new favourite. And the divine-smelling Silk Oil Essence Hair Serum is a dreamy, oil-based hair-smoother with a citrus-floral aroma, packed full of proteins and nourishers to smooth split ends and protect the hair. K-Beauty is so clever.

Joico Air Dry Cream Love this if I can’t be bothered to blow dry. I usually apply it after a night-time hairwash, air-dry my hair (not really the done thing to go to sleep with wet hair for a variety of reasons, but sometimes I wash my hair at midnight and it is too late to faff about). This works its magic while I sleep, is the perfect weight for my fine hair texture (doesn't weight it down) and I wake up with a really good, fairly tame base of natural air-dried curl to start from, come morning.  

Monat Curl Defining Cream An extremely good, silicone-free moisturising cream that helps to tame and define curls when added to damp hair before blowdrying, but also works beautifully on dry hair to add hydration and refresh curls. I love a good curl cream.

Goldwell Dry Spray Wax is incredible for adding volume and oomph, texture, definition and hold while leaving hair feeling soft. It brilliant. Gives the perfect zhush, every time. I'm on to my third tin of this, and shall never tire of it.

Moroccanoil Luminous Hairspray is the best hairspray I have ever used. It holds style, delivers glassy shine and leaves hair feeling natural, not crunchy. I am also somewhat obsessed with the Moroccanoil Glimmer Shine Spray which delivers out-of-this world gloss that seems to both enhance hair colour and give each strand a crystal-like sheen. It is superb.

I would look like a troll doll without all my hair products and I appreciate having an extensive product wardrobe to choose from, depending on my strand-strate, the weather, my mood. But, in a cost-of-living crisis, styling can be expensive.

I love the idea that you can also get results with household things you can find in a drawer. Look, I’m probably never going to mash an avocado and apply it to my face, mask-style. But a roll of tin foil, for just a few dollars, almost zero effort, and smooth, static-free locks? Sign me up. And then instead of throwing the foil away once you've used it, turn it into a dog.

Why not?