Since turning 60 on Monday (20 January), we've been more obsessed than ever with channelling Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh's youthful style secrets.
And, after stepping out last night (Thursday 23 January) for a Royal Corps of Army Music dinner, we've been dying to know how she achieved her natural yet age-defying hairstyle.
Sophie's blow-dry look is voluminous without being stiff, and retains a face-framing natural wave. The volume in her hair pulls it up and away from her face for a fresh, lifted feel, of the kind we often see on stars including Gillian Anderson.
Luckily, we knew just the person to ask about how to create Sophie's look at home - award-winning hair stylist Heather King from Ena Salon.
"Sophie's hair looks simply effortless and healthy, and there are a variety of different methods you can choose from to achieve Sophie’s style, including rollers, round brush and hair dryer or a styling tool like a Dyson AirWrap," says Heather.
"A top tip to make sure you achieve the same gorgeous volume, is to start at the root and lift your hair while turning your brush – lifting up will give you the volume," Heather continues. "If you pull the hair down, you will likely end up with flat hair."
The real secret behind Sophie's fabulous hair however, is starting with a good 'canvas', as Heather explains.
"Healthy hair is always going to look fresh and youthful when styling, especially when it's a bouncy blow dry or loose beach wave," she says. "Just like with makeup, you always start with skincare - the better your canvas, the better the makeup (or in this case, hairstyle) will be."
So, what can you use to ensure you have a good base to style from?
"Healthy hair starts in the shower, and products like K18’s Detox Shampoo will help give you a clean canvas, without damaging scalp or hair health, while a leave-in molecular repair mask from the same brand will help rebuild and repair hair from the inside out," advises Heather.
Good Housekeeping's beauty and lifestyle writer Maddie Evans also recommends a few products which she uses whenever she's looking to add volume and achieve a longer-lasting blow-dry.
"The Shark SmoothStyle hot brush gives my hair a fresh-out-the-salon look thanks to the innovative suction technology," says Maddie. "Or, there’s also the classic Revlon volumiser which is an absolute bargain that still gives your hair a respectable amount of volume."
Heather also recommends the ghd Rise tool, saying, "ghd also do a great brush tool which I like as it gets nice and hot – but whichever tool fits your budget should help do the trick."
Revlon Revlon Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumiser
schwarzkopf Schwarzkopf got2b Glued Blasting Freeze Spray 300ml
"I would recommend pairing any of the above with a good hairspray. For me, that’s the Got2b Glued," adds Maddie.
