Maintaining luscious locks on a budget is a challenge many of us face, but hair care guru Kevin Murphy says you don't need a lot of money or time to achieve great results.
The Melbourne hair expert is behind the product line Kevin Murphy and boasts almost 40 years in the beauty industry, initially starting out as a hairstylist before launching his own range.
Murphy, 56, says a good shampoo and conditioner "is great", but if you don't have access to quality products then a basic leave-in conditioner that can nourish hair over time is the best thing to start with.
"The most important thing with the leave-in product is that you're going to feel up the cuticles because your hair tends to lose moisture than it gains it," he told Newshub.
"It's really hard for your hair to absorb moisture so you need to have something on the hair that you can leave in for 24 hours for it to become effective."
Murphy explains most of the time people will give their shampoo and conditioner only about a minute, but a leave-in supports actual results that can also control frizz.
He says second best to a leave in-product is fueling hair vitality with a dry shampoo.
"I think every woman needs a dry shampoo these days purely because women are expected have a fantastic career, maybe bang out a couple of kids and look fantastic all the time," he says.
A dry shampoo soaks up excess oil and can be a simple way of giving hair a refreshed appearance without going to the trouble of washing it.
Another idea, he says, would be to introduce a product that's going to add a bit of shine to the hair.
"It doesn't matter what your budget is, they're the three essentials. You can pretty much get around just using those three steps."
Murphy was working as a hairstylist in the 90s when he came up with an idea to start his own hair care line.
Dissatisfied with the results he achieved with what was available, Murphy says he started mixing his own formulas with skin care products, knowing he wasn't able to change any characteristics of the hair itself.
"I was getting better results using body lotions, skin toners to thin out the gels.
"A light went on in my head and I thought 'well if I am thinking this, there must be other people thinking this as well'."
He posed the question: "Why don't I make my own hair products?"
Murphy says getting the company to where it is now wasn't without a series of learning curves, including going broke three times and trusting others to help with running the company.
"I remember getting my first 500 bottles and thinking 'wow, I've made it, everyone's going to buy these products and this is going to be amazing', but not everyone bought them unfortunately, it wasn't so amazing, got some false starts."
Murphy brought on others to help grow his business and says he is proud to behind the internationally-known brand today.
The company has recently been acknowledged by the United Nations for its commitment to the environment and reusable plastic initiative, increasing retail prices by seven percent to bottle in reused plastic five times more expensive.
"What we thought was going to be cost-prohibitive has become a minor cost to how much you pay."
Newshub.
