Beauty editors and celebrities such as Rachel Weisz and Rosie Huntington Whitely have been turning to Northwood for hair advice for years (The Independent/iStock)
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Anyone who can count Meghan Markle as one of their clients is a winner in our eyes and George Northwood has been tending to the duchesses thick and shiny locks for years – he was even responsible for her wedding evening updo in 2018.
But it’s not just Meghan who has given him her royal seal of approval – beauty editors and celebrities such as Rachel Weisz and Rosie Huntington Whitely have been turning to him for hair advice for years. He also made “the Alex” famous – an effortless, undone bob – which he gave to a then upcoming TV presenter, and now fashion trendsetter, Alexa Chung.
So, when we found out he’d launched a hair care range called Undone we knew we had to get our hands on it, and into our hair, pronto.
The hair care line consists of 20 products, from shampoos, conditioners, sprays and styling tools. The shampoo and conditioners come in four different collections, based on your hair care needs. Northwood’s Undirty shampoo and conditioner range is for those who wash their locks every day, Unparched is for dry hair, his Undamaged products are for those who have colour damaged locks, and lastly Unpolluted helps to strip hair of unwanted build-up and protect against pollution.
He’s also thought about after we step out of the shower too – with a moisturising cream and two sprays – one for volume and another to hold waves in place. The stylist says: “The range is called Undone because this reflects my signature style, but I also wanted to ‘undo’ the maze of hair. Over the years I have tried every hair product on the market.
“I was committed to ensuring that my range is formulated with the very best quality ingredients and I have worked hard to ensure my formulations are efficacious and able to challenge the very best products that are currently on the market”.
With our hair needing some serious TLC in the middle of lockdown we put his Undirty shampoo and conditioner to the test while we were in the shower and we also smothered the moisturising cream on our locks afterwards. But did it give us celebrity worthy hair? Read on to find out.
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Packaging
Any beauty obsessive knows that the packaging is key to make a product stand out – and George Northwood’s is no exception. The two-toned silver and light green cylinder-shaped bottles, with an attractive paint effect, have a friendly and stylish look to them and were an aesthetically pleasing addition to our bathroom.
We love the capitalised lettering on the bottles – which we felt rounded off the appearance and gave them an edgy look. The pops of colour on the bottles, which are also 100 per cent recyclable, really stand out too, with bright colours highlighting the different products.
The only thing we disliked was the dispensers – the black push down pumps were slightly sticky to use – after one pump it took them a while to pop back up, meaning we stood there waiting for more product while dripping wet.
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All of George Northwood’s products are made from vegan formulations and have no sulphates, while the Undirty shampoo and conditioner are packed with fermented mineral ingredients which are said to add tons of hydration, shine and even help to de-frizz our locks – perfect. The first thing we noticed with the shampoo was that it didn’t lather as much as most others do. This is normal with sulphate free shampoos, and we did use more than the coin-sized amount that the instructions referred to, but despite this, we felt as though it gave our hair and scalp a thorough clean. Designed for everyday use, the shampoo had a clear consistency but never felt too heavy on our locks – which is a plus if you’re applying it seven days a week. The first time we blow dried our hair we could see a slight difference in how healthy it looked, while it took a few more washes to see a visible change in its shine and volume. Our hair possibly needed a few washes to clear away the other products we’d been using on our hair.
Northwood again advises you to run a coin-sized amount of conditioner, which has a silky texture and a thin consistency, through the mid-lengths of your hair and then massage it down to the ends. We normally opt for thicker conditioners, as our hair is on the fuller side, but this gave a good coating with just a small amount. We loved the smell of the shampoo and conditioner too, which had hints of flowers and berries but wasn’t overbearing like some products for the hair. After blow drying, we’d normally have to wait a few hours for our hair to settle into its style and for some of the frizz from the hot air to disappear, but after a few washes using this conditioner, our hair looked really sleek straight away after drying.
The main ingredients in this moisturising cream is beetroot complex, which is said to increase volume, while also making hair easier to brush. Like the conditioner, you’re instructed to use only a tiny amount in your hair – and we agree, the small amount of product felt like enough as we spread it over our tresses after towel drying. Some creams can feel sticky, but this one felt more like a moisturising cream you’d use on your skin, with the same great smell as his shampoo and conditioner. A bonus was that it didn’t leave any residue on our hands. As we brushed through our damp hair, we found it was less tangled than it normally was, which meant less breakage – a major plus for our easily breakable locks. A week later, we loved the volume and hydration in our hair that the cream, as well as the shampoo and conditioner, have created. In lockdown, our hair is normally tied up and hidden away but these products have given our hair a new lease of life.
He’s been running his fingers through the hair of celebrities for years and it really shows in this new hair care line. Northwood has taken time to understand what women want when it comes to hair – with the result being lightweight products that feel really nourishing and give you just the thing we’re all looking for during lockdown – shiny and voluminous locks. Starting from just £12, we also love how affordable the products are considering it’s a celebrity stylist line. If you’re insistent on washing your hair every day, the Undirty range is a great investment for clean shiny locks, while the moisturising cream does wonders for frizzy and easily breakable hair.
