Christmas is a great time to consider changing your hair colour – a new shade is the ultimate party accessory, and a great way to give relatives something to talk about! Just before you reach for the peroxide though, make sure you choose a shade that’ll compliment your skin tone.

If you’re feeling brave, then how about purple? This season’s hottest colour doesn’t just have to be for clothes, for the truly daring why not opt for something like in the picture? Drastic yes, but you could always dye it back to a more natural shade in the new year, and this cut will look great with any colour. Be sure to go to a salon for this though – it’s definitely not a do it yourself job.

Generally though, it’s about subtlety, think muted, not peroxide blonde, and warm light brown tones, like toffee, butterscotch and honey.

Finally, don’t forget to invest in a good colour protect shampoo and conditioner, to keep your hair looking tip top. Try Paul Mitchell’s range of Colour Protect Daily Shampoo and Conditioner, now reduced at HQ Hair.

Natural products are great for giving your hair a rest from all the harsh chemicals in some shampoo and conditioner, and they always seem to smell much nicer for having natural ingredients in.

Modern Organic Products (MOP) make their products using not only all-natural, food based ingredients, but organic too – good for you and the environment.

Their Mixed Greens Shampoo and Coniditioner is perfect for this time of year, as it’s specially designed to give extra moisture to try hair. It contains Olive Oil, which as we all know is the ultimate ingredient to inject moisture into hair. It also has Organic Apple Cider Vinegar which is great for removing any chemical build up and residue left in hair by other products.

MOP Mixed Greens Shampoo and Conditioner cost £9.45 each and are available from Boots online or instore.

Traditionally, shampoo comes in a liquid form, in a bottle. Some are thicker than others, but it’s all definitely liquid. Well being the innovators that they are, cosmetics company Lush have developed the solid shampoo. It looks and feels exactly like a bar of soap, but you use it on your hair! Simply lather it up in your hands as you would soap, and then rub into your hair, and simply rinse off!

There are more than ten different varieties, from The Blonde (pictured) which, as the name suggests, will restore faded blondes to their former glory, at there’s even one called Hard, which is specially developed for people who live in hard water areas to help reduce the effects of hard water on hair.

If you look after your shampoo bar properly by keeping it dry (Lush also make a handy shampoo bar tin), then it should last for about 70 washes. They range in price from £3.50 to £5.25, which is pretty good value considering how long they last, and as with all Lush products only natural ingredients are used and they’re not tested on animals.

Have a look in your local Lush store or online and embrace the solid revolution!

Despite the fact that it rains all time, winter results in dry everything – dry skin, dry lips, and dry hair. During the winter the best plan is to use a shampoo that’s specifically designed to protect damaged hair everytime you wash your hair, helping it to maintain moisture and ultimately prevent it from getting too dry in the first place.

Products with natural ingredients are great for this as using it frequently means you won’t be coating your hair in any chemicals and it won’t lose any of it’s natural oils. Original Source are made with all sorts of lovely smelling things that do wonders for your hair and use 100% natural oils, with no synthetic fragrances. Their Almond and Coconut Deep Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner will make your hair smell delicious, will nourish it, and is mild enough to use all winter, and cost a very reasonable £1.99 each.

Natural Source products are available in most Boots and Superdrug shops.

These days it’s really easy to get hold of products that are free from chemicals, but sometimes they can fall a little short in the smell and image stakes. Realising this, Face Boutique decided to launch a range of products that look great, smell great, are free from chemicals, and do the job.

Their Hair Laundry Shampoo and Conditioner keep things simple with one product for all hair types. The lack of any chemicals means that you can use it as often as you like and not worry about damaging your hair or stripping it of it’s natural oils. It’s mild formula contains fruit oils which are all naturally source so there’s nothing nasty in it. The conditioner is great for repairing split ends and will also nourish the scalp. They cost £9.50 each.

You can get these products and the rest of the Face Boutique range at their website.

Molten Brown have launched a great range of haircare to go with their other luxury products that include handwash, makeup and skin care.

They’ve kept it simple and have four different kinds of shampoo that target different hair troubles. There’s purifying plum-kadu that cleans your hair of general dirt and pollution, radiant lili-pili refreshes the scalp and leaves hair with a brilliant shine, moisture-drench rosella untangles hair and moisturises, and de-stressing pandano is a cream shampoo for colour-treated or permed hair. There is also a conditioner to go with each one, giving your hair the complete treatment it needs, no matter what type it is.

There are also some deep-cleansing products for repairing hair.

Molten Brown are infamous for their wonderfully fragrant products, and I imagine their hair care range will be no different, meaning you’ll be able to smell their wonderful scents all day!

The shampoos and conditioners cost £16 each and all the products are available from Molten Brown online or instore.

Whilst the fringe revolution marches on, I’m constantly looking for a product that will keep my fringe looking clean and shiny without having to wash my hair every day. Dry shampoo has to be one of the best new products in recent years, but sadly not all of them work. However, I’m more than happy to trust supermodel Erin O’Connor, and she’s teamed up with legendary hair care company Toni & Guy to produce a range of products including a Quick Fix Dry Shampoo.

Packaged as a sleek aerosol can, it’ll slip in your handbag and all you need to do is give your fringe a quick spray to refresh it. The spray removes any excess oil that gives your fringe a limp, greasy look and gives it some extra volume.

At £5.49 it’s not the cheapest product available, but as I’ve discovered, the cheaper ones simply don’t do the job, and for the best results you have to go with the experts. Available from Boots online or instore.

We’ve all heard that olive oil is good for your hair, but personally I’ve always been a bit scared to try it incase it wouldn’t rinse out and my hair ended up, well, oily. Luckily, The Body Shop have produced their Olive Glossing Shampoo. It contains olive leaf extract rather than oil, which makes hair glossy as well as helping to protect hair from damage. And, because it’s The Body Shop, you can lather up guilt free, as the oil is sourced from a co-operative in Italy, making sure that it’s top quality and the producers get a fair cut of the profit.The shampoo also contains organic honey which moisturises and conditions the hair.

There’s also a conditioner, which does contain organic olive oil which gets right inside the hair to condition and nourish, as well as protect.

If you fancy trying it, the shampoo and conditioner are available in a small 60ml size which contains enough for 3 or 4 washes, and perfect for taking on holiday.

Find it at The Body Shop online or in store.

While flicking through my weekly magazine at work I came across a product by Tommy Guns that I simply had to try out! It is pomegranate & orange flower shampoo and smells absolutely beautiful in my opinion. It is a daily shampoo that is extra gentle for those of you that have sensitive skin. It is full of antioxidants and contains a shine boosting formula that really makes your hair look healthy and feel fabulous.

The shampoo really cleanses your hair and scalp and you’ll feel totally revitalised. If the shampoo takes your fancy you may also be interested in the Pomegranate Orange Flower & Hemp Conditioner, it is also gentle enough for daily use and can be used on all hair types. The hemp in the conditioner smooths and moisturises and the orange Flower helps bring out your hairs natural shine.

Both the shampoo and conditioner are available at Boots for £4.99 each, you can also check out the Tommy Guns website for more information.

Have you had your hair cut off and so wished you hadn’t? I did it last year. In a mad moment I said to my hairdresser just cut it off, so she did! My neat, shoulder-length bob was transformed into a short, cropped style which I liked at the time, but it soon grew out of style and I regretted having the snip. I looked on the Internet to find something, anything that would make it grow; I didn’t find anything and have had to wait months for it to grow out.

This product caught my eye so I thought I should share it with any of you who are looking for the same thing. FAST is a product to increase hair growth on existing hair, it isn’t a hair loss product. It claims that if you use the product every day, and your hair normally grows 1 inch per month, using this it will grow 1½ inches per month. Over 6 months that’s an extra 3 inches of luscious long hair!! They say that it works on all hair types, on both men and women and can be used with any other hair products. I am interested to hear if this really does work; let me know!!