Beauty Bible Loves... Sam McKnight Cool Girl Nourish volumising collection

Honestly, we’d buy Sam McKnight’s haircare for the fragrance alone – blended by the incredibly gifted Lyn Harris, of Perfumer H, who just has a way with composing scents that transport anyone who smells them. It’s nice if they do that while you’re washing your hair, but… of course it’s not enough.

So we can happily report that the performance of these volumising additions to our old friend Sam McKnight’s products not only smell great (and look good), but totally do the business. (That’s him above, by the way, in a kooky wig. Because he’s like that, sometimes.)

What we love about Sam’s products is how swingy they make hair feel – light, but volumised, with oomph that lasts but looks totally natural, with it. No idea how he does it; there may be some kind of magic involved, is all we can think. They claim it’s down to an ingredient called VoluminisTM, ‘which thickens each individual strand from within as well as pushing strands away from each other, to boost all-over volume and shine.’ But we reckon there had to be a magic wand or a cauldron involved, somewhere along the line, too.

The Cool Girl Volume collection also delivers major shine, which is often the compromise made when using volumising products – and honestly, while we believe in using them regularly for hair health and gloss, treatment masks are usually Public Enemy No.1 for anyone who wants to add volume. Not in this case.

These have duly been lugged to our hair-salon-of-choice, secretly stashed ‘backstage’ for use when visiting once a week, the hair mask used approximately every three washes, the normal conditioner in between. Pricy? Yup, ’fraid so. But they also last a surprisingly long time.

And that scent? In the most recent edition of The Scented Letter, which Jo edits for The Perfume Society – and you can bag a free digital copy here – Sam describes how Lyn came up with that scent. ‘Lyn spent a couple of afternoons in the garden and went away with the inspiration for the scent a wet, green, slightly woody, somewhat floral English garden in the rain, with maybe a bit of city in there, too. We tweak it very, very slightly for every different product in the range, to fit the formulation, but it gives the same impression every time.’ Sam, we’d like it as a candle – and an eau de parfum, please.

Meanwhile, performance? 10/10.

Pleasure factor? Off the scale…

Cool Girl Volume Shampoo/£28 for 250ml – buy here

Cool Girl Volume Conditioner/£28 for 250ml – buy here

Bigger Love/£52 for 200ml – buy here

PS We love his choice of models, below, to show off the results – since thinner, flatter hair is often a problem for women, like us, of un certain age.