Hairstyling products, coupled with appropriate shaping, allows women to enjoy a variety of hairstyles without having to undergo the severity of a permanent chemical procedure. Curly hair can lie blanket-straight, while hair without the hint of a twist in its natural form can be teased, turned and twisted into not only waves but into a head full of them.

So it’s no surprise that hair companies keep updating their product lines to cater to what seems to be an ever increasing need of women and men to wear their hair in a multitude of ways. If the 1960s through the 80s was all about teasing hair into solid forms with the help of gels and hairspray (in the aftermath you lost half your hair trying to de-tangle the back-combed or gelled bits), the ‘now’ look is all about coupling styling with hair care so that you are not left with product-damaged hair.

Healthy looking hair is in! And so we have the birth of what is called the remix. Remix is when you take two styling products, one of which is a serum/pre-styling product that lends protection to the hair, and the other is the product which will aid in reshaping the hair.

At the recent launch of the Toni&Guy professional hair product range Label.m in Mumbai, Susan Francis of Headturners and I represented Calcutta at the East/West presentation of the 2007/08 Kaizen — the energetic, colourful, nu-wave, haute international collection of hairstyle trends of the season.

International stylists pulled out all the stops as the audience saw ringlets, rolls, triangles, rectangles, circles, twirls, poker-straight hair silhouettes and every shape known to geometry being shown on the latest cuts and colours.

A list of catwalk queens like Carol Gracias, Tupur and Tapur Chatterjee, Nethra Raghuraman and Nina Manuel made the styling look edgy enough to make the company’s “catwalk to client” claim believable.

Behind the scenes: Susan and I were allotted supermodel Diandra Soares. She sat patiently the night before through a two-hour-long colouring session in which she withstood the shock of seeing her dark, wavy hair suddenly sprout vibrant shades of red, pink and flame, all with a charming smile!

We did some last-minute styling touches before she hit the ramp. Her very wavy hair was centre-parted, sprayed and then given an ‘S’ finger wave about two inches away from the parting. It was then liberally doused with mousse, gently back-combed, teased and sprayed till she looked downright cheeky!

Which brings me to the question of the week….

Hi, I am a 23-year-old girl. I want to know more about the various styling products and aids available in the market for my wavy and frizzy hair. I don’t want to go in for permanent straightening because I like my hair straight and sleek on some days and waved and glossy on others. I also don’t want to damage my hair with too much heat.

Curly hair can be made straight and straight hair curly with as little fuss and damage as possible. Picking the right styling aid and tool is a must, however. Go in for a one-time demonstration with your stylist before you try anything at home.

• To temporarily straighten your hair…

Shampoo hair with straight control shampoo. Apply a leave-on conditioner on towel-dried hair. Then apply serum mixed with a hot-iron fluid, which protects the hair from direct heat. Section by fine section, blow-dry your hair semi-straight with a paddle brush or round brush. A paddle brush gives a lot of shine and its rubber base creates less static. Once again, take fine sections and run the iron systematically over each. If your hair dries during the process, spray a little water on it.

Style tools: Ceramic iron and paddle brush.

Styling products: Serum and anti-frizz lotion or hot-iron fluid.

Handy hint: Wavy hair is prone to stand up on edge near the hairline so don’t overdo the ironing in that area. If hair does stand on edge, apply a little serum to settle it.

• For a more natural look…

Shampoo hair with curl-intensive shampoo and then apply a curl mask (curly hair is more prone to drying at the ends so this is a must to make it soft and manageable). Apply liberal amounts of serum mixed with jelly waver to give the hair a glossy sheen. Take your hair by sections and twirl bits around your finger. Dry with cool air, changing the nozzle of the drier to a diffuser or leave hair to dry naturally if time permits.

Style tool: Fingers, diffuser nozzle on drier.

Styling product: Serum, jelly waver or curl-lock lotion.

Handy hint: Don’t comb hair when it is dry as this can frizz the hair out. Instead, wet hair before the next combing session.

Go ahead, have your cake and eat it too!

Which do you prefer — straight or wavy hair? Tell t2@abpmail.com