For a person who claims not to be interested in haircare, I sure talk a lot about hair products. But recently, I keep finding things that are genuinely useful. I think there are three reasons for that: with shorter hair, styling products make a clear difference; the availability of trial sizes means I’m testing more and finally – I believe the products are in fact getting better and better.

I had no idea that my life had been incomplete without the R+Co Dallas Thickening Spray, although the witty name should have alerted me to the possibility. I received 50 ml of it as a part of Space NK humongous GWP* and tried it for the first time last week. And lo and behold, it delivers.

You can use this both on damp and dry hair, the first gives a softer result, the latter more hold. I mostly spray it on after I wash my hair and dry with a blow-dryer. No technique involved, I just flip my hair upside-down, blast away and, miraculously, end up with lots of volume, bounce and shine. Somehow, it even sorts out my strange waves and I look office-appropriate without any additional steps. I only use something on top (Oribe texturizer spray, for example) if I’m afraid to copy the Dallas look too closely and want a more modern, tousled finish.

R+Co is a relatively new brand, launched last year. There is quite a lot of buzz about it on the Interwebs. The design of the products is great, the prices are not insane (I have wanted to try Oribe shampoos, but seriously, these prices…) and based on this product at least, the line merits further investigation. I definitely need a full size of this one.

* Gift With Purchase: probably the favourite concept of every beauty nerd.