Two haircare newbies road test styling products in a mission for better hair

In the pursuit of low-effort haircare, we’ll try anything.

Here at Fashion Journal, we stand for low-effort haircare. There’s enough in our lives to juggle without spending an inordinate amount of time on our hair, and any time saved can go towards more important projects (like deciding which Crocs I want to invest in for summer). So where a shortcut exists to make our hair look that much better with minimal work, we’re willing to give it a go.

The Australian haircare stalwarts at Evo recently announced a series of recommended product ‘cocktails’. More than sounding delicious, it involves mixing two of the brand’s prescribed products to optimise their results. We’ve road tested Evo products before and already know we rate them highly, so in a mission to make the hair of the Fashion Journal team even better, we asked two writers to give these product cocktails a crack.

Maeve Kerr-Crowley, Fashion Journal contributor

Just a few months ago, I was the kind of person who stubbornly refused to engage in any sort of haircare routine. My line of thinking was that if I couldn’t have nice hair naturally, I didn’t deserve to have nice hair at all. Or maybe I was just lazy. But after starting to trial some new products, I’ll admit I’ve changed my tune slightly. I still insist on the most low-maintenance routine possible, because adding a dozen more steps into my morning ritual is a commitment I’m not willing to make. I have, however, become a little obsessed with finding the perfect product or two to nudge my locks towards their true, most splendid form.

My hair is as thin and fine as a newborn baby’s, with a loose curl pattern I’m very fond of. When I’m using hair products, I’m always looking for a boost in volume and a minimisation of frizz. Extra definition that lasts throughout the day is always a win, too. But to earn a permanent spot in my daily routine, a product also has to be low effort. I’m too cheap to buy a diffuser, so I’m looking for something I can just chuck in my hair and leave to do its work while it air dries.

Having trialled Evo products before, I knew I was in for a great ride when my editor asked me to trial two styling products, Whip it Good moisturising mousse and Haze styling powder, both individually and together. For journalistic purposes, of course.

Whip It Good

I haven’t touched a can of mousse since I was 13 years old. I had an Alice Cullen-inspired pixie cut that I’d occasionally mousse into the crunchiest little curls you’ve ever seen. That experience has scarred me slightly, and I’ve since settled into a much softer, ‘No, there’s no product in my hair’ kind of look. But Evo promised its new-age mousse would give me definition sans crunch, and I was intrigued enough to set aside my apprehensions.

Mousse is undeniably a fun product to use, and spraying Whip It Good into my hand did bring back some tantalising nostalgia. Once in my hair, the mousse didn’t feel nearly as heavy as whatever I was coating it with back in 2009. A bit of strategic scrunching while it air-dried helped to separate the strands and soften my natural texture, but didn’t completely destroy the definition the product was giving me. The result was still light and airy, with a noticeable decrease in frizziness and shapelessness. It also gave my whole head a nice shine, even managing to bring some life to drier sections at my ends.

Haze

Haze is a product that I struggled to wrap my mind around before using it. Dubbed a ‘styling powder’, it promises volume, texture and a matte finish. I wanted to trial it by itself to see if it could truly give me a boost at the roots (where it’s desperately needed). I’m very happy to say it did, completely changing the flat, triangle-esque silhouette I often get. But I’ll also say this probably isn’t a great one-punch product for my particular hair type. The added volume and dry hair application did create a slight static problem for my very thin strands, which in turn caused some frizz. It probably needed another styling product to balance it out and tackle the issues of definition and moisture.

I’m a big fan of the bottle itself, however. Whatever nozzle do-hickey Evo used means the product is distributed more evenly than traditional shake-out powders, hitting your roots like a little cloud. Knowing it’s refillable is also very cool, and I’m glad I won’t have to throw out any packaging when I’ve used up my current supply.

Whip it Good and Haze together

While undoubtedly effective on their own, it’s been recommended that you use both the Whip it Good mousse and Haze styling powder together.

The idea of a product cocktail is fascinating to me, and I like that Evo has clearly put a lot of thought into how its products react and work together. After trialling both products individually, I could totally see how Whip It Good and Haze could be a really effective pairing. I mixed them up as suggested, spritzing Haze directly onto a blob of mousse in the palm of my hand, then scrunching it through as usual. I applied a little more Haze directly to my wet roots, too, just to be safe.

The two products balanced each other out really well. Whip It Good eliminated my previous frizz issues and created really nice, natural-looking definition, while Haze’s matte finish reacted with the mousse’s heavy moisture content to keep things looking healthy and shiny without sliding into oily territory. I often find that styling products can weigh down my ends and create a very bottom-heavy look, which was taken care of nicely by the extra volume at my roots. As a combo, Haze and Whip It Good managed to tackle all my major hair gripes, and gave me the natural-looking ‘your hair but better’ look I’m always aiming for.

Maggie Zhou, Fashion Journal contributor

The KISS principle aptly applies to my hair: keep it simple, stupid. I’ve got dependable, dark and dead-straight hair. And for someone who’s low maintenance when it comes to haircare, this suits me just fine.

But there’s a part of me that yearns for curls, those cool-girl locks that come in the form of a gentle S-bend of the hair. Hair that says, “yes, I just bought two pairs of fringe boots from Bottega Veneta for me and my long-haired Afghan hound dog”.

But alas, I’ve had a fraught and fearful relationship with heating tools and a less-than-satisfactory history with styling products – even my imaginary Afghan hound dog would be disappointed. That is, until I met Evo.

Day of Grace

Petition to rename this ‘the greatest thing my hair has ever had the privilege of touching’. I barely even use primer for my face, let alone my hair. But this light-weight leave-in primer is a gamechanger; it promises to condition, detangle and protect all hair types. Honestly, I was a bit sceptical of what it would actually do.

I roped my mum in to help curl my hair (see aforementioned heating tool fear) and she went IN with this spray. I was intoxicated in a pleasant gin and tonic-smelling cloud. For all the furious spraying my mum did, I thought it would leave my hair feeling icky and heavy with product. Lo and behold, my hair was left ultra-soft and hydrated. I have no idea how this sorcery works but it works. You can apply this leave-in primer to dry or damp hair, I tried both and found both to be equally as effective.

While it didn’t necessarily hold my curls for longer, it reduced frizz and refreshed my hair, so it felt healthy and ready for anything. I’ll be reaching for this, heating tools or otherwise.

Icon Welder

Fess up, sometimes the best of us forget to use heat protection spray. I know, I know, it’s bad. But sometimes you don’t want to reach for that four-year-old sparkly bottle that dribbles meekly when you use it. Evo has taken a boring necessity and turned it into a fun and effective haircare step.

Its Icon Welder is for all hair types and protects against heat and UV damage. What I loved about this one was the unassuming hold it gave my hair. Yes, it smells of delightful watermelon and yes, it protects my hair, but it also doubles as a great pre-styling helper. It smoothed and detangled my hair and helped give it shape memory, meaning that these curls lasted longer than my typical heat protection spray. We love a multitasking product that works double time.

With a medium hold and medium shine factor, the spray left my hair looking and feeling weightless and glossy.

Day of Grace and Icon Welder together

For the main event, I cooked up my very own hair cocktail of the Day of Grace primer and the Iron Welder protection spray, then gave it my all (hence the blue eyeshadow). I even washed my hair to try mimic a salon blow out. I learnt not to use heat tools on damp hair, and also that this curl concoction is a match made in heaven.

You may think that layering multiple mists will weigh down your hair, but surprisingly, I couldn’t even feel these products. It just felt like my hair, but better. Unlike most other hair styling products I’ve tried, there’s none of that gross stickiness or crunchiness that taints your locks.

Both of these products work extremely well hand-in-hand. The Day of Grace is a great canvas for my hair, softening and detangling any uncooperating strands. My hair tends to feel dry after using heat, so this spray ensures it’s hydrated and malleable for styling. The Icon Welder works as a light hairspray alternative too. Its medium hold means that that three days after I’ve curled it, my hair has still held its overall shape. My head of hair now screams gloss, shine and lustre. Curl confidence is contagious.

evohair.com