I have always been a low-maintenance haircare girly, but I’m determined to make 2026 my hair-care year.
This started less from want and more so from need after noticing some thinning around my hairline.
My hair was also feeling more dry than usual and more often, which has led to tangles.
Building out a proper hair care routine – one that was quick and easy, but didn’t require me to become a hairstylist overnight – was my focus.
And of course most importantly, didn’t cause further damage.
Read: Pro Hair Stylist Lauren Mackellar Shares No-BS Hair Care Tips for Healthy Hair
I also was feeling extra obsessed with the idea of shiny, healthy-looking hair without hours of effort for the beauty events I attend mid-workdays.
The brief I gave myself: easy go-to hairstyles (happy to say I’ve nailed two), a routine that wouldn’t damage my hair, and products that actually worked.
Here’s everything I’ve been using and loving – split into categories so you can find exactly what you need if you’re in a similar situation.
For Shine And Softness, These Were The Products That Transformed My Hair
Before we jump into scalp health and tool styling, how do you make the lengths of your hair actually shiny and soft?
My hair is mid-length to long, so this is half the battle. When it isn’t soft, it tangles more and causes breakage. Worse yet, my hair tends to lean dull and frizzy, which gets worse without care.
Here are the picks that changed that for me.
Wella Professionals Ultimate Smooth Oil, $39.00
The Wella range is more of an investment upfront – but honestly? It’s completely worth it, though I understand not believing until you try.
This lightweight hair oil is so concentrated that a little goes such a long way, so please only use two drops.
I’ve linked the 30ml bottle because that’s genuinely all you need to start, and it will last you next to forever.
It’s a serum-oil hybrid – the best hair oil for long hair, I’d argue – so it doesn’t feel heavy or coat the hair in a sticky way.
I apply two drops to my hands, rub them together then apply to the lengths and mids of my long-ish hair. Anything excess I run over my roots to avoid overloading them.
On air-dry days, this hair shine serum alone is enough to look way more put together than I used to. I have never seen a frizz control oil smooth out my hair like this one does.
All I can say is try it next time you’re walking past a tester bottle and decide for yourself.
Wella Professionals Ultimate Repair Miracle Rescue, $54.00
I don’t know what is in this formula, but it has genuinely earned its miracle label name. The softness it brings to my hair is just confusingly good – like, baby-smooth, untangled, healthy hair that you almost can’t believe is yours.
I’ve bullied (out of love) so many people into getting a little tester sample from Sephora (as in spray a little sample pot full to bring home and try post-shower), and every single one of them has gone back and purchased the full size.
My recommendation: grab the 30ml bottle, rake this smooth hair serum through damp hair after a shower, and just feel what it does to your hair quality.
If you’re on the fence about the best leave-in treatment for damaged hair, or a bit suspicious about salon quality hair products, I do think the sample will convince you.
My hair has never been more soft and manageable, and I’ve also noticed less breakage.
The Quick Flick Serving Scents Hair And Body Mist – Glazed Cherry, $29.00
I know this one isn’t a traditional hair care product, but I’ve been adding this hair fragrance into my routine when I heat style, and I genuinely think it adds to the shine.
This glazed cherry scent smells incredibly clean and deep and dreamy – not overpowering at all, which is exactly what you want when something is close to your face all day.
Read: Priceline Beauty Prescription Live 2025: Our Rundown of What’s New, Exciting, And Peptide-Packed
I flip my hair over, give it a mist with this hair and body mist, flip back, and it just makes the whole routine feel luxurious.
It doesn’t make my hair feel dry or tacky, and it works beautifully as a subtle hair shine spray – I get compliments every time my hair moves.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make hair smell good all day, this is how. Especially great if sometimes styling leaves behind that just-styled scent you’re keen to cover up.
Garnier Fructis Hair Food Smoothing Macadamia 3-in-1 Mask Treatment, $12.99
A $13 hero product I’ve been repurchasing for years. This is the best hair mask under $20 IMO, although the Smoothing Macadamia is too heavy for my roots – from the ears down? An absolute dream that fights frizz and gives a well needed moisture boost.
I especially love it when I’m trialling new shampoos and conditioners (which happens a lot in my line of work) and I’m not sure they’re going to take my hair to that deeply moisturised level.
A 20 cent piece of this deep conditioning mask through the lengths and ends guarantees beautifully moisturised, weighted-but-not-oily hair.
The Garnier Hair Food macadamia formula is very rich (and huge!), so the tub lasts forever.
If you’re looking for an affordable hair care addition to supercharge your conditioner – or just the best drugstore hair treatment you can find – this hair mask for dry hair is it.
If you have fine hair? Try other picks from this range like their Hair Food Hydrating mask in Aloe Vera, which will weigh down the hair less.
My Go-To Easy Hairstyle Tools (Under 15 Minutes)
I refused to set myself up for failure here. If it’s complicated or takes too much time, I know I’d avoid it.
For styling, my main goal is looking put together – whether I’m heading to a beauty event or just working from home filming.
Tymo Beauty CurlPro Plus, $155.98
I saw all the ads, thought it was probably too good to be true, remembered I had a beauty review account, bought it for testing (and had some hope it’d work, too), and I am now absolutely obsessed with it.
This Tymo curl wand has genuinely changed how my hair looks all the time.
I curl my hair on wash days – my version of a wash and go hairstyle – and the long-lasting curls last until the next wash day.
They are even, consistent, shiny, soft, and incredible – and the whole routine takes about 15 minutes, which officially makes it one of my favourite low maintenance hairstyles for 2026.
These aren’t Goldilocks ringlet curls (I’ll link my video below so you can see the exact look I go for).
Ofcourse, there is a little bit of trial and error getting the exact style you want with this easy curling routine, but once you figure out how to curl hair easily, it’s the simplest routine I’ve ever had.
My quick demo:
The compliments I get are genuinely lovely, especially for someone who never used to do anything with her hair.
I’ll have to do a dedicated review on this one, so if you have any questions, ask below!
Merkaou Ultimate Duo (Flex Hair Gel and Brush Me package), $84.95
Hot months, sweaty neck, hair on my face – I needed a sleek slick back hairstyle solution that actually worked and didn’t make me look like Jim Carey in Ace Ventura 2 after a few hours.
Hairspray was not it (no hold, and those wiry little hairs kept popping through).
Enter the Merkaou hair gel (which was also a series of ads that got me) for testing.
For someone who is, by my own admission, borderline hopeless with hairstyles, this set is easy and extremely impressive, recently even holding up after a day at Luna Park on rollercoasters.
The hold is real – this is genuinely the best hair gel for flyaways I’ve ever used. It doesn’t go flaky or white even after fixing and trying to restyle. You can style it again the next day easily.
My current routine: curled hair for the first couple of days after washing (using the Tymo), then slick back look for the last two days (using the Merkaou duo).
If you’ve always wanted to know how to slick back hair without the crunch or the frizz, this multi-day hold hair gel is the answer.
Scalp Care For My Itchy, Very Sensitive Scalp
Scalp health is hair health – I didn’t really understand this until my scalp started getting irritated and my hair started thinning.
These are the products that sorted it out for me.
ROH Scalp Renew Serum, $39.95
New to me, but I’ve really loved it. I found my scalp getting more sensitive and irritated during the hotter months – I think it’s a combination of heat and sweat.
This calming scalp serum is very balancing. You apply it sparingly to damp roots after washing as part of your scalp care routine, and it just chills everything out.
It’s not an exfoliating washout treatment – it’s more of a gentle daily support, and it works beautifully as an itchy scalp treatment or a scalp serum for thinning hair (if you get that sore scalp, I know you relate!).
It goes on sale and it’s available at Priceline – which is always a win. If you’re after sensitive scalp products that don’t strip or irritate, this one is worth trying.
Check out my first impressions:
Alpha-H Healthy Exfoliating Scalp Treatment, $39.95
For a deeper scalp exfoliant, the Alpha H one is fantastic. It contains salicylic acid – oil-soluble, so it’s specifically designed to break down sebum buildup on the scalp.
You can leave it for up to 15 minutes, but it’s effective enough that even 60 seconds before your shower gets great results.
Read: The Very Unconventional Method I Use to Detox My Sensitive Scalp
That flexibility is what makes it easy to work into any scalp health routine, no matter how sensitive your scalp is – and if you’re wondering how to exfoliate your scalp correctly, this is a great place to start.
Alpha H really understands exfoliation and how to do it correctly for different parts of the body. This salicylic acid scalp treatment is no exception.
OVEV Signature Hair Masque, $59.95
This one is truly the ultimate hair mask plus scalp scrub – and what will stop you in your tracks immediately is how absolutely gorgeous it smells.
Oceanic, fresh, and clean in all the right ways. I was not expecting to be hit that hard by a hair mask, but here we are.
Most scalp scrubs are hyper-focused on scratching off dead skin cells and come in heavily stripping bases – you know the one, that super sharp salt scrub that just wasn’t made for sensitive scalp-havers.
This OVEV hair mask is completely different. It’s designed as a nourishing hair mask that calms even sensitive scalps. The scrubbing particles aren’t sharp or irritating, and ingredients like Pro-Vitamin B5 hair care actives, Sapote Oil, and Marine Microalgae hair growth supporters help promote hair health from the root.
Personally, I like applying it a little before I shower to let it soak into my roots and really do its thing – then in the shower I start to cleanse it out and enjoy that scrubbing action.
My Current Hair Growth Pick For Addressing Hairline Density
Bouf Flouf Factor Growth Tonic, $34.95
Growth tonics and sprays are only as good as how consistently you use them – and that’s always been my downfall.
So I made it easy on myself: this hair growth tonic lives on my office desk. I apply it to dry hair while I’m at my desk when I remember, targeting the areas I want to see improvement in my hair density.
Since I started using this thinning hairline treatment, my hairline has noticeably come back fuller.
I’m convinced a lot of my thinning was from overdoing blowouts and putting too much tension on the roots. I haven’t even finished the bottle yet and I can already see a real difference.
The price point is great, too, making it one of the more accessible hair density serums out there for anyone looking to regrow with me in 2026.
Heat Protection And Hair Accessories That Actually Work
TRESemmé Hair Heat Tamer Protective Styling Spray, $7.99
Under $10. Big bottle. Works perfectly.
This is the best heat protectant spray I’ve ever tried – purely because it was cheap and at Priceline – and I have never felt the need to try another one.
It’s not sticky, doesn’t weigh down the hair, doesn’t leave it tacky or overly shiny, and it might even add a little to the shine after going through the heat styling barrel.
As far as affordable heat protection goes, the TRESemmé Heat Tamer is hard to beat – it smells clean and it’s super easy to apply all over which is very important.
I didn’t realise how hard people found it to find a decent drugstore heat protectant in Australia until I started recommending this one.
If you’ve been wondering how to protect hair from heat without spending a fortune, try it!
Slip Skinny Scrunchies Set, $61.00
I know scrunchies seem like a small thing, but these Slip Silk scrunchies have been such an upgrade.
They don’t pull, they don’t tug, and they don’t break hair (unlike many of the very sad, falling apart hair ties I’ve had previously).
The silk material means they glide on and off without catching on a single strand – making them genuinely the best scrunchies for hair health if you’re trying to avoid damage.
I gifted them to basically all of my beauty and PR friends last year, and I keep them all around the house so I always have one nearby.
As far as no-damage hair ties go, these are the gold standard.
One note: because they’re so gentle, they won’t get as tight as a regular hair tie – so these aren’t the move for your slick back look.
But for day-to-day wear and protective styling? Perfect.
Check the Slip website for limited edition sales – you can find some really great deals there, though they’re also stocked at MECCA and Sephora.
Final Thoughts On My Low-Maintenance Hair Routine
I feel like my hair has never looked as shiny or as healthy – and I notice it in photos constantly, which makes me so happy.
It’s not always about adding more steps to your routine, though for me using and finding the right products for my specific hair needs was important.
I wasn’t doing nothing before, but I don’t think I was doing the right things for me specifically.
If you’re in the same boat – hair that feels dry, a little thin, a bit frizzy, or a scalp that just won’t behave – I hope this gives you somewhere to start.
Now I want to hear from you! Do you have any easy hair tips? Products or hair styles you swear by?
Comment below! It’s only February, and I am very ready to add some more easy styles to my lineup.
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