Unless you really love playing with your hair and have lots of time to spare, spending ages styling your strands is probably not the best use of your mornings. From taming rebellious frizz-prone ends to ramping up volume in fine strands, get to grips with a simple routine that suits your hair type. Spoiler: you’ll find styling your hair into a beautifully effortless finish is easier than you think.

We called on two hair experts, Marc Trinder and Andrew Mulvenna, to reveal their top tips easy, intuitive, styling. As Mulvenna notes, effortless hair is “hair that ‘just works’, think of it like achieving a workable canvas so you can then tuck, clip or pony your strands into this season’s must-wear shapes.”

The key to effortless, intuitively-styled hair is to not worry about it being too perfect, embrace the odd flyaway and don’t worry if your curls or waves aren’t uniform or your straight strands are having some wayward kinks. Imperfections are what make you, you!

Keep reading for the pro guide to effortless styling, whatever your hair type.

Styling Fine Hair

“With fine hair, whether long, short, straight or wavy, it’s worth using a quality dry shampoo lightly throughout the roots once your hair is dry, then using a soft paddle brush and cool setting on the hairdryer to gently caress it though the hair,” says Mulvenna. “This will give a lighter controlled texture that’s not too dry or fluffy.” Try using the Refreshing Dry Shampoo.

“Finish by applying a little light hair serum or oil throughout the mid-lengths and ends with a brush. For curls or waves, apply a little more product and use fingers instead of a brush to work the product through being sure to avoid the roots,” adds Mulvenna. You can use the Restoring Hair Serum, on straight hair and the Intense Hair Oil on wavy or curly strands.

If you want to encourage body in the hair, Trinder suggests, “loosely braiding damp hair and leaving to dry overnight. In the morning, unravel the braids and rake through the strands with your fingers to separate.” Trinder also advises dry shampoo to help hold the style: “Avoid glossy products, they will make the style drop.”

Styling Secret: Don’t want to wear your hair wavy? When blow-drying, tip your head upside down as this will help you to achieve more volume!

Styling Thick Hair

“Control is the key to all thick hair—whether it’s caucasian or afro, you want it to look really healthy and shiny,” says Mulvenna. “Hydration is everything! Apply your conditioner and leave it in for at least 5 minutes when you wash, the difference you’ll notice will be incredible.”

“Air drying is great for thick hair, simply comb your strands and then once the hair is almost dry, use your fingers to break up the shape a little,” advises Mulvenna. “Remember, effortless hair is all about ‘getting the canvas right’, so be sure to look at your hair once it’s dry and then add more serum or oil through the mid-lengths to ends, if needed.”

Styling Secret: Personalise your conditioner to your hair’s needs by choosing one of the Elixir Collection Conditioners. Select the fragrance you prefer and then top it up with two elixirs like smooth, gloss or defined curls (there are nine to choose from!). While you’re waiting for your conditioner to do its thing, try this Rituals shower meditation.

Styling Straight Hair

Whether you have thick or fine straight hair, embrace it! “Go with the sleek and chic finish,” says Trinder. “Enhance the sleekness by misting the hair with a shine spray or smoothing with oil to flatten stray strands for a high-shine, smooth finish.” The Intense Hair Oil will work well but use it sparingly on finer strands.

Styling Secret: If you’re heat styling your hair (whatever the texture) be sure to use heat protection. Try the Protecting Blow-Dry Spray.

Styling Wavy and Curly Hair

“Leave your wavy hair to dry naturally,” advises Trinder. To encourage separation and a modern tousled finish, use a little Beachy Waves Salt Spray or coax out your curls with a little Hair Mousse. It contains argan oil, so it won’t leave your hair feeling sticky or crunchy.

For curly hair, “never fully rinse conditioner from the ends,” says Trinder, “you want to leave a slight film on the ends to tame frizz and define curls.” Got seriously curly curls? “Cut out the shampoo from time to time and just use conditioner. Once you’ve rinsed, squeeze the hair but don’t towel-dry. Apply any styling products immediately when the hair is still wet and just leave to air-dry or diffuse from this point,” suggests Trinder.

Styling Secret: Curly hair tends to be drier, so treat your strands to an intense treatment once a week. Try the Overnight Hydrating Hair Mask.

Styling short hair

Unless you have a sleek bob, often short hair benefits from coaxing your natural hair texture to show off the cut. A little Hair Mousse will enhance natural curls, whereas the Shaping Hair Paste will help you to add a lived-in look to straighter short hair.

Styling Secret: It’s tempting to wash short hair more often because it’s so easy, but over-washing can affect your hair quality. Instead, keep a dry shampoo at hand to mop up any grease at the roots on second day or post-yoga hair.

The Finishing Touches

“Only when your hair texture is how you want it should you reach for the accessories,” says Mulvenna. “Nearly every look this season can be accessorised to the max, because the hair itself looks so effortless.”

Styling Secret: Try layering! “It’s about being a bit fearless,” Mulvenna tells us. “Whether that’s adding multiple hair clips or a couple of headbands at once!”