It's obvious that if you write about beauty, you have to test a lot of products - most of which don't really make that much difference. But having already listed the most superlative make-up marvels I've ever tried - as in EVER! - it's time to take a look at beautifiers for the barnet...

For Superstar Shine  The John Frieda Collection. I use the Brilliant Brunettes range (because I'm, er, brunette) and it just makes hair shine like no other shampoo and conditioner I've used, enhancing hair's natural highlights, too. As does the Luxurious Volume Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner, if you need a little va-va-voom, too. Faultless.

For Hot Hair In A Hurry  Paul Labrecque Volume Shampoo Bodifying Hair Wash. It comes with a separate leave-in conditioner which saves the second rinse, but the shampoo's so good at detangling, you really don't need a conditioner at all, cutting washing time by half. And it adds body to my hair, which is so thin it probably qualifies as having an eating disorder. It's not cheap at £18ish, but it lasts ages.

For Style Resuscitation  Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Moisture Mist. Keep a small one of these in your bag and spritz it ever-so lightly over your mop if it needs a kickstart betwixt desk and disco. It's like the kiss of life for fading hairdos.

For Added Oomph  John Frieda Collection Luxurious Volume Thickening Blow Dry Lotion and Nicky Clarke Great Body Plump It Up Hair Raising Spray. So they're a mouthful... but both these products really do give hair more substance and help hold your style without affecting natural movement or making hair feel stiff.

For Carefree Curls L'Oreal Professionel Gelee Cashmere Anti-Frizz Gelee. Helps shape curls without crispiness

For When You Just Can't Be Bothered  Batiste Dry Shampoo. It's a classic that has re-emerged with added street cred now everyone seems to spend the summer at festivals, but when you can't get near a shower (or, more likely in normal life, you've overslept), it does a stellar job at absorbing oiliness and lingering whiffiness. So hair looks a little duller afterwards - you can't always have it all, ladies (and gents).

For Colour Confidence  Clairol Evershine Conditioning Gloss. Clairol used to include these tubes of conditioner only with its at-home colour kits, but realised they were so good, they deserved their own moment in the spolight. So you can buy them separately now and so you should, because they do help maintain vibrancy when used for the first few washes after a colouring treatment.

For Super Smoothness John Frieda Collection Brilliant Brunette Shine Shock Glosser. Don't worry about the colour of your hair as just the tiniest dab smoothes and shines all colours. And it's great if you've overdone the blowdrying and ended up more bouffant than boho; rub a teeny tiny amount all over the hands and pat gently over the hair to extinguish some of that over-excitement.

For Tree Huggers Tara Smith Feed The Root Shampoo and Conditioner. We'd probably all be a lot more environmentally conscious if we could do so without compromising our vanity - and the problem with a lot of truly natural ranges is that without all the chemicals that help them lather up, they never really feel as though they get your hair that clean. Until Tara Smith came along. And her products are all around a fiver so you aren't paying for the privilege, either.

For Stay-There Hair  Style Wella Silvikrin Hairspray. Does what it says on the tin. Keeps hair in place without creating the dreaded Helmet Head.

.  

Despite appearing practically petrified when approached by the Press, Bryan Adams must be a friendly fellow because his celebrity friends turned out en masse to support the opening of his new exhibition.

All of Bryan's photographs feature celebrity ambassadors of the Hear The World initiative, cupping their hands behind their ears to highlight the problems faced by more than 16% of the world's population with hearing loss.

The initiative was developed by Phonak, which manufactures hearing systems - and you'd need one to hear anything poor Bryan had to say on the matter because he was almost dumbstruck when asked to comment, telling me his "head was all over the place" being the centre of attention and he wanted to look after his mother, who had accompanied him to the launch party and is currently living with Bryan in London, which is now his home.

Fortunately, Bryan's celebrity fans were more than happy to make up for the musician-turned-photographer's chronic shyness. A bronzed Gareth Gates, who claims Bryan as a good friend, has just come back from holiday in Spain with his 14-week-old daughter and is looking forward to starring in Les Miserables in London's West End. Talking of his decision to put his recording career on hold, he said: "It was my decision not to record another album - yet. The industry's in a really funny place at the moment and the last thing I want to do is record an album that, because of the market, is not accepted. But I'm really happy now, in musical theatre.'

Fresh from her role as Ken Barlow's maybe-mistress, Martha, in Coronation Street, Stephanie Beacham appeared wearing her own Phonak hearing system - she told us she's 40 per cent deaf. Stephanie is appearing in a new BBC/NBC show called Fashion in the autumn, playing "a bitch as always. But I played a nice woman in Coronation Street and look what happened to her - she got nothing!" 

Stephanie reckons the secret to her success is "because I'm not chasing after younger roles. I'm not trying to look 40 or think 40; I'd rather be a fabulous 60-year-old". But she's peeved at the loss of Arlene Philips on Strictly Come Dancing, on which Stephanie appeared two years ago. "As a middle-aged woman - or whatever I am - I've got to say I disapprove," she said.

Martine McCutcheon sighed and coo-ed about her love life - "I'm very in love, very happy, very content," with musician boyfriend of the past two years Jack McManus, she said - before explaining that her next project is a novel about mistresses, based on three of her friends.

And chatting to Gail Porter on the way out, she told me she was out on the pull, looking for a "wee snog". Let's hope someone was listening...

The Hear The World exhibition is at the London Saatchi Gallery from July 22-26; visit www.hear-the-world.com/exhibition for information.

OK, when I say revolutionary, I don't mean that it's going to extend research into the human genome or topple the monarchy. But motorised make-up is a new direction for the beauty industry and has created a real buzz, literally, for beauty addicts.

It started at the end of last year with a race between Estee Lauder and Lancome as to which could be the first to market with this new concept, both launching vibrating mascaras around the same time. And gimmicky as it may sound, the female equivalent of a power tool was an instant winner, with both brands reporting massive demand for their new cosmetic hot rods.

Prices however, were slightly eye-watering for a cosmetic from which, if used daily, we're probably only going to get about three months' use - rrps are £27-28 for Lancome's Oscillation and Lauder's TurboLash.

But now Maybelline has launched the first mass-market version, Pulse Perfection, at almost half the price, £14.99, which launches in August 2009. And having seen it in action at a presentation by Maybelline's brilliant celebrity make-up artist, Fiona Jolly (pictured below left), it certainly does the job, lengthening lashes as it draws them out and up - the cosmetic equivalent of a push-up bra for the eyes.

The motor inside the handle generates 100 micro-pulsations every second which, combined with a spiky-headed, flexible wand that reacts and moves to the pulses, coats lashes from root to tip, building volume as it goes. Make sure you zig-zag the wand through the lashes for best results.

There is one problem: you have to keep your finger on the activating button on the handle, which does make it a bit fiddly to use. But it's worth it, because results are spectacular.  

There are plenty of models and actors who lend their names and images to fragrances, but rarely are they as down to earth, funny and utterly charming as Keira Knightley's ex- beau, Jamie Dornan, the face of ckfree for men, which launches on 26 August, from £27. And to prove it, here's what he had to say at the launch of the new fragrance...

What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom to me means being able to do what you want when you want - with whom you want! On a global scale... I come from Ireland, obviously, and we've been fighting for freedom for 40 years. It's a state that everyone wants to get to and it's very hard to find. But on a very trivial personal level, it's getting out of London for a weekend.

Do you have a place in the world that makes you feel completely carefree?

I like my bed a lot. Otherwise, it's Christmas at home in Belfast when all my mates are back from wherever they are in the the world and all my family are there. I don't have to worry about anything. There's noone judging me. That's as close as I get.

What kind of films make you happy?

This is awful, but I instantly want to say The Sound Of Music. Actually, no, I just said that more for effect. I'm obviously more of a Terminator or Die Hard With A Vengeance kind of guy! There are a lot of films that you know so well that you're comfortable with that you don't have to think about any more because you did all your thinking the first time you saw them, such as Amelie, which is creatively perfect. 

What kind of music do you like to relax to?

Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash. This morning, my car had a flat battery and I thought, the only thing you can do in a moment like this - apart from phone a mechanic, which I did - is go home and listen to music. So I put on Nick Drake. And then felt really depressed.

Do you have a grooming routine?

I don't groom at all. I don't really understand girls who are into guys who look a little like girls. I just shower, comb my hair and put on a bit of CK Free.

You've been dubbed the male Kate Moss. How do you feel about that?

I've had the pleasure of working with her and she's an amazing person and an amazing model. Even watching her work is incredible. She makes everything look sexy. I've been mucking around doing this for seven years, she's been doing it for 18 and she's still at the top of her game. It's a nice compliment; I'll take it.