Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara

If you’re in the business of buying and asking things to be bought for you this Black Friday, here are the best of the beauty deals that tick this columnist’s boxes. The Dyson Airwrap™ multi-styler and dryer currently has €80 off so costs €470. While it has an eye-watering price tag, it is a gamechanger for those of us who are useless at styling – I pay €35 a pop for a curly blow-dry, so it will have paid for itself in 13 visits.

There are online tutorials on how to use this beautiful machine, which comes in a beautiful box that fits all the accoutrements for the different style curls or waves.

It doesn’t ruin your hair with heat like other styling products, instead using air to achieve volume in the curl. It keeps the temperature below 150°C, which helps protect hair from heat damage and maintains shine across all hair types.

For my medium length hair, I can get a whole head of waves done in about 25 minutes. Somebody who’s more used to styling would have it done in 15 minutes. If you could bribe your daughter to do it, I’d say 10 minutes flat.

Blast-dry the hair first until it is about 80% dry and then section and put the Airwrap to a single strand, allowing it to catch it and curl. Finish by using a serum to add shine and definition.

And the waves last, something that doesn’t always happen with a salon blow-dry as I have very fine hair. If you have any kind of thickness, this will be a dream tool for speed and result.

If you want to give the gift of a spa but can’t quite stretch to pay for a visit, Ground Wellbeing have currently 25% off. They have 100% natural plant-based ingredients, are all handmade in Ireland and are beautifully packaged with a red ribbon for Christmas.

Used in the Mount Juliet Estate spa and the K Club in Wicklow, the Glasson Lakehouse spa outside Athlone and Hayfield Manor in Cork – as well as top international hotels such as the Four Seasons and the Waldorf Astoria – the Pride & Joy giftbox (€90) has its signature products Fortify Face & Body Oil, Recovery Hair Oil, Sleep Pillow Spray, Recovery Hand Balm, Night Body Balm and Restorative Cleansing Balm while The Minding (€69) suitable for cancer care has Fortify Super Seed Face & Body Oil, Support Hand & Foot Balm, Protect Fortify Nail & Cuticle Oil and Support Scalp Oil.

Pictured: The Dyson Airwrap is a gamechanger for curly blow-drys at home.