I recently got to test this product for a group called BzzAgent who let members try various branded products for free. Hair specialists Toni and Guy were the latest brand to sign up to the BzzCampaign and as a result I got five products to test at home. One of the products was this 'Sculpting Powder'. I had never heard of any hair product like this before - a powder that you use to style your hair - so I was keen to try it out.

Firstly I had to read the packaging of the product to find out exactly what it was and what it does. The product comes in a little box with all the product information printed on the outside. Toni and Guy state that this powder "helps combat grease and creates volume and shape with a matte finish". It sounds a little like the effects a dry shampoo spray might give you except this powder also promises to create "volume and texture".

Inside the box there is a small 1g (or 0.035 oz) sized bottle of powder. It looks a lot like a pepper pot and has the same kind of top with several holes where you shake the powder through. The top twists one way and the other to open and close these holes. I was a bit confused the first time I used this powder as I thought the bottle was empty it was so light!

Directions for use state to apply the powder by dusting it at your roots and then working through with fingers or comb, backcombing for extra volume if you wish. I find the application process rather difficult. The problem is in the substance and form of the powder. The powder is actually like a strange cobweb dust that is barely there and is difficult to see when shaking out of the bottle. It's grey and floaty and when you shake the bottle the powder flies out and is so light that it goes upwards rather than lands on your hair. You have to literally make contact with your head to have any of the powder land on your hair.

I have found myself testing this product whenever my hair is between washes. The effect of the powder is that is dries up the oiliness that tends to occur at your roots after a few days of not washing your hair. The powder minimises this greasiness and bulks out the hair at the roots making it look fresher and cleaner. So overall it really is a lot like a dry shampoo.

I am not overally enamoured by the product though. Firstly I find the whole concept of a dusting powder rather strange when there are dry shampoo sprays on the market that can deliver a more efficient result. I find the Sculpting powder rather difficult to apply given the ultra light weight of the product. It also comes out of the bottle rather finely and so you end up having to use loads just to achieve a small effect. The product is helpful in minimising oil around roots and scalp but I've used products like Batiste that give a much better (and quicker) result overall. The Sculpting Powder also supplies volume but not much texture. The volume enhancement is visible and the product never leaves any residue even on my darkest roots.

I can't see this product as something that would ever become popular to be honest and I doubt that anyone who needs this kind of product would opt for this rather than an aerosol based dry shampoo. I would only recommend this for the novelty of it as it is rather strange - after application and before working the powder through your hair you end up looking like the Charles Dickens character Mrs Havisham - coated in a white dusty cobwebs and looking very old and odd. This is not a product I would ever consider buying for myself in the future as it just doens't provide enough benefits for me to want to pay £7.19.

Find out more about the Toni and Guy range at:

www.hairmeetwardrobe.com