Outback Hair

When I was six, my family moved to a new house. Along with leaky ceilings and built-in cat hammocks, we inherited the previous owners' massive daily delivery of junk mail. I was delighted: I sat on the living room floor and entertained myself for hours, carefully filing newsletters and fliers into different categorized bundles.

The hotel/cruise/tourism brochures were my favorite—I decided I wanted to be a travel agent. I was particularly fascinated with Australia, especially motorcycle explorations in New South Wales, for some reason. Whenever we discussed family vacations, I begged my mom to call Freedom Wheels.

Instead, she brought home Aussie Three Minute Miracle conditioner. The kangaroo! The eucalyptus! The tropical scent! I was in love. I squeezed it into the tub like bubble bath: Soon I would be tan, blonde, and if not IN Australia, then looking as if I were.

Twenty years later, I've accepted that the laid-back surfer look is never going to work for me—except for the tousled part. Aussie created the perfect scrunch spray for blowing-in-the-breeze-on-the-back-of-a-Suzuki waves. And Miracle is still the best thing for softening dry ends ... the kind you get, say, diving the Great Barrier Reef.

—Dawn Spinner, associate beauty editor