extremely cheap, extremely good hair products

Of all of the superficial things you can spend your money on, hair stuff must surely be the most boring (except maybe body care - I think I speak for all of us when I say "who cares?"). But having good hair is a (very, very far off) aspiration of mine. Inspired mostly by Sali Hughes' 50 products under £20 I think I have discovered some otherwise hidden hair gems (weird mental image).
Firstly, all my blonde bitches, just buy the Provoke Touch of Silver Brightening Shampoo. I'm pretty sure everybody knows about this, so I won't ramble on for too long. This turns warm blonde into cool blonde, and can even be used as a mild lilac dye (both on purpose or by accident). Cheap, smells good, easy to find, the end.
Ok, onto some more surprising bits. Mousse has a bit of a bad, crispy reputation, but the Boots Extra Firm Hold one seems to defy them. It's a mousse, sure, but it's a good one. Used in wet hair it stops your hair drying slippy and useless. This is probably also top for people who do fancy "up-dos" or such things I don't have the skill set for.
A bit of a strange one, the Boots Essentials Curl Creme is an exceptionally satisfying pale pink paste which looks like it belongs to your grandmother (and it very well might). I don't even have curly hair and I love this. It makes hair more malleable and kind of separated. It also adds hold without feeling like product in your hair, so whatever you do to it will look better for longer. For "science" purposes, I also used this in my boyfriend's long and curly hair, and it did seem to dry nicer, (although he was all, "why does my hair feel so ... firm??" - sigh, boys). Sounds (and looks, and is) weird, works really well. Try it if you, like me, want cool-girl hair with absolutely zero effort or money.