This Is Reportedly Kate Middleton’s Favourite Shampoo – And It’s The Best I’ve Tried

I lapped up anything to do with Kate Middleton back in the '00s and 2010s. I remember hunting high and low for a rose quartz heart pendant on a leather thong necklace after clocking a close-up of hers in a series of polo match pap shots. When the future Princess of Wales appeared at her St Andrews graduation in a fitted white shirt and black pencil skirt, I vowed I'd wear the same ensemble for my own a few years later (I did). And let's not even touch on how many Bobbi Brown products I bought into after the rumour mill went into overdrive with tales that Kate had applied a full face of the stuff on the morning of her wedding day in 2011.

It will come as no surprise, then, that when I read in numerous titles over a decade ago that Kate was rumoured to lather, rinse and repeat withKérastase's Nutritive Bain Satin Shampoo, £24.75, I bulk bought a few bottles. While the Princess has never confirmed a penchant for the product herself, it's still widely written about as one of her go-tos.

At nearly £25, it's hardly a budget shampoo, but I've been coming back to this formula time and time again and if you're up for treating yourself, it's well worth the spend. The shampoo is part of Kérastase's core haircare collection and makes a big deal about its nourishing, moisturising properties. My hair is fine, long and there's lots of it, so for the most part I swerve shampoos made for dry hair as they often weigh my hair down. Clearly, though, the Middleton-factor overrode my usual hair habits and I dived straight in. The formula's hero ingredient is glycerin, a hero hydrator that improves moisture levels in your hair and skin by increasing retention, rather than adding more in with a heavy medley of oils. As a result, it manages to cleanse my hair in a single wash (excess oil, pollution, product residue - all gone) and give it back some life without weighing it down.

The shine payoff is unreal, too. A wash with Kérastase Nutritive Bain Satin Shampoo, some decent lighting and all of a sudden my lengths are selfie-ready and gleaming. And I'm a sucker for the scent - it smells expensive.

I'm pretty promiscuous when it comes to my haircare, flitting back and forth between a handful of shampoos, but this one will always have a place in my bathroom cabinet, especially during winter. That said, I'm not a huge fan of its matching conditioner, the Kérastase Nutritive Last Vital, £33.50, it doesn't afford much slip, and that's something I need when I'm detangling my mid-lengths and ends in the shower. Conditioner-wise my current favourite is Sam McKnight's Hair by Sam McKnight Light Cleanse Conditioner, £28, a lightweight formula rich in polymers derived from corn starch that makes light work of smoothing split ends.