By Joely Walker
Salt spray - the brilliant product that we rely on for lived-in, beachy texture. I'd never given it much more thought, but after yesterday I won't take it for advantage again.

Backstage at Vanessa Bruno, Eugene Soulieman for Wella let us in on an insider trick - before the days of Ocean Spritz he used a far more unconventional product to get the lived-in, beachy texture. Go on take a guess?... 'Vodka and beer' he told me.

I can oddly relate to this; back in my festival-goer days I had beer spilt over me in mass crowds - at first I looked like a drowned rat but once dried it gave me gritty, festival-chic texture. Not saying I'll ditch my staple spray anytime soon but good to know in an emergency.

Another, more everyday, tip Eugene gave was how to cut blow-dry time in half (a backstage necessity).

For the look, Eugene twisted the hair round to create one twist at the back which he rough dried before tying in a super low pony and tucking hair behind ears. Very Parisian chic.

The key to cutting down the time? 'Blow-dry the twist from below - heat rises meaning your pony will dry much quicker'.

Do you have any unconventional beauty tips? Tweet us @ELLEBEAUTYTEAM

A trio of beauty tips from Milan...

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