Hair imaging or virtual hair styles and makeovers have rocketed in popularity since people-friendly software became readily and cheaply available on the Internet.

Professional hair salons still pay high prices to bring their clients the chance to ‘try before they buy’ a particular hair style. Some use photos or drawings of models wearing the hair styles, but those that allow you to put your own photo into their software have much more scope for personalization ... and fun!

Short hair styles, celebrity hair styles, long hairstyles, curly, straight, punk or celebrity hairstyles – you can try ‘em all! And how about hair colors? Certainly ma’am!

You’d be amazed at just how different a hair style can make you look. From vamp to vice-president, from carefree to slick ... and anything in between.

The usual method is to take a digital photo of yourself or scan a photo print and save it as a .jpg file (scanning software does that bit for you). Each site is a little different, but basically, you click a couple of buttons and your photo magically travels from your computer to their computer, ready for you to play with.

Most allow you to use several photos, so don’t worry if you mess up the first one. To get the best out of your photo, you’ll usually benefit from getting someone else to take a fresh photo of you. Get them to take it full face-on (although a couple of softwares will allow more than one angle).

When you get the photo into the software you’ll need to remove all your current hair – in the photo, not off your head! To make that task easier, it’s a good idea to wet your hair and slick it back before taking the photo so as little hair as possible shows around your face.

An alternative is to tie it back in a ponytail before you take the photo. Either way, the aim is to leave your face clear of hair so you can truly play with the online hair style photos.

So there you go – fun and fruitful research in one easy game!