Famous blonde Caprice is known for her sauce but the top model was fast to catch up with a top beauty treatment for her hair - tomato ketchup, writes Women's Editor Fiona Tarrant.

The 'It' girl's got the pick of more than 57 products if she wants them, but Caprice swears by her home remedy to keep her hair conditioned and looking good.

Caprice - who is branching out in TV, appearing on this week's Holiday Heaven- - swears the red sauce stops her hair from going green when she goes swimming in a chlorinated pool.

And if you think that's kooky, The World's Best-Kept Beauty Secrets, by Diane Irons, reveals more secrets of the stars.

Diane claims Cindy Crawford uses her morning coffee grounds to massage her legs to avoid cellulite. And Jerry Hall allegedly rubbed lard over her body to avoid stretch marks while pregnant.

The ever-youthful Joan Collins is reputed to use butter on her complexion, and Zsa Zsa Gabor uses blackened banana on her face as a mask, then fills a bra with it and pops it on to firm her bust!

We decided to put the ketchup theory to the test.

Debbie Lee is a keen swimmer and, as a blonde, knows all about the problems of chlorine and green hair.

The 32-year-old, from High Street, Harwell, had problems as a youngster. "My hair was very, very blonde as a child and it often used to go green after swimming. These days, I have my hair highlighted and I have to condition it after swimming.

"Normally, I vary the conditioner between a special anti-chlorine one and my usual one, but I quite liked the idea of finding an easy, inexpensive way to condition my hair, so I gave the ketchup a go.

"It was terrible. It wasn't a conditioner at all. It was sticky and I was convinced afterwards that my hair looked pink. I ended up washing it again.

"Caprice has got very fine hair but mine's a lot thicker and all that happened was that it matted. All I can think to say is that if she keeps using ketchup, she won't have any hair at all."

Our next guinea pigs were Lucy Higton, 12, and Clementine Harris, 13, who swim for the City of Oxford Swimming Club.

Lucy, who lives in Botley, and Clementine, of Witney, swim every day after school and usually wash their hair daily. They tried out different ketchups in the showers of Ferry pool after swimming practice.

Clementine, who specialises in butterfly stroke and is the club's champion for 13-year-olds, used Sainsbury's ketchup and found it rough and sticky. "My hair felt squeaky when I washed it off but it was knotty and my hair looked darker. It did make my hair feel soft but I think I'll stick to my own conditioner in future."

Lucy, who also excels at butterfly, is a county champion. She tried Heinz. "At first I thought it was a joke, but I always enjoy a laugh so I gave it a go. We both thought it would smell funny but it didn't. My hair felt silky when I rinsed it out but it was hard to brush. I don't think it made much difference. Although it didn't do any harm, my family thought my hair had a reddish tinge to it. I think I'll stick to normal conditioner in future."

Justin Cooper, a stylist at Oxford hairdressing salon Toni & Guy, said there was something in ketchup which conditioned the hair.

"There is a certain amount of truth in it. Tomato ketchup can be good for your hair. It's all down to the vinegar and the tomato puree, which can both help the condition of the hair and can help keep the colour - if the hair is coloured - true." *Branded hair products include: Lancome Soleil Aqua Protect Hair and Body Sun Spritz (£13.50 for 125ml); Piz Buin Anti Sun Stress Strengthening Shampoo (£3.99 for 200ml); Redken Solargenic Moisturizing Conditioner (£4.85 for 150ml); Kerastase Solaire Protective Gloss Spray (£8.50 for 100ml).

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