Post Summer Hair Repair: Keratin, Gloss And A Good Cut

The season has quietened down, the beaches have emptied a little, and my La Cala clients are arriving with the same hair. Dry ends, faded colour, a bit of breakage around the face and that slightly straw like feel through the lengths.

Perfectly normal. You have had a summer. Now let us fix it, and let us do it in the right order, because the order genuinely matters.

What the summer actually did The sun oxidised your colour pigment and degraded the protein in the outer layer of each strand.

Salt water drew moisture out and left the cuticle rough and lifted.

Chlorine stripped natural oils and, on blonde hair, may have deposited minerals.

Heat styling on already dry hair finished off whatever was left of the ends.

The result is hair that is porous. Porous hair does not reflect light, so it looks dull. It does not hold toner, so your colour fades in weeks. And it tangles, which causes more mechanical damage every time you brush it.

Step one: the cut Nobody wants to hear this first, but there is no treatment on earth that repairs a split end. It can be glued shut temporarily, and then it splits again, further up.

I am not talking about taking length off. Usually a centimetre or two is enough to remove the frayed ends so everything below the damage line is healthy. That alone will make your hair look thicker and swing better.

Step two: strip and repair Before anything else goes on, I clarify. Months of sun cream, salt, chlorine, minerals and product build up sit on the hair like a film, and nothing will penetrate through it.

Then the repair itself. Depending on your hair I will use a bond builder, a protein rich botox style treatment, or a course of both. This is what rebuilds elasticity so your hair stops snapping.

Step three: keratin, if it suits you If your main complaint after summer is frizz and unmanageability, a keratin treatment at this point is transformative. The hair is clean, it has been repaired, and the keratin seals it all down.

If your hair is very fragile, I would rather wait a few weeks and do a repair course first. Keratin involves heat, and heat on weak hair is not a favour.

Step four: the gloss A gloss is the finishing move. It refreshes the tone, closes the cuticle and, more than anything, brings shine back.

It is quick, it is not expensive and it makes more visible difference than almost anything else I do. If you only book one thing this month, book a gloss.

Then keep it there - Sulphate free shampoo - A weekly mask or bond treatment, ideally left on longer than the packet says - Heat protector every single time, no exceptions - Trim every ten to twelve weeks - A gloss at six to eight weeks between colours

One appointment or several? For most people this is one long appointment. Cut, treatment and gloss together, usually two to three hours, and you walk out with hair that looks like it did in May.

If your hair has had a very hard summer, I will spread it over two visits a few weeks apart so we are building strength rather than piling processes on.

Book your reset If you are in La Cala, Riviera del Sol or across the Mijas Costa and your hair has taken a beating this summer, come in and let me have a look at it.

We will work out what it needs, in what order, and get it back into condition before the Christmas season arrives. Your hair will thank you, and so will your future self in December.