If the sun, surf, and salt had their way with your hair for the past few months, now is the time to turn around that summertime sadness. Here are four main ways to avoid bringing brassy, damaged, dull, or faded locks into fall.
GET THEE TO A SALON. GO.
Walk in with ragged, dull, discolored hair; walk out transformed. Book that appointment and ask for these services:
Haircut.
Yes, even if you’re trying to grow out your style: a cut is mandatory for a true hair refresh. Not only to shed damaged ends, but to revitalize the hair shape or introduce a new one. Get some inspo photos to bring to your next haircut.
Color.
UV rays, chlorine, and salt water are notorious for turning once-fierce hair color dull, faded, or brassy. Get with a colorist to correct or refresh your hue. As with the haircut, recognize this is a chance to update your look.
Bring photos of your dream hair color. (It may not be achievable in one appointment, but making a goal-oriented hair plan is what colorists do.)
In-Salon Treatment.
If there’s ever a time during the year when you should say yes to treatments at the shampoo bowl, it’s now. Ask for your stylist's recommendation for damage repair, detox, scalp balancing, moisturizing, or glossing.
INTRODUCE A NEW HOME-CARE ROTATION.
Using new products that specifically target your hair’s summer issues can clear up those problems — plus hit a reset button on your go-to, year-round hair products.
End-of-summer rotations that make sense are:
Clarifying/ Detox. Once and for all, get rid of that chlorine and mineral buildup and other deposits that made their way to your locks this summer.
Editor’s Pick: L’Oréal Professionel Metal Detox. Not only do the chelating products in this line remove buildup and excess metals — which affect color deposits — but they prevent future breakage and discoloration. Hair looks and feels healthier immediately, and it’s a game-changer for preserving color.
Scalp Balancing. Dryness, buildup, and flakiness can abound after months of UV exposure, sweat, salt and pool water. Take some time to restore the scalp’s skin biome and get it back into balance.
Editor’s Picks: Design Essentials Scalp Care has a variety of soothing products that quickly address the full range of scalp issues without buildup or gunk, even on sensitive skin. Use with Cricket Scalp Massage & Shampoo Brush to really get the circulation going.
Moisturizing. Among the other side effects of salt and chlorine: it dries out hair, spawning a need for more intense moisture than usual. If hair falls flat or feels rough to the touch, introduce more nourishing products.
Editor’s Pick: Donna’s Recipe Sweet Potato Pie Collection. Whipped up by vegan chef and TV personality Tabitha Brown, this luxe plant-based line delivers decadent moisture that can quench even the thirstiest locks.
Damage Repair. When exposure to sun, salt, and chlorine cause more than dryness — creating brittleness and breakage — repair care is in order.
To correct light or medium damage, a keratin-building rotation will suffice; to save badly damaged locks, bond building is the answer.
Editor’s Picks: Keratin Building — PHYTO REPAIR (pictured above) restores bounce, shine, softness, and has amazing frizz-fighting properties. Bond Building — Not Your Mother’s Tough Love is one of the best lines we’ve tried for damage repair (and it’s budget-friendly!).
3. GIVE YOURSELF AN AT-HOME HAIR TREATMENT (OR SERIES)
Bring in the big guns in the privacy of your bathroom by restoring end-of-summer hair with intensive home-care therapies.
Cécred Fermented Rice & Rose Protein Ritual — The two-step treatment truly leaves hair feeling soft and silky thanks its formula fortified with fermented rice water, prized for centuries for its strengthening benefits.
IGK Offline Hydration Mask — Its formula includes turmeric butter and green tea seed oil to soften, smooth, and restore hair.
L’Oréal Professionel Absolut Repair Molecular Hair Mask — So you need a hair turnaround, pronto? This professional-grade treatment has bond-building peptides that hone in on damage and leave hair visibly improved after just one use.
TURN TO POTENT LEAVE-INS
We love a good serum, and this trio delivered exceptional results and won rave reviews with American Salon editorial testers.
ORI Lab Overnight Dew Serum — A deluxe leave-in that nourishes and replenishes hair moisture as you sleep. It’s lightweight but powerful, smells lovely, and you wake up with better hair — win, win, win.
R+ Co Bleu Split End Fix Serum — If frayed ends are killing your style, get this concentrated serum into your locks ASAP. Besides binding split ends in even highly damaged hair after just one application, it leaves tresses soft, shiny, and stronger.
(plated) Hair Serum. From the skincare geniuses at (plated) Skin Science comes one of the best products we’ve tried for hair growth. This serum is fortified with the brand’s award-winning Renewosome™ technology, featuring regenerative platelet-derived exosomes.
Our testers reported substantial growth in even formerly thinning, balding areas within weeks.
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