You’ve spent too much time at the beach over summer and your hair is looking tired. It’s time to overhaul your hair routine.
Experienced hair creation masters, Vicki Kyriakides from Prive Salon and Crysy Mylonas from Mylonas Salon share their professional tips on how to restore your hair’s lustre.

So what exactly causes summer hair damage?

“The major culprits are sun, wind, the regular use of heat styling tools and salt or chlorinated water,” says Crysy.

“We put sunscreen on our skin but we often forget to protect our hair. If you are out in the sun you should be using a leave-in hair product with UV protection”.

Whilst Vicky recommends moderation, especially with hair straightening if your hair is extremely dry, she says the key to reviving your hair is by using the right products.

“Just like you go and see a doctor for a prescription, we can recommend you suitable products for your specific hair type.

“As long as you are consistent, your hair should able to maintain its health,” she says.

Crysy adds, “Thermal protectors and conditioning treatments will help repair the damage but they are not a complete prevention”.

To keep hair in tip top shape, she recommends regular trims every 6-8 weeks, avoiding heat styling tools as much as possible, steering clear of products containing alcohol such as hair mousse and spray, and washing hair no more than 2-3 times a week (over-washing will strip the hair of its natural oils and dry it out).

Also don’t try cutting your own hair at home as blunted scissors can actually cause split ends!

Summer Hair Solutions

a. Problem: Frizzy, damaged hair from excessive use of heat styling tools:

  • DIY SOS: Vicki recommends La Biosthetique Vital Creme Shampoo Plus to help reduce breakage and a leave in conditioner such as Conditioner Express.

Treat your hair fortnightly with La Biosthetique Conditioner Cortex, a deep conditioning treatment which not only improves hair structure but promotes effective moisture retention.

  • In-Salon SOS: “Come into the salon for either a Conditioner Cortex treatment or try our new Two Phase Structure Treatment which reconstructs the hair from the inside out.

This gives instant results for really damaged hair.” -Vicky.

  • Using a heat protector is a must, especially when using styling irons.

 Try Matrix Colour Smart Nourishing Shine Cream (this also protects hair from UV rays and tames frizz) or La Biosthetique Heat Protector.

b. Problem: Dry, fine, coloured hair:

  • DIY SOS: Vicky recommends the regular use of La Biosthetique Volume Creme Shampoo Plus to add volume and strengthen and a conditioner that both improves hair structure and moisture such as La Biosthetique Conditioner Plus.

Follow with the Conditioner Cortex treatment fortnightly.

  • In-Salon SOS: Every time you come in for a colour, I recommend you have an in-salon treatment of Matrix Biolage Cera-Repair Pro4.

This will not only deeply moisturise your hair but help seal the hair cuticle and prevent your colour from fading”-Crysy.

c.Problem: Lightened hair that’s more brassy than blonde:

  • DIY SOS: Bleached hair requires a little extra at-home care to maintain colour and condition.

Vicky recommends using La Biosthetique Shampoo Protection Colour and also Glam Color Colour Conditioner.
Glam Color not only offers nourishment and colour protection but adds highlights, lowlights and neutralizes yellow tones.

d. Problem: You have split ends but you still want to grow your hair.

  • In-Salon SOS: “Regular trims that only take a small amount off the length will actually help the hair grow by preventing split ends. If you avoid having a cut, your hair will not grow as your ends will keep snapping off.” -Crysy.

“Opt for layers so that your hairdresser is able to trim damaged areas but still allow you to keep your length”- Vicky.

Sergio Videl from Serge Videl Salon in Hawthorn uses an awesome split ends removal method which barely removes any length from your hair. “I take the hair section by section and wrap over my finger so split ends stick out, then cut them off by sliding my finger down the length of each section,” he says. It takes an hour but it’s worth it!

Editor’s pick for extremely damaged hair:

Kerastase Nectar Thermique: A thermo-protective cream that nourishes hair on application of heat. Perfect for use before straightening or blow drying.
Kerastase Masquintense: This is heaven in a tub for extremely dry hair! Highly recommended.