fall hair reset

We hate to have to kiss summer goodbye, but we won’t miss how parched the sunny season leaves our bleached and curly strands. Between the heightened UV exposure and laissez-faire attitude that permeates warm weather months, the state of our hair at this time of year qualifies as a hot mess. Or should we say dry? What’s clear is that this period of neglect must come to an end. So, with a return to routines upon us, we’re going back to basics with a fall hair reset that includes these 5 hair care tips.

Tip #1: A Lil’ Trim Goes a Long Way
No amount of a nourishing hair mask can bring your straw-like, split ends back from the dead. To regain the look and feel of healthy strands, you’ve got to start at square one and get a trim. Snipping off dead, dry ends will instantly return a sense of vitality to any texture or style. Whether you’re enhancing definition to a blunt bob or helping curls spring back to life, the positive outcome of a snip sesh is undeniable. You also can’t achieve any additional inches in upcoming months if your ends are in a sorry state. Obviously, hair grows from your scalp (and please read on to tend to that too!), and growth at the roots contributes to hair strength, which informs its length. But if your ends become so damaged that they’re snapping off, then longer-length hair will remain just out of reach.

Tip #2: It’s Tone Up Time
If you notice your fresh new hue starting to get dull and fade over time, you’re not alone. Between hard water, regular shampoo sessions and environmental elements (like colour-zapping sunshine), it’s no wonder hair colour starts its disappearing act a few weeks after leaving your colourist’s chair. Nowadays you don’t have to shell out for another appointment to refresh your dye job in-between salon visits. With at-home toning kits, coloured conditioners and masks, plus tinted glossing treatments, there are multiple ways you can add back a little zip to your hair at home. And the best part? These treatments are often foolproof and fuss-free.

• Ashy shades of blonde can introduce a purple-tinted shampoo and/or conditioner into their lather, rinse, repeat sessions to add some life back to lacklustre locks. Overtime, brassy tones tend to dull blondes, so using a lavender-hued treatment to colour-correct once a week (or every two weeks, depending) is a simple way to get your blonde back on track.

• For redheads and brunettes, an at-home toning or glossing treatment is your best bet. These non-permanent glazes sit on top of the hair to add a gentle hint of colour and a healthy dose of shine. The colour options are endless, ranging from the fair end of blondes to shades of deep brown and black and everything in-between.

Tip #3: Get a Hydration Helper
From chlorine, to UV and heat, your hair is getting constantly bombarded with drying elements in the summer. Which makes the fall season the perfect time to invest in a lil’ TLC for your mane to return it to its glory… just in time for winter’s frigid assault (we kid, we kid). And for those of us with colour-treated or curly strands, upping our hair’s hydration levels is essential as we’re already working with a depleted stock. There are many ways you can achieve happier, more hydrated hair, from swapping out your regular conditioner for an ultra-nourishing mask to adding in moisture-boosting stylers to your routine (or both!). A few ingredients to scan labels for, regardless of product type are:

• Argan oil - rich in fatty acids and vitamin E, this oil helps to minimize damage to hair and restore shine.

• Shea butter - We love this rich butter for everything, including our hair. It helps reduce breakage, is seriously moisturizing and is a must for dry skin and hair.

• Keratin - A protein that’s naturally produced in our hair and nails, keratin smoothes the cuticle of hair and reduces frizz. Just be careful not to overuse products with keratin as it can build up and eventually weaken the hair.

Tip #4: Try a New Innovation
Newsflash: hair care has come a long way in the last few years. Just like skincare has made leaps and bounds with new ingredients and formulas, so has the hair biz, with new innovations gracing shelves on the regular. A few fave game-changing newbies that we’ve personally been loving include:

• Personalized Hair Care - a few brands have popped up that offer a more bespoke take on hair products. We’re fans of Function of Beauty and they recently launched their PRO line at Sephora. The line includes a collection of concentrates (think: frizz-taming and colour protection) that you can add into your existing shampoo or mask for an added boost.

• Hair Waters - This lightweight treatment delivers glass hair in just a few seconds. Employing lamellar water technology, which penetrates the hair cuticle to target areas of damage, these lightweight waters feel weightless on your hair but in reality are doing some heavy lifting. Each one works in layers to deliver nourishing ingredients deep into each hair shaft, resulting in seriously smooth and shiny strands in seconds flat.

• Bonding Treatments - Formulated to repair dry, damaged strands, these latest strengthening innovations repair hair from the inside out. When applied topically, bonding treatments repair those broken bonds within each strand of hair that get damaged with styling, colouring and hot tools. Broken bonds equal a frizzy, rough and generally unmanageable mane. Depending on the product, most bond repair treatments can be used once a week but for best results, read the label instructions carefully.

Tip #5: Spend Time On Scalp Care
Okay, so we’ll be the first to admit that this area of our hair care routines needs the most work. Dedicated scalp care practitioners we are not - yet! But this season we’re committed to change. Not least of all because when we talk to hair pros (which is often enough!) they all tout the benefits of scalp health. And it totally tracks that a healthy scalp sets the stage for healthy hair. This can be especially important if you suffer from dandruff, a dry, itchy scalp or an oily one (all supes common BTW). To use the popular garden analogy: if you want a gorgeous plant to grow up strong, then you have to tend to the soil properly. Also, if you’re a dry shampoo enthusiast, you’re going to want to make sure you’re getting any lingering residue off your scalp thoroughly after it has served its purpose. As a growing product category there are plenty of slightly gritty exfoliating scrubs to choose from. But we’re also fans of the serum-like scalp treatments that use skincare’s most effective chemical exfoliating ingredients, like salicylic acid, to gently remove build up. Whichever type of formula you choose, be sure to work in small sections to ensure the product gets distributed evenly across the scalp. Adding a silicone scalp brush to the scene isn’t a bad idea either, because another motivating factor to spending time on scalp care is that it can feel ah-mazing. On the rare occasions when we have completed an at-home treatment, it’s always left us in a better headspace. And who doesn’t want more feel-good beauty moments to turn to as we head into the deep, dark winter?