Repair: Olaplex and K18
Bond builders do one specific thing — they rebuild the internal structure that lightening, heat and time break down. They are not conditioner and they will not do a conditioner's job, which is why the house uses them through a colour service rather than selling them afterwards as a fix.
As a standalone sitting they are for hair that has been through something: a correction, a long summer, a bad set of extensions. We will tell you which of the two your hair wants, and whether it wants either.
Keratin smoothing
Smoothing is for frizz and for the twenty minutes every morning you would rather have back. It does not make hair straight and it should not — it makes hair behave, so a blow dry holds through weather that would previously have undone it in an hour.
It lasts around three months and it changes what your own hands can do at home, which is the real point of it. Book it before a hot holiday, not after.
Gloss, rituals and the shelf
A gloss is the cheapest thing on the menu that changes how expensive hair looks, and it is the treatment most people should be having and are not. It refreshes tone, closes the cuticle and puts light back on the mid-lengths.
The atelier's Kérastase rituals are prescribed at the basin against what the hair is doing that month, and whatever is used on you can be taken home from the boutique so the result survives the first wash.
Questions we are asked
- How long does keratin smoothing last?
- Around three months for most hair, and it fades out gradually rather than leaving a line. It is best booked before a hot or humid trip rather than after one.
- What is the difference between Olaplex and K18?
- Both rebuild internal bonds by different routes. Which one suits your hair depends on what has damaged it and how, and we will tell you at the basin rather than sell you both.
- Can I have a treatment on the same visit as colour?
- Yes, and bond builders are used through a lightening service as standard rather than added afterwards.
- Will a gloss change my colour?
- A gloss refreshes tone and adds shine without lifting. It is the quickest way to take brass out of a blonde or put depth back into a brunette between colour appointments.