How to get luxurious wash-and-go hair — all summer long

A summer holiday should be a time to switch off, relax and go fully low-maintenance, particularly when it comes to hair. For a lucky few this is easy, those born with hair that falls into silky beachy waves as soon as it comes into contact with sand, salt water and a squirt of Hawaiian Tropic factor 15. But for the rest of us, heat, humidity and chlorine render things more Einstein than Ariel.
This may mean taking up precious packing space with straighteners and smoothing products, or resorting to a daily slick-back with handfuls of conditioner. But a better option is to invest in a pre-holiday “permanent” blow dry, a treatment offered at Hershesons salons, which will take the frizz, fluff and daily fuss out of your hair in a one–hour-and-a-bit sitting (only so called because it is actually semi-permanent).
“The treatment involves infusing keratin (a protein that strengthens and smoothes hair) into all of the little holes along the hair shaft,” Luke Hersheson, a hairstylist and chief executive of the company, says. “This seals the shafts, so you end up with smoother and shinier hair, an improved texture that can last for months.”
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You may remember the Brazilian blow dry boom of the late Noughties, which promised similar results. And they did deliver. But the drawbacks could include “huge amounts of formaldehyde in the formulas” Hersheson says, plus any natural texture stripped from the hair, leaving it frizz-free but also pin straight and flat. “Ours might take a little bit of body out, and might drop curls a little, but the waves will remain,” he adds.
Once a pre-appointment patch test is done (don’t forget this step unless you want to waste your and the salon’s time) the process is similar to a regular wash and blow dry, starting with a thorough cleanse with a clarifying shampoo to remove any build-up. Then the keratin-rich formula is painted through the hair and left to marinate under a heat lamp for about 30 minutes. Next, a smoothing blow dry activates the treatment to get the silky smooth feel. The final step is a go-over with straighteners to further infuse and set.
Unlike other formaldehyde-filled offerings, the hair is actually healed and helped by the treatment, “especially with coloured and bleached hair,” Hersheson says. It can also be used on any hair type and can even benefit fine hair that tends to go fluffy in the heat.
Perhaps the one downside is that you can’t wash your hair for 48 hours after the treatment (or 72 for even better results) but you can use dry shampoo. After that, using sulphate-free shampoos only (the chemical can strip out the keratin) the results should last for up to three months.
For my hair — which is thick, quite coarse and goes a bit bedraggled-spaniel’s-ears if untended — the “permanent” blow dry was a pre-summer game changer. Where previously my beach hair was wild, huge and unhinged, somewhere between hay and a frazzled perm, post-treatment there has been no loss of bounce, but everything is sleek and shiny. Seven weeks later it’s still going strong. My hair tools are gathering dust and my styling creams have been rendered redundant — and those precious sunbathing, cocktail-sipping holiday minutes are all mine.
Hershesons “permanent” blow dry from £300, hershesons.com