“This is the affordable haircare routine I always recommend to anyone wanting healthier hair”

It doesn’t matter what trendy haircut I’ve experimented with – whether I want to embrace my natural, wavy hair or go poker-straight – for as long as I can remember, my one aim for my hair has been to try to rectify the damage that I racked up in my teens. It turns out, you really do pay the price of being naive about the rules of haircare and experimenting with at-home bleaching kits years afterwards. I learned the hard way.

As such, you best believe that anything that comes across the beauty desk with the word ‘repair’ on it gets added straight into my shower shelf for my next wash day. As a result, I’ve done more tried and tested research when it comes to hydrating masks, shampoos and hair serums than any other person on the planet (probably). Which is why when I say the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Bond Repair range works, you have to trust me on this. 

The entire four-product range, from pre-shampoo treatment to finishing hair serum, will set you back just under £30, which is still cheaper than the majority of single products out there with bond-repair technology. However, if I had to pick just one product from the range to add to my basket, it would have to be the Elvive Bond Repair Pre-Shampoo Treatment.

It just needs to be applied for at least five minutes before you shampoo, and it leaves my hair so silky that I can skip my usual hair mask step. So it’s a timesaver, too. The whole range is packed with a bond repair formula that’s powered by citric acid. This essentially works to exfoliate (similar to the AHAs you use in your skincare routine), leaving you with brighter, softer and shinier strands.

I usually roll my eyes at products that claim on the label they’re going to ‘rescue’ my hair, but this range actually did. And from the first wash, too. Once my hair was dry, it looked like I’d just topped up my colour with a tinted hair gloss, while my ends looked healthier and felt silky soft – even when I let it air-dry.

I’ve since been through bottles of every product from the range – yes, I’m a repeat customer – and I’ve lost count of how many friends I’ve recommended it to when they come to me for solutions on how to achieve glossy strands (without having to pay a fortune).

If the results weren’t enough to rave about, the fresh scent that the range contains not only smells insanely good, but it lingers days after I wash it. It’s a small thing, but it makes a huge difference.

Despite testing out the newest launches in the haircare world, I always return to the Elvive Bond Repair range when I’ve either fried my hair on holiday with too much sun or have left it far too long in between haircuts. It simply injects ends with hydration, without weighing it down, and leaves hair looking thicker and more plump in the long run.

If you’ve been looking to add bond repair tech into your routine, but don’t want to spend a fortune, I can’t recommend this line enough. 

Images: Charlotte Bitmead; L’Oréal Paris