If you try one beauty product this week, make it a hair mask that actually works

This week's Sunday Service is born of a rude awakening. I was invited to a salon for an infra-red hair scan, which analyses your strands' bond structure to reveal how knackered it truly is, awarding a hair health score out of 100.

So off I skipped to Haug London Haus (gorgeous salon by the way - beautiful interiors, expert team and friendly, unpretentious vibe) Co-owner Philipp ran the SalonLab Smart Analyzer and I awaited my grade - cool, calm and quietly confident that my rarely heat-styled, frequently lathered in the very best shampoo for fine hair 'do would sail through. How interesting, I thought in my naivety, this technology is a real game-changer.

And my results certainly weren't boring. Reader, I scored 40%. That's a D, by scholastic metrics. Not since I flunked my physics mock have I been so blindsighted by the gap between expectation and achievement. So what's a hubristic highlighted blonde with a head full of broken bonds to do?

Why a truly effective hair repair mask is my go-to buy of the week

To caveat, the point of Haug's hair scan isn't serving cold slices of humble pie. It's baked into a colour consultation so they can use the insights to pick the right service, or offered as part of Hair Rehab - their scalp facial plus customised treatments. So my poor, sad strands were treated and given a long-overdue chop.

Afterwards, I reflected on my hair's condition and how infrequently I try and improve it. It's criminal to have access to the best hair masks and ignore them, but the problem is I know too much. Once hair leaves your scalp, it's dead and won't regenerate. Prevention is better than cure could have been written about hair damage - hence the deserved success of Olaplex in-salon treatments that stop bonds breaking during the colouring process.

By contrast, trad hair masks are mostly deep conditioners that layer on a silky feel and protect against future ravages - these superficial benefits weren't compelling enough for me to bother. Ruling out embracing my natural colour, which is a never, or doing the unthinkable and getting a pixie cut, could anything be done? It could, it should and it actually already had back in 2022. The answer was there all along.

Another reason this succeeds where others fail is that it does away with faff. Wash your hair (thoroughly please!) skip conditioner, work a few pumps through wet hair (sparingly please!) and that's it. The lack of hanging about is glorious - time spent waiting to rinse out a hair mask crawls by like time spent holding a plank. You need to let it 'activate' for four minutes before drying. But honestly, who does anything except mooch from one room to another in a robe for four minutes after they shower?

How did I already know this? Er, because I wrote a k18 review back in '22, signing off, "As long as you're willing to stick with it, your patience will be rewarded." Then stuffed it away behind the masks I can't be bothered with and forgot. Oopsie. But if I can cram my way to a B in physics I can fix this. I've started a weekly K18 wash day, and my hair felt better after the first one. Mea culpa. Turns out, if your hair's health is a bit of a worry, you can do something about it at home. Sound good? Great! Let's chat next Sunday.