If you have ever left the chair after a smoothing blowout, only to watch the frizz creep back three days later at home, you are not alone. We hear it constantly behind the chair at Sølvi. The fix is rarely a better flat iron. It is the routine you run at home between visits. The Davines Love Smoothing Duo is the set we hand most often to our frizz-prone and coarse-haired clients, and below is exactly how our stylists use it so you get salon-smooth results without the salon.
What the Love Smoothing Duo actually is
The Love Smoothing Duo is a two-step Davines set built for frizzy, coarse, or unruly hair. You get a smoothing wash and a leave-in perfector that you apply to damp hair before drying. It runs $75 for the pair on our shelves, and like everything we stock, it is something our stylists genuinely reach for in the studio. The whole point of the duo is to make hair easier to manage, faster to dry, and sleeker at the finish. It is not a chemical treatment and it will not restructure your hair the way an in-salon smoothing service does. Think of it as the daily maintenance layer, not the one-time fix.
Step one: wash, and resist the urge to scrub
Start in the shower with the smoothing wash. Wet your hair fully, then work a quarter-sized amount through your scalp with your fingertips. You do not need a mountain of lather to get clean hair. Coarse and frizzy textures tend to be drier at the ends, so concentrate the cleanser at the roots and let the rinse carry it down the lengths. We tell clients to rinse longer than feels necessary, because leftover residue is one of the quiet causes of dullness.
Step two: the leave-in perfector on damp hair
This is the step most people skip, and it is the one that does the heavy lifting. After you towel-dry, your hair should be damp and not dripping. Take the Love Smoothing perfector, warm a small amount between your palms, and rake it through from mid-length to ends first, then lightly over the top. Fine areas near the crown need very little. The perfector is what tames the cuticle so the frizz lies down once you dry. Skip it and you are basically blow-drying raw hair and wondering why the smoothness does not hold.
Step three: blow-dry with tension
The duo makes blow-drying faster, but technique still matters. Dry your roots first on medium heat, then switch to a round brush and pull the hair taut as you follow with the nozzle pointing down the hair shaft. That downward airflow is what closes the cuticle and gives you the sleek finish. Our stylists at Sølvi often hit the very ends with a quick cool shot at the end to lock it in. If you want us to walk you through your own hair type in person, that is what our styling services are for, and you can book a visit here.
How it holds up in the Boise climate
Here is the honest local wrinkle. This duo was built with humidity-prone hair in mind, and Boise is high desert. Our problem is not damp air, it is the opposite. Dry winters and dry summer heat rough up the cuticle and leave coarse hair looking frizzy and thirsty. The good news is that the smoothing and softening this set delivers works just as well against dry-climate frizz as it does against humidity. We have watched it calm that wind-roughed, static-prone texture that downtown Boise winters create. If you walk or bike near our studio at 104 S Capitol Blvd in January, you know exactly the frizz we mean.
Who it is not for
We will be straight with you. If your hair is fine and flat, this set can read heavy and leave you looking weighed down rather than smooth. It is built for coarse, thick, or rebellious textures. It also is not a keratin treatment in a bottle. It will not permanently straighten curl or fully defeat a humid vacation on its own. And at $75 for the pair, it is a considered purchase, not an impulse grab. If you have fine hair or want a true smoothing transformation, talk to us first and we will point you somewhere better suited. Otherwise, the short version is simple. Wash gently, apply the perfector to damp hair, then blow-dry with tension and a cool finish. Do that consistently and the smoothness you love from your appointment will actually live in your hair between visits. If you want to try it, the Love Smoothing Duo is on our retail shelf, and our stylists are happy to show you the technique on your next stop into the studio.