Every summer the same thing happens behind the chair at Sølvi. A client who sat for a fresh balayage in May spends her weekends on the Boise River, comes back tan and happy, and her scalp and shoulders are pink and tight from the sun. That is the part most people forget to take care of. So our color director, Hana Voss, who has spent fourteen years behind the chair, keeps notes on the products that actually hold up against Idaho summers. Su Aftersun by Davines earned a spot in her kit. Here is what she has seen with it, the good and the honest.
What it is
Su Aftersun is the after-sun cream in the Davines Su line, made for face and body. It runs about $40 on our shelves at the downtown studio. This is the part of the routine people skip. It is not a UV shield you put on before you go out. It goes on clean skin after sun exposure to soothe the redness and replenish the moisture a long day outside pulls out. The hero ingredient is Davines Regenerative Organic Certified bitter orange extract, which is loaded with flavonoids and antioxidants that help calm sun-stressed skin and the scalp along your part line. It is not a deep hair mask or a leave-in pretending to be bigger. It is post-exposure recovery, and it does that job well.
Why it matters in Boise
Boise sits at high desert elevation, and that mix of strong sun and dry air is rough on skin, not just hair. The scalp along a fresh part takes a real beating, and so do shoulders and the back of the neck after a float trip or a poolside afternoon. Our dry climate offers little ambient moisture to soften the hit, so skin feels tight and flushed by evening. Hana reaches for Su Aftersun on exactly those nights, when a client got more sun than they planned for. If your goal is to guard your color while you are out, that is a different product. Davines Su Milk, the before-sun leave-in hair spray, is the one that filters UV on the hair itself. Su Aftersun picks up afterward and takes care of your skin.
How we use it behind the chair
The use is as plain as the label. Apply it to clean skin after sun exposure, massaging gently into the face, body, and the exposed scalp, then repeat if you need more comfort. There is no before-the-sun step and no reapplying poolside. It is the cool-down ultimately, . Hana likes that it absorbs fast and does not leave skin greasy, so it layers over a normal evening routine without a fight. She tested it through last July on a client with fine, color-treated blonde hair and a sensitive scalp that always burns along the part, and it took the sting out without weighing anything down. If you want help building a summer routine around your specific color, our color team is happy to walk through it during a service visit.
The honest drawback
We will not pretend this is a year-round buy. Su Aftersun is a seasonal product. It earns its keep from late spring through early fall and then sits idle through a Boise winter, so if you are not spending real time outdoors in the sun, your $40 is better put toward a daily conditioner or a bond treatment. It is also recovery, not prevention. It will not block UV while you are out, it will not protect your color on its own, and it is not a heat protectant for hot tools. If active color protection is what you are after, pair it with Su Milk and use Aftersun for the cleanup at night.
Who it is for, and who it is not
It is for the client who spends summer outside and comes home with sun-stressed skin and a tender scalp. Boaters, hikers, poolside parents, anyone whose long days in the Idaho sun leave their skin tight and pink by evening. It is not for someone who stays mostly indoors all summer, and it is not the product to grab if you want UV protection for your hair color while you are out. If that is you, ask us about Su Milk instead and we will point you the right way.
Our verdict from the notes
Su Aftersun is a focused, well-made after-sun cream that does what Davines says it does. For a client living through a Boise summer, the $40 is reasonable for putting comfort and moisture back into skin and scalp after a day in the sun. We keep it stocked because every product on our shelves is one our stylists actually reach for, and this one Hana reaches for from June through September. You can grab it on the Su Aftersun product page or see us at 104 S Capitol Blvd in downtown Boise. Want your color and your summer routine dialed in before the heat hits? Book with us at Sølvi and we will set you up right.