After a few months in the summer sun, your clients are looking to you for help for their dry, faded locks. Come to their aid with a host of backbar treatments that moisturize, strengthen and preserve color, then send them home with a maintenance routine from your retail section.

Backbar treatments can boost your bottom line.

"By the middle of summer, hair is wrecked," says Philip Pelusi, hair mogul and owner of Tela Salon in New York City. "A hair treatment can jump-start a care routine for the fall and winter." Tela offers a range of organic treatments geared for specific problems. "Hair should be looked at like a fabric; each kind requires a different type of treatment," Pelusi says. Rejuvenate, for stressed or aging hair, features ingredients like thornberry, foti and pomegranate. Rehydrate, with its combination of marshmallow root, plantin, angustifolia seed and soloman seed, is best for frizzy, curly or coarse hair. Revive, for people whose color needs a boost, uses pure pigments from ground flowers in seven different tones mixed with things like milk thistle, foxglove and wolfberry to enhance color and create a separation of tonalities. Pelusi says that even in tough economic times, his clients can always fit in this affordable luxury. He also suggests offering treatments as part of packages or as incentives for valued clients.

Gary Wagner, color specialist at David Evangelista Salon at Cornelia Day Resort in New York City, says that many clients come to the salon specifically for its new clay treatment, which sucks toxins out of the hair, then replenishes it with heavy conditioners and vitamins. "This mask is like 'summer cleaning' for the hair," he says. After a vigorous shampoo, which Wagner calls a "facial for the scalp," the mask is applied and the client is set under a steamer for about 30 minutes before being washed out. It's a great add-on service to a straightening treatment, but Wagner warns that doing it within 48 hours of applying color can cause fading because the cuticle is not fully closed yet and the clay will draw out the color product. He does, however, suggest the treatment for his clients who highlight or relax their hair. "Any time I do chemical work that can damage the structure of the hair, I like to know what I can offer my clients to repair it," he says. He also recommends the treatment for clients with very thick or curly hair.

1. Specialized formulas from the Jayld Biophil pH Treatment system; 2. the pHix pHase step of the Redken Chemistry System; 3. Bain de Terre Hair Strengthening Mud Masque; 4. Profound Beauty Anatomy Collection Anti-Oxidant Mask

At Gavert Atelier in Beverly Hills, CA, owner Stuart Gavert says his clients only need to be talked into his keratin treatment once before falling in love with the results. In fact, about 75 percent of his clients with chemically treated hair request it. The keratin treatment is used during the color process, after taking off the hair lightener and before applying gloss. "The keratin rebuilds the protein structure and allows the gloss to properly adhere to the hair," Gavert explains. "It also acts as a bodifier, leaving hair silky but full." Gavert also applies this treatment to clients who have undergone Japanese straightening, especially his black clients who need the extra moisture.

While you can develop your own treatments for your salon, many companies provide backbar treatments for you to offer.