I have been traveling with my family for several weeks and was subjected to everything from sun to salt, to sand to chlorine. And I loved every minute of it! My hair, however, did not. I have naturally dry hair that doesn’t need any help when it comes to de-greasing, but needs a lot of assistance when it comes to moisture.
It’s not realistic to remain out of the sun all day (and it’s not good for us either) but there are lots of things we can do to protect our locks from the damages that summer can bring.
Wearing a wide brimmed hat when outdoors not only protects our skin from harsh rays but also our hair. If you’re inclined to wearing a swim cap, by all means do, although I’m not altogether convinced it’s works as well as it should. Rinsing our hair in fresh water as soon as we leave the ocean or pool can also rid us of chlorine, chemicals and salts that can dry out our hair or affect our hair color if it’s not natural.
For those of us with dry hair, shampooing our hair everyday can lead to even dryer strands so limiting shampoo to a couple of times a week and then “washing” our hair every day with a moisturizing conditioner instead can work wonders. Use conditioner as you would a shampoo, massaging it into your scalp and right to the tip of the strands and leave it in for as long as possible as you wash your body and shave your legs. Rinse only when ending your shower. You can also do this before your shower and wrap your hair in a hot towel for a half hour.
Other tips include using a moisturizing shampoo that’s good for rinsing out chlorine and sea salt and heating up an oil like olive oil or Castor oil and leaving it in your hair for a good 30 minutes before shampooing it out. Eggs are also good for restoring shine to hair, both eating them and placing a raw whisked egg on your hair for 20 minutes. Make sure you rinse in luke-warm water so as not to partially cook the egg if using very hot water. Butter and mayonnaise are also good conditioners. Natural methods abound! A diet filled with nuts, fish and beans/pulses can help restore hair to a healthy glow.
A good hair cut, removing dry, split ends is a great way to start off summer and keeping all these tips in mind will hopefully allow all of us with dry hair to end summer with the healthy locks we started with!