How to Protect Hair in the Summer
12 Ways to Protect Your Hair From Sun Damage, Saltwater, and More This Summer
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As your calendar fills up with fun Summer activities, you'll be busy planning out stylish festival outfits and scoping out new colourful beauty products. But just as you'd protect your body with SPF, don't forget to give your hair a little extra TLC this season. As relaxing and fun as they sound, Summer activities can potentially cause hair damage, especially if you're planning on spending quite a bit of time under the sun, pool chemicals, and beach water.
We asked hair experts for advice on the best ways to prevent hair damage this Summer while preserving your tone, elasticity, and strength. Here's what they had to say!
1 Wet Your Hair Before Swimming
"Hair is like a sponge, it can only absorb so much," says Kim Kearns, Bosley Professional Strength Core Educator. "I would recommend wetting hair prior to swimming, because if saturated, it will be unable to soak up the chemicals in the pool. Same with salt water."
2 Treat Your Hair After a Dip in the Water
No matter how tired you are at the end of the day, resist putting hair maintenance on the back burner. "If you aren't going to wash hair after a day in the sun or beach and want to rock your natural beachy waves, apply a mask like Kerastase's Ciment Thermique ($37) to strengthen, rebuild, and rehydrate hair", says Giovanni Vaccaro, Glamsquad's Creative Director.
3 Adopt a Cute (and Protective) Hairstyle
Did you notice bloggers rocking braids at Coachella? Here's another reason to get in on the trend.
"Apply a treatment like Ouai's Treatment Masque ($32) and braid your hair so the treatment seeps into your strands and prevents any harmful chemicals from penetrating the hair shaft," suggests Vaccaro.
4 Fully Cover That Hair
If you've recently dyed your hair, you'll want to take extra measures to ensure your color doesn't change. "Sunlight can fade out toners or color, making the hair feel dry and dull", explains Vaccaro. "For ladies with dark hair, the best way to avoid damage is to try and cover the hair (with a scarf or cute hat). For blondes, it's key to stay hydrated and use masks routinely throughout the summer so breakage doesn't occur."
5 Watch Out For Strong Chemicals
"Chlorine is an oxidizing element! When it reacts to metals naturally occurring in water, it can give your hair a beautiful seaweed color that . . . nobody actually thinks is beautiful," says Cash Lawless, a celebrity stylist. "If you think a swimming cap would ruin your look (totally understandable) use a protective shield before exposing your hair to sun, salt, and chlorine."
Lawless is a fan of the Rinzu PROTECT Spray by SEVEN haircare ($28), which provides a "perfect base layer of protection."
6 Don't DIY Summer Highlights
Ever heard from someone that you could magically lighten your hair by laying out in lemon juice in the sun? Turns out that myth can be harmful to hair and skin.
"Spraying peroxide, over-the-counter spray-in lighteners or lemon juice to lighten your hair during the summer can potentially cause major damage," says Kearns. "If you want a lighter sun-kissed look, ask your stylist for some baby-lights throughout your hair or just around your face."
7 Prevent Sand and Saltwater From Drying Our Your Strands
"Saltwater can dry your hair out after prolonged saturation", explains Garnier Celebrity Hair Stylist, Michael Duenas. "Use a leave in conditioner like the Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser ($5) after getting out of the water to almost completely reverse the damaging effects."
8 Rinse Off the Ocean Water
"While not as harmful as the sun or chlorine, salt left in your hair over time can have a dehydrating effect", says Lawless. "This lack of moisture can, in turn, cause a loss of elasticity and leads to damage because the hair tangles very easily, breaking in the detangling process."
"Effective, gentle cleansing and deep moisturization are key steps for all hair types. An ultra-moisturizing conditioner like the KENTE BOND conditioner ($30), which has a near clinical level of ProVitamin B5, should be part of your routine."
9 Preserve Your Hair Color With . . . SFP?
10 Don't Over-Wash Your Hair
As the temperatures rise, you might find yourself working up a sweat, which can lead to over-washing your delicate hair. "We shampoo too much in the Summer," says Kearns. "Why not cleanse your scalp instead. It's hot, it's humid, we sweat!"
"Replace shampooing every day with a little of the Bosley Professional Strength's BamBoom ($25). It's a cleansing powder that will soak up oils, detoxify, and deodorize your scalp with activated bamboo charcoal leaving your scalp clean from toxins and refreshed."
11 Get a Summer Trim
Don't forgo your regular trim in hopes of growing out your hair. "Waiting until the end of the summer to get a haircut are common mistakes women make during the Summer," says Vaccaro. "Daily hydration and sticking to your haircut schedule will help protect strands from the sun and salt."
12 Watch Out For Sun Rays
"Prolonged exposure of UVA/UVB rays can damage your hairs strands' outside layer, called the cuticle layer, which gives the hair protection and strength," says Kearns. "A damaged cuticle causes your hair to become dry, brittle, with broken or split ends . . . Hair can feel like straw and begin to discolor often leaving yellow or brassy tones lacking in shine."
