How Does The Sun, Chlorine, And Salt Water Damage My Hair In The First Place?
I love Summertime! Don’t you? Unfortunately, Summertime doesn’t actually love us back. Every year, millions of people suffer the results of outdoors activities. From sunburns to damaged hair, the sun wreaks havoc upon us in a multitude of ways.But, because we love soaking up all the fun and sun Summer has to offer, we deal with the eventual appearance problems that it causes later on down the line. The “green” or “gray” colored hair after taking a dip in the pool. Dried out locks from splashing about in the ocean. And plain old dull, brittle, split ends that makes us look less than our best when it’s time for a hot night out.We all know this happens, and still we continue to venture out with zero protection for our hair. For some reason, we don’t think about it until the damage is done. After all, it’s just hair, right? Okay, but what would you do if you had to chop it all off tomorrow? Or it fell out from all the damage inflicted upon it? What if you didn’t have it? Then would it just be hair? We all need to take a few minutes before we walk out the door and into the blazing sun rays to protect our hair from all that damage just waiting in the wings. And with the information provided right here in these very pages, that’s all it will take you, just a few minutes extra each day to ensure your hair looks just as fabulous in the Summer as it does in the Autumn months.
It will also provide you with information as to why certain reactions occur to your hair from the activities we enjoy, such as swimming in chlorine filled swimming pools, going for a romp in the clear ocean water, or simply sitting out in your backyard for a few hours. It doesn’t matter if you are someone who has great looking hair or existing dry, damaged, or color treated hair. All the tips and techniques you need to make it through the grueling Summer heat are all here for you. They have been carefully selected to ensure that you have all the information you need to keep your hair looking terrific during the driest, dog days of Summer. Give the tips in this guide a try. You’ve got nothing to lose. . . .Except your hair!
Whether you realize it or not, the sun can be extremely harmful to your hair. The same UV rays that damage your sensitive skin can also damage your hair! The reason for this is due to what hair actually is. Do you know what your hair is made up of or how it grows? Let me explain, then you will better understand why the same sunlight that affects our precious skin cells affects our hair in the same manner. Hair is basically made up from our dead skin cells that when builds up springs from our dermis tissue layer by way of our hair follicles through our epidermis. This is precisely how our hair grows! Because hair is made up of skin cells, it can still be affected, albeit in a different manner, by the heat and harmful UV rays of the sun just as our skin is. But this is not the only thing to understand about the chemical make up of our hair. Hair is mostly comprised of a specific protein called Keratin. Lack of this protein can affect the texture of our hair, so supplements are used to replace this lost protein via specific hair care products. That is why many of them contain “keratin”
Just as hair is damaged and dried out through the use of blow dryers, curling irons, and straightening irons, so too can the sun have the same lasting effects. This can make your hair appear dull and “lifeless”. It can also create any of the following conditions: dryness, fragility, brittleness, among others due to constant drying. Because of this “drying out”, we must replenish our hair just as we do our bodies when we are thirsty. When your hair is dry or damaged, it’s thirsty. This is why many treatment methods for dry hair call for specific moisturizing elements. In addition, what we eat is also important to healthy hair growth. Since our hair is made up of certain types of protein and skin cells, it should make perfect sense that what we eat has a great effect on the health of our hair, just as it does the rest of our bodies.
Eating a full diet containing protein, fruits, vegetables, grains, and even an appropriate amount of fat is important (several vitamins and minerals require fat in order to be delivered or absorbed by the body) to stimulate the growth of healthy hair from our follicles. Because of the chemical make up of our hair, certain outside elements affect it in very specific ways. Take for example the sun. As mentioned earlier, long exposure to the sun would be the same as blow drying or curling your hair with a curling iron. It dries out your hair taking away vital moisture. It can also cause “split ends” as a result of exposure, or over exposure, as many of us enjoy daily activities outdoors in the direct sunlight.
In addition, UV rays from the sun expose our hair to natural radiation. This type of radiation reacts to the hair in a different manner than it does to our skin, but still has damaging affects. Extended exposure without protection to UV rays can cause our hair to become fragile, brittle, or thinned over time. UV rays also cause the texture of our hair to change. They can make our hair feel rough and dry instead of silky and smooth. Going swimming, even in our backyards, inside a pool that has been chemically treated with chlorine can also cause terrible damage to our hair. Both chlorine and salt water can dry out our hair. And, continued exposure simply intensifies these affects damaging our hair even further. Not to mention that those with color treated hair can experience discoloration giving gray or green hues to the tint.
Furthermore, the mineral deposits salt water contains in direct combination with sunlight dehydrate your hair on a massive level. It can also make your hair color appear as “brassy”. All the chemicals used in pools and the minerals present in sea, or salt water, adhere to the hair which is what causes these color changes, and can also give a dull, unhealthy look to our hair. Everything we don’t want when we think about the way we wish our hair to appear! That is why we must take steps to ensure the beauty, and safety, of our hair before we even step foot outside. The following tips will help to curb all the harmful effects Summer activities will run a muck on your hair!
Use any, or all of them to keep your Summer hair looking fabulous wherever you go.
1 Try and limit your time spent outdoors when the sun is out. if you can, try and head outdoors when the sun is setting, it will be cooler and not damage your hair out as much.
2 Try to avoid blow drying your hair during the torrid Summer months. This will only add extra heat damage to your delicate locks. If you must use your blow dryer, try using a lower heat setting.
3 To re-hydrate your hair, look for products that will increase moisture, shine, or elasticity. Leave in conditioners can be found practically anywhere hair care products are sold, and these will definitely help. use them as directed on the container and this will help battle the summertime “dries”.
4 Try adding Jojoba oil on the ends of the frizziest parts of your hair at night time when getting ready for bed to try and tame the dry frizzes. Use a plastic shower cap to prevent leakage or staining your bedding and leave this on overnight to help re-moisturize your dry hair. Give your hair a light “rinse” in the morning.
5 When at the beach, or beside the pool, take a hat or scarf with you to protect your hair from the damaging rays of the sun. Your hair can be damaged not only by the summer heat, but also by the UV rays pumping up the “frizzes”.
6 Use leave in conditioners or hair care products that contain SPF protection already in them to lock in moisture. If this is unavailable to you, then simply rub some of the sunscreen for your skin through your tresses. Hey, hair is but an extension of your skin anyway, so it can’t hurt.
7 To avoid overly frizzy looking or split ends, visit your hair stylist to get them trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks. You can also do this simply yourself if you prefer. And, if you can cut straight 😉
8 Cut down on the amount of times you wash your hair during the Summer months. Washing takes away natural oils secreted by your scalp and dries out your hair. If you cannot stand not washing your hair every single day, then try using a lighter shampoo, such as a daily clarifying formula which you can find easily.
9 Switch over to a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner duo during the hotter months if your hair is showing signs of getting dry. Look for moisturizers that help replenish vital nutrients to your hair.
10 While we all want sun-kissed voluptuous locks, using products that lighten your hair such as “Sun-In” or highlighting kits can further damage your hair. Try to stay away from these products, especially if you already have dry, or heat damaged hair from frequent blow-drying sessions.
11 Use a clarifying shampoo to remove chlorine damage from swimming. Try and wash your hair immediately after going for a refreshing dip in the pool. The sooner the better as you can reduce some of the harsh effects quickly.
12 To reduce the amount of ‘green tint’ in your hair, especially for blonds, apply a bit of conditioner(leave in or normal) to your hair before entering the water. Having your hair pre-moistened before swimming can also help reduce the ‘greens’.
13 If your hair is already showing signs of a greenish tint, then you may want to try applying tomato juice to your hair, wrap up with a plastic shower cap and leave it on 15-30 minutes, then rinse.
14 When showering, lower the water temperature a bit and try to avoid, hot, steamy showers. This will further dry out your hair and scalp, something you don’t want to do when the weather is hot. Try to limit yourself to luke warm to cool showers. Taking them during the daylight hours will help.
15 Drink plenty of water! Since your hair is an extension of your skin, it needs to be hydrated from the inside out. Drinking plenty of water will help resupply the inner moisture your hair needs to look healthy.
16 Try to steer clear of hair products that contain alcohol. Things such as hair gel, hair sprays, and some mousses contain alcohol, these will also dry out your hair. The key to having beautiful summer hair is to keep it well hydrated and moisturized.
17 Condition your hair every day during the hot months, even if you normally don’t use conditioner. If you don’t normally condition, try using a lighter conditioner, if you always use conditioner, try a deep conditioning treatment at least 3 times a week as well as using your normal conditioning treatments.
18 Give a deep conditioning hair mask a try at least once a week. This will help repair some of the drying damage to your hair. Look for those hair masking products that contain moisturizing elements such as butters or oils, these will work best.
19 If going to the beach where there is salty sea water, be sure to carry a bottle of club soda or mineral water with you so that after you finish your dip, you can rinse all that salt out of your hair. You may also want to re-apply any leave in conditioner to your hair after rinsing to be sure your hair stays beautiful after your day at the beach! This also works well when swimming in chlorinated pools.
20 Use hair accessories that don’t “tear” your hair. It will be under enough stress from the heat and humidity. Try ‘ouchless’ ponytail holders, Goody makes them and you can pick them up at your local corner drug store or at Wal-Mart for a couple bucks.
That’s about all there is to keeping your hair beautiful throughout the tawdry days of Summer. If you can incorporate just a few of them, you’re sure to have people asking “How Do You Keep Your Hair Looking So Good?!”.
HINA SHAHID
