Believe it or not, summer is already here. Do you know what this means for your hair? It means you should switch to summer hair care. If you want to keep your hair healthy and shiny even during the summer heat and all beach activities and fun, continue reading.
In this article, we will reveal tips and tricks to help your beach hair and protect it from high temperatures and water. As you may already know, high temperatures dehydrate your hair. Water, whether it is salt or river water, or even chlorine in the water, washes out natural oils from the scalp and leaves your summer hair dry, damaged, and parched.
SUMMER HAIR CARE
You should never skip hydration conditioners in your vacation hair care routine. The same goes for protein and keratin hair masks. It is highly recommended to nourish the beach hair with a moisturizing hair mask. You can also use a conditioner that contains proteins and keratin apart from other moisturizing ingredients. Why? Because summer hair loses moisture and keratin when exposed to sun, salt, or chlorine.
Here is a summer beauty tip — put a hair mask or a nutrient conditioner several times a day when on a beach. Every time you get out of the water, risen your hair to wash away salt of chlorine and apply the mask or conditioner.
Your vacation hair care routine should also include a mild shampoo for a daily wash. Click here for a complete guide on how to choose the best shampoo for your hair type. Why does your beach hair require a mild shampoo? Well, because mild shampoos do not dry out the hair more than necessary. We strongly recommend sulfate-free shampoos that are very gentle for the scalp and the hair. Unlike other products, they can be used daily without drying the hair. They even preserve hair color from excessive color rinsing.
Another summer beauty tip
While using mild shampoos is great for summer months, you should also, from time to time, wash your hair with a shampoo containing sulfates. This way you clean your hair from product build-up and SPF. A little silicone never killed nobody! Therefore, leave-in silicone serums (those that do not rinse off), milk serums, spray, or oil serums will help you protect the ends from bursting and splitting during summer. Silicones protect the hair from temperatures as high as 230 degrees C, so they are certainly welcome in protecting hair from the sun and heat. They should definitely be a part of your vacation hair care.
EVERY DAY DEEP CONDITIONING ON THE BEACH
The best time to take care of your beach hair is when it is mostly wet. All you have to do is make the sun and summer conditions your ally in making your summer hair strong, healthy, and shiny.
It is incredibly simple actually. Every time you get out of the water and rinse out your summer hair from all the salt or chlorine, apply conditioner and wrap it up in a bun. Then let the sun and its warmth do their magic. They will allow all ingredients from the conditioner to penetrate the cuticle and keep it nourished while you are on the beach. If you take a disciplined approach to this process, it is guaranteed you will come back from your vacation with fully recovered and hydrated hair.
The conditioner or mask does not only nourish your hair but also protects it from the sun. They do not allow UV rays to harm the cuticle. Instead, they keep it intact. Also, it prevents the heat from drying out hair and makes it hydrated and extra soft.
For all these reasons you should take a regular conditioner or hair mask with you on the beach or pool. It does not have to be a leave-in conditioner spray. Any product will do. When you decide to go back into the water, you do not have to rinse the conditioner. Just let your hair loose and then when you get out of the water repeat the process as many times as necessary.
Since you will be spending the conditioner like crazy, make sure to take some affordable ones with you. You can use the expensive ones in the evening when you wash your hair for ultimate vacation hair care.
DEEP CLEANSING
According to some sources, the SPF stays in your beach hair more persistently than expected. This is why it is necessary to regularly (once a week) do a deep cleansing of your summer hair.
SPF stays in your summer hair longer and deeper than silicones. And we know that silicones cause damage only when they remain unwashed for a few months, or even longer. This is why special shampoos that remove the product build-up are strongly recommended.
On the other hand, you must be careful because some of these shampoos are very aggressive, which means that their use can be counterproductive. This is why the best idea is to use a regular Sodium Laureth Sulfate (or some other sulfate) shampoo for this purpose. Sulfates will wash out all deposits from your hair – whether they are in the “ordinary” shampoo or in a shampoo that is specifically designed for it.
UV PROTECTION OF SUMMER HAIR
It is practically impossible to avoid magazines, commercials, or doctors stressing how important it is to protect your skin from harmful UV rays. Still, most of us forget the fact that our hair needs as much care as our skin does. That is why we are sharing some tips on how to protect your hair as well as your skin.
There is a large number of products for UV protection in the market such as a UV protection spray or hair suncream. However, there is also a way to make these products at home. We will teach you not only how to make them but also which ingredients are a must when it comes to these kinds of products.
How to make a UV protection spray
A UV protection spray has the same function as a hair suncream. The easiest way to make one is by mixing a bottle of water with two (or even more) spoons of sunscreen lotion of your preference.
An even better idea is to mix sunscreen lotion with a leave-in hair conditioner spray. Hair always needs a bit of silicone, especially when exposed to heat and that is the main reason for mixing these two ingredients. Silicones in products are easy to recognize because they end in -cone.
If you wish, you can “strengthen” your UV protection spray with some silicone serum. In this case, here is a tip for you. Choose a cleansing spray that does not contain harmful alcohol such as Isopropyl Alcohol, Alcohol Denat, Methanol, Ethanol, Propanol, etc. Bad alcohols dry out hair while fatty alcohols are great when it comes to hydration. For this reason, fatty alcohols are more than welcome in hair care and hair protection products. You can recognize fatty alcohols under the following names: Cetyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Stearyl Alcohol, Lauryl Alcohol, Lanolin Alcohol, etc.
OILS AS AN ADDITIONAL CARE OF SUMMER HAIR
Using oils for extra hydration while you are on a vacation seems like a good idea, but it’s definitely not. Imagine what happens to your hair when exposed to the direct heat of the sun with the oil to enhance the heat damage. It’s like frying your summer hair like potatoes! Please avoid any “natural hair care tips” on summer hair care, it will cause more damage than anything else. Use well-formulated products that will protect your summer hair from the heat and UV, and use the heat to condition, and not fry your hair.
PROTECTIVE HAIRSTYLES
Summers and seaside vacations are generally the right time to try out the popular sock-buns, braids, fish bones, and similar hairstyles. Such hairstyles look good and keep hair away from the neck and back which is, you have to admit, a lifesaver when it is scorching hot. More importantly, they help protect hair from harmful external influences.
Protective hairstyles for summer are the best because they do not require a hairdryer or a straightener. You will save your hair from complicated hairstyles, which are not suitable for the summer. Sweat, dust, and other factors will destroy these hairstyles as soon as you leave the house.
Apart from these hairstyles, you can also experiment with summer hair accessories. For example, you can wear summer hats. Not only do they look good and stylish, but they also protect you from sunstroke and your hair from damaging UV rays and heat.
UV PROTECTION PRODUCTS FOR SUMMER HAIR
Like we said before, UV rays can make things worse if your hair is already in bad condition. They weaken and dry out hair so you need to use proper UV protection products for summer hair. Such products usually focus on the special hydration of beach hair along with UV protection. We have made a list of a few products you must have in your bag for the ultimate vacation hair care.