Summer is definitely nearly here, and beach time will soon be upon us! Many of us spend a lot of time and effort on being beach ready, whether it is working out and dieting as soon as spring starts to get that bikini body, or taking care of skin and building up a base tan (real or fake). However, while we focus on our figures and getting our skin nicely exfoliated, moisturized and glowing, it is important not to forget about hair!
Whether you live by the coast and the beach is a daily part of life for you in summer or you are planning a beach vacation, regular exposure to hot sun, along with swimming, can leave you hair in worse condition. With some preparation and care, you can keep it looking soft and silky, and ready to be the perfect accessory for your favorite bikini or tankini bathing suit this summer. Here are some tips:
Don’t Brush It After Swimming in the Ocean
If for you, a trip to the beach involves a lot of fun in the ocean swimming, playing around with friends or doing your favorite watersports, it pays to get used to rocking the ‘surfer hair’ look when you get out if you aren’t able to immediately shower and wash the sea water out. Sea water is not particularly damaging to hair on its own – it’s just water and salt – but as your hair dries in the sun the salt can have a serious drying effect.
You can recover from this when you get to wash your hair with a good conditioner, but while you’re still out at the beach, ignore the temptation to brush it – even when it is dry. Your hair will be dry, stiff and a bit sticky from the salt water, and brushing will cause major breakages. Brushing is also liable to make your hair look super frizzy. This means that if you have long hair, you can either choose to let it look messy and bohemian – the surfer look – or choose a style like a braid that will keep it in place. Messy beach hair looks really good when you are actually at the beach, giving you a cool, summery look, but if you are planning to go somewhere else before you have a chance to wash your hair, a braid is your best friend!
Sunscreen for Your Hair!
Most people now take protecting their skin and eyes from the sun very seriously, but what about hair? Obviously exposing your hair to the sun isn’t going to give you cancer or damage your eyesight, but as you probably know from using heated styling products, heat is not good for hair. You can protect it with a good heat protection spray, much as you might use before blow drying or using other heated styling tools. As well as applying after washing your hair, carry the spray in your beach bag. A good rule of thumb is to apply it whenever you apply sun lotion, so before actually going out in the sun to begin with, and then every few hours, and immediately after going in the water.
Conditioner and Keratin
Once you do get a chance to wash your hair after the beach, give it a little more love than usual when it comes to conditioner. Your hair gets lighter in the sun, and it is no coincidence that just like bleaching with peroxide, this actually leaves it dry and more damage prone. Use a rich conditioner every day and also, use a weekly mask or hot oil treatment to give it a little extra nourishment. You can do this more than once a week if you want, there really isn’t a maximum amount of times to use these treatments, but if the expense and time bothers you then weekly is enough. It is also a good idea to use an additional keratin treatment, and for best results, leave this in your hair rather than using after conditioner and washing it out. This will add protein to your hair which will help strengthen it and both hide and repair damage.
It really doesn’t take much effort to keep your hair in good shape when you hit the beach. Just be careful how you treat your hair when it’s been in the water, protect it, and help it out with some good conditioning products when you get home, and your hair can look and feel great all summer long!