Most of us love to be outside during the summer. It feels good to bask in the warm glow of the sun—but of course, it’s critical to take the proper precautions to protect yourself from the sun’s powerful effects. Protecting your skin is a no-brainer; protecting your hair from the sun, on the other hand, is something that’s all too often overlooked. In this post, we’ll provide a few simple solutions to prevent the sun from damaging your lovely locks.
How Summer Weather Impacts Your Hair
First, let’s consider just a few of the ways in which the summer elements can damage your hair.
- High humidity in the atmosphere can weigh down your hair—causing it to become limp and tired-looking.
- Sweat and dust, meanwhile, can accumulate on your scalp, causing dandruff and increased hair loss.
- The summer sun can have an intensely dehydrating effect on your hair, as well, leaving it brittle and easily broken.
- There are also ill effects on the scalp, which can end up dry, irritated, and badly burned.
The good news is that these negative effects of the summer elements can all be mitigated. We’ll show you how.
How to Protect Your Hair This Summer
- Ease up on chemical treatments. During the summer, it’s challenging to keep your hair from getting dried out and ultimately damaged. As such, we’d recommend avoiding anything that causes your hair to be particularly weak or vulnerable—such as chemical treatments. Try to avoid coloring your hair, in particular, until summer subsides.
- Also avoid heat appliances. Chemical treatments aren’t the only thing that leave your hair vulnerable. Heat appliances will dry out your hair and scalp even more than the summer sun does, so if at all possible, use the blow dryer and curling iron infrequently.
- Be careful when you swim. First and foremost, wear a swim cap. Second, make sure you avoid shampooing before a swim; shampoo strips the hair of its protective coating, and leaves it more prone to damage. Finally, make sure you rinse the chlorine out of your hair shortly after you conclude your swim.
- Go easy on the shampooing. Speaking more generally, we’d recommend tapering off your shampooing. Two or three shampoos a week should be plenty—and some people can get away with just one. If you do need to shampoo more often, make sure you get a good, gentle product.
- Get a trim! Schedule a summer hair cut for sooner rather than later. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant—just enough to take care of any split ends.
- Protect your hair when you go out into the sun. The best option? Wear a scarf. That’s not always feasible, so also be sure to get a sunscreen that’s made especially for your hair—ideally something with a higher SPF.
- Condition often! A good conditioner will be invaluable to you over the summer. We’d recommend meeting with a New Image consultant to determine the best conditioner for your hair type. Note that you can find some good leave-in conditioners with sunscreen, too, which will allow you to kill two birds with one stone.
- Drink plenty of water. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to care for your hair this summer is to keep it hydrated—and that means drinking water! Coconut water can be especially useful, as it increases your water retention.
- Take supplements. You can also use nutritional supplements to provide your hair with a little bit of additional strength and vitality; biotin is always a good option, but for a more personalized recommendation, come see us at New Image.
Get Summer Hair Care Tips from New Image
We’re always happy to tailor our hair care tips to your specific needs—and, to recommend treatments or products from which you might benefit. To talk with one of our stylists about the proper hair protection strategies, join us at New Image today. We can show you how to keep your hair hydrated, healthy, and strong—in any kind of weather.