How I Take Care Of My Relaxed Hair After A Workout

I admit I only sometimes work out multiple days every week. When I do, I like to workout outside by walking or jogging a few miles and can work up a good sweat. To top it off, my scalp sweats a lot, which causes my scalp to itch like crazy for days afterward. It also makes my hair look flat and greasy.

To keep my relaxed hair and scalp healthy, smelling good, and not itchy I started to employ a few techniques.

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Wear my hair in a loose updo

During a workout, I wear my hair in loose updos. It depends on my mood, but I may choose a loose high ponytail or a high bun using a satin scrunchie. Or I may use a claw clip to pin my hair up. When I'm working out I don't like having hair on my neck because sweat gets on my hair and it makes my neck hot.

The key to my loose updo is that it's not too loose so my hair is falling out. It's just loose enough to let my scalp breathe so my scalp dries quickly when I've been sweating. When I've worn tighter updos the sweat would stay trapped near my scalp resulting in lots of itching and dry roots.

Additionally putting the hair up helps keep it in a stretched state so when I have new growth it doesn't revert too easily.

Watch this: How I Put My Relaxed Hair In A Bun

Wear a headband

Because I sweat on my scalp quite a bit I like to wear a satin headband to help attract some of the sweat away from my edges. It also helps keep my edges straight.

The headband I use is a simple satin headband that wraps around my head similar to those that I found on Amazon. Wearing a sweat-wicking headband could be very beneficial if you're a heavy sweater.

Use a dry shampoo

If I work out multiple days in a row my hair and scalp start to look and feel like it. To keep it fresh and not have to wash my hair every day I like to use dry shampoo. The one I'm using now is the Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Dry Shampoo.

I section my hair and spray the dry shampoo near my roots in each section. After spraying I work the product through my hair with my wide-tooth comb. The result is a nice-smelling scalp and hair that doesn't feel or look nasty anymore.

Clarify my hair

While I use a dry shampoo in between workouts I use a clarifying shampoo after several workouts. Using a clarifying shampoo makes my hair and scalp feel fresh again and removes any remaining sweat and grime.

Two clarifying shampoos that I like are the ORS Olive Oil Creamy Aloe Shampoo and Ion Hard Water Shampoo. Both clean out the sweat and grime from my scalp and hair without drying them out.

Related read: ORS Olive Oil Moisture Restore Creamy Aloe Shampoo Review

Moisturize and seal my hair

To make sure my hair doesn't dry out whether I've clarified or not I like to moisturize and seal my hair strands. If my hair needs a lot of moisture I'll pull out a creamy moisturizer like the TGIN Butter Cream Daily Moisturizer. For a a lighter amount of moisture, I like the TGIN Green Tea Super Moist Leave In Conditioner. My typical serum or sealant of choice is the TGIN Replenishing Hair And Body Serum.

How do you take care of your hair after working out?