How To Protect Your Hair This Summer

When summer rolls around we tend to spend more time outside and get to be more active. While that can be great for our bodies and health overall, it’s not always good for the health of our hair.

The sun, wind, sand, and water are your hair’s worst enemy. They all can cause short-term and even long-term damage to your hair erasing all of the progress you’ve made.

So what can you do besides hide away inside and never step foot out your door until fall rolls around? Well, there are several things you can do to protect your hair from the summer elements. I’ve listed seven of them below.

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1. Protect from the sun

During the summer we tend to spend a lot of time in the sun. The sun can have a hugely damaging effect on your hair. It can dry out your hair and scalp. The sun can also burn your scalp and hair.

To keep your hair and scalp protected from sunburn, try wearing a hat. I prefer floppy hats with some ventilation. The ventilation keeps me from overheating and the floppiness lets me position the brim to keep my face protected.

If wearing a hat isn’t your thing, you can also apply protectants on your hair such as leave-ins with UV protection. While I haven't tried any myself, some top-rated ones I found are the Living Proof Restore Instant Protection Spray, Sun Bum Revitalizing 3 in 1 Leave-In Conditioner Spray, and the Wella Sun Protection Spray.

2. Co-wash

Keeping your hair hydrated and moisturized in the summer is very important. During the summer I spend more time outside, it's hotter, and I sweat more so I want to wash my hair more. Shampooing my hair multiple times a week can do more damage than good, especially over a few months' time. So I found that doing more co-washing whether mid-week in-between shampoos or in place of a shampoo every now and again really helped.

3. Protect before and after swimming

Chlorinated water and salt water can do some damage to your hair and dry it out but there are some things you can do before you take a dip and after that can minimize the damage.

Before you take a swim pre-saturate your strands. You can do this with a hair conditioner, a natural oil, or clean water. When your hair strands are full or saturated with good moisture before you hit the water they soak up less chlorinated and saltwater. This can help your hair from drying out. It’s also a good idea to keep some additional conditioner, oil, or water on hand to re-saturate your hair throughout the day.

Soon after swimming, you should rinse your hair to get a headstart by ridding your hair of the ocean or pool water. You can rinse your hair with a nearby shower, a bottle of water you have in your beach bag, or an apple cider vinegar and water mix.

Then as soon as you’re able, shampoo your hair to get all of the chlorine and salt off and out of it. Depending on your hair type you can use a clarifying shampoo or a deep cleaning sulfate-free shampoo. Whatever will get your hair clean.

4. Retain moisture

Swimming and spending time in the sun can really dry out your hair and cause some serious frizziness. And who wants that.

To avoid dryness and frizziness there are a few things you can do

• Drink lots of water so you stay hydrated from the inside out.
• Pre-poo your hair so it’s not stripped of all moisture when you shampoo
• Choose your products wisely. Use moisturizing shampoos and conditioners. Avoid drying gels. Only use sulfate shampoos when needed.
• Moisturize and seal your hair often using products that won’t weigh your hair down. 

5. Deep condition

Pretty much every list of hair care tips I have includes deep conditioning. That’s because of how important it is to keep your hair moisturized and strong.

If you’re looking to really enhance your deep conditioning in the summer you can try switching some things up. Such as adding some heat from a deep conditioning cap or steam. Creating a deep conditioner cocktail using multiple conditioners or mixing the deep conditioner with a natural oil.

6. Style without heat

Your hair is already exposed to heat in the summer so it’s best to not subject it to more. Blow-dry your hair less often or not all during the summer. Also, stay away from styling your hair with curling irons and flat irons.

In the summer you can style your hair wearing short-term protective styles like buns, ponytails, twists, and other updos. You can take it a step further and wear long-term protective styles like cornrows, braids, and wigs which keep your hair completely tucked away.

7. Shield against humidity

Humidity is able to affect your hair the most when your hair is so dry it sucks moisture from the air. All this does is ruin your hairstyle and leave you with puffy and frizzy hair.

I used to think there was nothing I could do to stave off humidity and boy was I wrong. There are some things we can do to stop or lessen the effect humidity has on our hair.

Make sure your hair is hydrated

If your hair is hydrated and full of good moisture there’s no room for moisture in the air to go. You can hydrate your hair with the products you use in and out of the shower. 

Close your hair cuticles

A great way to fight humidity is to keep the hydration in and the humidity out. You can do that by closing your hair cuticle by rinsing your hair with cold water, apple cider vinegar, or applying a natural oil overtop your moisturizer.

Use humidity-blocking products

There are many hair products out there that have ingredients that help create a protective barrier around your hair to block humidity.