Some Valuable Hair Care Tips to Remember When You Plan to Spend Time in the Sun

If this beauty took more precautions, she wouldn't need to keep testing the condition of her hair.

Most of us always remember to protect our skin with sunscreen when planning to spend a lot of time in the summer sun.  However, we can often forget all the damage our hair can suffer if we don’t care for it properly. If you want to keep it healthy, there are some preventive measures that you should take.

A hat is great, especially one with a wide brim.  You’ll save your hair from potential brittleness and help your face from aging at the same time with an extra layer of sun protection.

If you plan a day at the beach or the pool side, pack a bottle of an instant conditioner in your tote.  What you want to do is lube your hair and slick it back with a generous amount of the conditioner. Reapply once it seems to bake in after working on your tan or losing some after you come out of the water.  You want to do this because it has two advantages.  First, it will have a deep conditioning effect due to the heat of the sun. Secondly, it will safeguard the hair from drying out like a haystack.

You could also try a swim cap, if you can bear to wear one.  They do seem to lock in the heat, but help guard the hair from the sun and keep water from getting into your ears.

Speaking of swimming in a pool, be sure to rinse the hair once you are finished for the day.  If you’re away from home, then rinse with plain water until you get a chance to shampoo the chlorine out.  Once you’re home, you can follow up that shampoo with a final rinse of one cup of apple cider vinegar and about four cups of water to clarify it. 

Instead of your usual shampoo, you might want to pick up a moisture-rich formula or  baby shampoo that can provide additional tender loving care for your hair.

You also should be careful of what styling products you plan on using when your hair is vulnerable from excess sun exposure.  Read your labels and steer clear from ingredients like alcohol, sodium laurel sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate or any of the sulfates.   Their purpose is smoothing hair, but in this case those types of ingredients will only make the hair hard and crunchy.

Avoid your hair dryer, if possible and air dry if you can.  If not, use a thermal protective spray or conditioner and turn the heat on the lowest setting when drying can help.  

Hot, styling tools like your curling or flat irons aren’t the best idea when your hair has been in the sun too long.  Just temporarily, you may want to try pins to form your curls or wrapping the hair.