Summer is notoriously hard on hair. Sun, chlorine, and salt water all have damaging impact on our hair. Plus when you vacation are you really thinking about your hair? Probably not, here are 5 easy tips on maintaining sexy hair throughout the harsh summer sun.
1. Use UV Protection. We hear and think about the harmful effects of UV damage to our skin frequently, but do we stop to think about what UV damage does to our hair? I recommending starting with the shampoo and conditioner. For my sun enthusiastic clients, I encourage the usage of Oribe Beautiful Color Shampoo, Conditioner and Masque. It has the most UV protection out of the Oribe line. Then I follow up with leave in moisture products like Oribe Featherbalm, Oribe Runthrough, or Oribe Supershine. These amazing products add moisture and UV protection.
2. Chlorine Safeguard. Before getting in the pool or the ocean, please safeguard it! My favorite for this is Oribe Run-Through. It even now comes in travel size! Most of you have already invested a lot of money in your hair, please don't throw it away at the pool for some summer fun! My favorite way
to do this is to spray, liberally, section by section then do a simple braid in the hair. This does a couple things, it protects the hair from the damage of chlorine or salt water and keeps it from becoming a tangled mess. If your porous hair is already occupied by something good (Oribe Run-Through) then it has less space to take the nasty chlorine or salt. Believe me chlorine is hard on hair, you should see what it does to my scissors! When my niece comes to town, I always braid her hair with Run-Through before getting in the pool. It is amazing the difference it makes. Your braid doesn't have to be as fancy as Landry's infinity braid, even 3 strand braids will keep your hair healthier and sexier. If you don't have Oribe available use a regular conditioner or a generous amount of a leave in conditioner and braid it into the hair.
3. Hair Detox. Especially important for heavy swimmers and is great to do after your beach vacation. Even with safeguarding your hair against chlorine, it will still have impact. To remedy this I love using Oribe's Cleanse (clarifying shampoo). It uses volcanic ash to do a gentle deep cleanse of the hair. I know it sounds like an oxy moron, but somehow Oribe managed to make a clarifying shampoo that is still gentle and color safe. This helps remove chlorine from the hair. Other clarifying shampoos will also work. I have even heard fresh aloe vera works! But be careful with other clarifying shampoos, they are frequently not color safe. Make sure to shampoo your hair directly after being in the pool, EVERY TIME!
4. Treatments! Just like the sun depletes your skin of moisture, it takes it out of your hair as well. Give that hair some love! You will be amazed at what frequent deep
conditioners/and or treatments will do for your hair. My two favorites are the Oribe Pre- Shampoo Treatment and the Oribe Moisture and Control Deep Treatment Masque. The Pre-Shampoo Treatment is great to put in your hair before a jog or workout when you know you will have to shampoo your hair afterwards. The heat from your workout will make this like a real spa treatment! This strengthens and moisturizes the hair from inside, there really isn't anything like it. With this product less is more, don't use too much or it is difficult to shampoo out.
5. Use Less Heat! Summer is more casual anyway. Be creative. Try diffusing your hair with a texture product. Oribe Matte Waves is great for this but I know there are a lot of other great products as well. My niece loves for me to give her dutch braids or cornrows before bed. We do this on freshly shampooed hair with either Oribe Creme for Style or
Oribe Matte Waves. Then when she wakes up we take out the braids and voila! Beach waves. The smaller the braids the tighter the wave. This is a super easy way to style your hair with absolutely no heat damage! Any braid will work, do the braid you know how to do! Even twists, or a twisted bun will give you texture with the right product.
If you can't tell, Oribe is my favorite. I think there is nothing like it when it comes to luxurious results and the long-term integrity of hair. There are a lot of other great options out there as well. I know the entire Goldwell StyleSign line has UV protectants as well and so does KMS. It doesn't have to be Oribe and doesn't have to be super expensive but please protect those gorgeous locks!