With Summer Here Protect your Hair – Hair Protection Tips from that Beach Salt Water
Salt water can be quite detrimental to someone’s hair. And with summer finally here, there is no time better than now to be worrying about its harmful effects. Summer, after all, is the season of youth and beauty. It is the perfect time for women to feel beautiful and elegant under the sun. While damaged hair certainly does take away their beauty, it does very little to enhance it. Fortunately, there are a few tips to lessen the damage caused by salt water.
How Salt Water Damages the Hair
A normal hair strand is approximately made up of 10% moisture. Salt water removes the moisture from the hair, leaving the hair feeling brittle and rough to the touch as anyone who has experienced the effects of salt water probably remembers.
Begin with Tap Water
It comes as no surprise that dry hair absorbs more salt water than wet hair does. The effects of salt water can thus be dramatically minimized by quickly soaking the hair in tap water before going in the water. Some women even like to work conditioner into their hair as this helps fill out more space that could have potentially been filled with salt water. While some of them prefer to work the conditioner into wet hair, some women choose to work it into dry hair before combing it and tying it.
Keep the Hair Close to the Head
Keep hair out of the water if possible. Long hair can be kept close to the head by braiding it, gathering it and twisting it on top of the head before securing it with pins. In the case of shorter hair, dividing it into small ponytails usually works. Covering the hair with a swim cap before going for a dip is also a good idea as it helps keep the hair close to the head and prevent salt water damage.
After Swimming
The first thing anyone should do after getting out of the water should be to squeeze as much salt water out of the hair as possible. This guarantees to lessen the long-term damage. They should then proceed to locate the nearest shower and rinse their hair carefully. If no shower can be found, pouring a bottle of water on the hair does the trick until a shower can be accessed. After rinsing their hair, it is recommended that they wash it thoroughly, making sure to cover every inch of it with shampoo before rinsing it again. Some women like to wash their twice to ensure that all the debris and sand are gone from their scalp.
There is no denying the harmful effect salt water has on the hair. Luckily, with a bit of prevention and planning ahead, there is no reason why the damage caused by salt water should trouble anyone this summer – let alone prevent anyone from enjoying the pleasant, summery weather.