So you’ve just arrived somewhere scorching, you’ve slapped on the sunscreen, and you’re heading to the pool where there’s a sun lounger with your name on it. Sounds perfect, but aren’t you forgetting one thing? Your hair needs protection too! When your locks are exposed to the sun, the UVA and UVB rays can damage your cuticles, leading to discoloration, dry and brittle strands, split ends, and frizziness. Luckily, it’s easy to ensure your locks get the proper protection. We already gave you tips for your summer vacation and now we’ve put together the most important haircare vacation tips for your pleasure.
Trim before you leave
It’s good practice to get any dead ends snipped off before you leave for vacation. If you arrive at your destination with split ends, the effects of the sun, saltwater, and chlorine could exacerbate the problem and cause the split ends to travel up your hair. After the trim, treat your locks to a deep conditioning treatment so your hair gets a top up of moisture to prepare it for what’s to come.
Color in advance
If you want a new color for your vacation, make sure you do it at least a week before you leave. This is because dye can damage the surface of your hair, leaving it extra vulnerable and more likely to get damaged by the sea and sunshine. If you want to play it safe, why not just color part of your hair by getting highlights, for example? It’s still a noticeable change, but requires less dyeing and therefore means less damage to your hair.
Wear a hat
Hats are recommended anyway to prevent the sun from beaming down on our fragile scalps the whole day, but they also protect your hair from exposure. To ensure your hair stays put under your hat, why not create milkmaid braids and pin in place with bobby pins?
Bring your own hair products
It’s always exciting to see the little bottles of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and body lotion lined up in your hotel bathroom, but they won’t contain the same nourishing ingredients as what your locks are used to back at home. Take your own shampoo and conditioner with you, and make sure they have color-protection properties if you’ve recently dyed your hair. A moisturizing hair mask also wouldn’t hurt – simply apply one while you’re relaxing in your room before heading out so you can top up your hair’s moisture content.
Shower regularly
A handy tip you might not know – having a quick shower before swimming actually reduces the amount of chlorine and saltwater absorbed by your hair. This is due to the fact that your hair cuticles can only absorb a certain amount of water, so if they’re already full up, they physically can’t take on any more. Therefore, a quick shower reduces damage to your hair and prevents your color from being stripped away. Don’t forget to rinse your hair after being in the sea or pool as well.
Ditch the dryer
Your hair is already having to deal with hot temperatures at this tropical location, so why make it suffer more by blow drying or straightening it? The humidity will probably undo all your hard work in minutes anyway, so use this opportunity to give your locks a break during vacation. Either towel-dry or air-dry your hair. You could even do braids and leave them overnight so you have gorgeous beach waves in the morning, very fitting!
