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Summer is here and we are all looking forward to some fun in the sun, but I want to help you do so without destroying your hair. It is important to protect your hair from sun damage so your hair is not a brittle, broken mess this fall! In this tutorial, I share detailed tips for healthy summer hair care and below you will find links to featured products and related healthy hair tutorials.
Tip 1: Use products with UV protection.
Just like you use SPF for your skin, you need to use products that protect your hair from sun damage. Excessive exposure to UVA radiation results in damage to the cuticle layer, causing protein loss, even more so in color-treated hair.
A few natural occurring product ingredients would include sunflower extract, Tocopherol, Mongongo oil, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. However, the concentration amount determines if it is active or not in the formula, so you would rely on the product description to state whether it protects from sun damage. Some man-made ingredients are the methoxy- family (methoxycinnamate, methoxydibenzoylmethane, and methoxydibenzoyl.) These are found in sunscreens, lip balms and some hair products and act as UVA absorbers to protect against radiation.
Tip 2: Protect your hair while swimming.
Before you head to the pool or ocean, you should cover your strands with a leave-in conditioner that contains some type of silicone to create a barrier between your hair and external elements. This will help keep the chemicals used to treat pool water from completely absorbing into your hair shaft.
It is a good idea to use a swim cap if you plan to submerge your head under water (especially if you have color-treated hair). After you return from swimming you need to use a clarifying shampoo. The sun protection factor, or SPF, found in lots of “swimmers” leave-in conditioners can cause build-up on the hair and you’ll want to remove any other debris you’ve picked up through the day.
Tip 3: Don’t skip out on deep treatments
Skipping out on deep treatment for the summer will have you dry, brittle and broken come fall. Textured hair needs penetrating conditioning regularly (I recommend weekly).
MoKnowsHair Curl Restoring Treatment is formulated to repair on a regular basis, so it is made for weekly use. It has quinoa protein, the most complete protein with all the amino acids in the chain, so it is able to repair the cuticle layer to help hair retain more moisture. It is not a protein treatment, it is a treatment with protein in it – they are not formulated the same. Protein treatments are recommended for chemical and structural damage, treatments with protein in them are for everyone!
Regardless of your hair type, curly hair is always losing protein due to regular manipulation and living in the hair. Protein loss makes hair mushy, overly frizzy and can result in loss of curl pattern and a lot of split ends.
Tip 4: Be mindful of “protective style” timing.
Braids are very popular styles in the summer because it relieves you of having to do your hair and they offer beautiful versatility in style! However, the term “protective style” is a bit deceiving. Braiding hair is synthetic, acrylic and plastic fibers, coated in chemicals to create the texture and color and keep the hair from breaking down in the plastic packaging it’s sold in (and also cause scalp irritation and itching). When you wrap your hair in that synthetic material, it is going to draw moisture away from your hair and prevent you from properly cleansing and deep treating. Which means, leaving braids in for more than a few weeks could potentially cause damage, especially if you were already struggling with breakage, thinning, or loss of curl pattern.
This is not to say you should not get your hair braided; just be mindful of leaving them in too long.
While you are braided, you can use MoKnowsHair Scalp + Curl Clarifier to cleanse and care for your scalp and MoKnowsHair Curl Primer to replenish moisture in the hair wrapped in the braids. This will also help reduce sun and environmental damage to your scalp and hair.
Tip 5: Eat a balanced diet and drink lots of water.
Water is the lifeline to all parts of the body, including your scalp, and is essential to healthy hair and skin. You need to drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water each day. During the summer, you should try to drink more (I consume a gallon a day). If you find yourself struggling with water intake, try adding some of these water-filled foods to your diet:
- Cucumber
- Watermelon
- Tomatoes
- Cantaloupe
- Strawberries
- Iceberg lettuce
- Spinach
- Red cabbage
- Celery
- Radishes
- Green peppers
- Broccoli
- Grapefruit
- Baby carrots
You also need to eat as many essential vitamins and nutrients as possible in your meals. Vitamin C helps reduce breakage, iron moves oxygen through the body, Vitamin A helps produce natural oil in your scalp, zinc is responsible for accelerating new skin cells, and biotin helps prevent hair loss. (See more in Eat Your Way To Healthier Hair.)
I hope these tips help you maintain healthy hair through the summer! Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter and my YouTube channel for more healthy hair care tips and tutorials.
