The best way to fix your blonde hair after a swim
Swimming… As the sun continues to shine and summer holiday season begins, its something most of us enjoy and is unavoidable with children on holiday. Here are some of my top tips for looking after your hair when swimming in the pool or the sea.
Pool Hair Care Tips
I recently had a panicked phone call from a friend who was on holiday and went into the hotel pool… Her hair… no joke turned khaki green. It very much reminded us that it's not just an old wives tale. It's a real life thing and it was grim. Her lovely blonde ends were muddy, flat army green. And she wasn't near civilisation to buy a cleaning shampoo. So what did we do? I told her to buy some head and shoulders. Being that the stores were limited. After a few shampoos to make sure all the chlorine/chemicals were out I recommended she sit with tomato sauce for 30 mins. With red being on the opposite side of the colour wheel as green the red pigment works to counteract the green toes in the hair. Shampoo or at the very least give it a good rinse asap.
Look After Your Hair In The Sea
Being a kiwi who grew up by and in the sea. I always say live your best life and with that I'm always putting my head under. The sea is not like a pool. No chemicals just salt. Which can make the hair feel dry but shouldn't actually change the texture of the hair but there are a few things you can do to help protect it.
- Laying out in the sun with salt in the hair is extremely drying so always try to rinse the salt water off.
- Avoid brushing hair when there is sea salt in it: this goes for the styling product sea salts too because it makes the hair more grippy this can cause breakage.
- Always use a hair treatment: When I'm in the sea all day I swap out my conditioner for a treatment to give my hair extra nourishment.
Even if you're not washing it you can still use a conditioner or a treatment. You get the most benefit from using treatments regularly. For instance using a treatment for a few minutes in place of your conditioner will benefit you more than doing one a month for 10 mins. It tends to fit into your routine easier if you just swap out the conditioner for a treatment.
Use hair sunscreen
There are sunscreen sprays to protect your hair from the sun. Davines SU hair milk is a good one. Be careful using some hair sunscreens if you have fine hair as they can make the hair feel flat. A hat is always a good shout.
When snorkeling or surfing I recommend plaiting or braiding the hair to help with knots. My hair knots up so bad It makes my long hair mat to itself and turns into one mass. Shown in the video. You can see how my hair was almost in dreads. I then shampooed it while it was in this mess. Left my treatment wiig toning treatment for blonde for 10 mins. Rinse and brush out with a tangle teaser always working from the bottom up. It always hurts my heart when I see people brushing knots out starting at the top. This only congests the knots all together making it a lot harder to work through. Brush the knots from the bottom then the mid then the roots. If there's an extra big or stubborn knot try pulling it apart with your fingers first then work in sections until it's out. Wiig is great for knots. I always recommend brushing knots out when the hair is dry because when the hair is wet its in a weakened state and is prone to breakage.
I actually find with my hair because its so fine I try to brush before washing, then I start drying my hair straight away while brushing it out at the same time. This way it's time saving and my hair starts to get stronger as it dries. Hair milk is also helpful. I love Davines Dede. It's really lightweight yet moisturising.
Any kind of swimming soon after a colour will be detrimental to the colour. Its always recommended to not wash/wet the hair after a colour for 48h to keep the colour locked in.