Summer Hair Survival Guide
Whether you’re suffering in swamp-like humidity or heat as dry as the Sahara, we’ve got the answers to your summer hair dilemma.
Survival Tip No. 1: Lock in that style
Dry heat can cause curls to deflate and straight hair to, well, stay straight. You might as well work with it. Before you head to Palm Springs or Phoenix, give yourself a blowout using plenty of smoothing serum to lock in moisture. Another bonus to a blowout ahead of time: no need to style your hair when you’re there. Just freshen it up with dry shampoo at your roots and rub shine serum on your ends.
Survival Tip No. 2: Make Shine Serum Your New Best Friend
Even healthy hair can start to feel dry when there’s zero humidity in the air, so keep your shine serum handy to reapply to your ends. And if your scalp starts freaking out and producing more oil to counter the dry air, a spritz of dry shampoo to help. If you want your style to last in this weather, try sleeping in a high ponytail. It’ll give your hair volume when you take it down the next morning and you can smooth any kinks with a flat iron.
Survival Tip No. 3: Give Your Hair a Break
If your hair is looking dry and scraggly, it’s time to bring in reinforcements. One of your best summer allies is a leave-in conditioner. It instantly repairs damage and detangles, protecting from breakage. This is especially important if you’re in a hot zone that’s also windy.
Try applying plenty of leave-in, then putting your hair in a French Twist or ballerina bun like Uma Thurman’s. And, if your hair is already feeling the heat, definitely stay away from the styling tools. Less is more. The less heat and stress your hair is under, the better.
Survival Tip No. 4: Toss A Detangle Brush In Your Beach Bag
Hair is more fragile when it is wet, use a wide tooted detangle brush to work out any kinks from the ocean.
Survival Tip No. 5: Invest in a UV Spray
Sunlight is the enemy of chemically treated hair (especially blonde hair). UV rays can strip color and weaken the texture of the hair, leaving it frazzled.
Survival Tip No. 6: Embrace Your Curls
Curls are having a moment, so if you’ve got them, don’t fight ’em. Curly hair is so versatile, plus there is no need to blow-dry, so you’re saving time. Also, avoid touching your hair throughout the day, which can cause frizz, and keep curls well moisturized for maximum bounce.
Survival Tip No. 7: Try A Cleansing Conditioner
Everything we love about summer – surf, sand, chlorine – also strips your hair of protein. Cleansing conditioners cleanse and condition in one step, helping to balance and refresh hair without stripping or depleting natural oils and nutrients, and they’re a space saver if you’re travelling.
Hair Loss Explained
Hair fall keeps happening on a daily basis and is hardly noticeable. If you undergo excessive hair loss then you might have to get some professional help. Excessive hair fall can also be attributed to the water you use (hard water/soft water), stress, hormonal changes, etc.
Hair loss is the pattern baldness or Androgenic Alopecia which is common amongst males.
Hair thinning can either be reduced thickness of hair or reduced number of hair. In both the cases, it is better to seek professional help to get customized treatment for your needs.
Thinning hair
You can naturally have fine hair as your normal hair type. However, thinning is where your hair strands change and they were once naturally thicker compared to what they are now. So, how does this happen and why? Thinning can often happen in the beginning stages of female and male pattern hair loss when sensitivity occurs to the normal androgen that circulates around hair follicles. This sensitivity causes miniaturization and the change of diameter of the hair follicle. In women the process is usually slower, due to the level of ‘follicular protection’ offered by estrogen.
When it comes to solutions for your thinning hair, there are many! Whether it’s getting a more layered hairstyle that gives you the illusion of more voluminous hair or disguising it well with various hair products or fibers. Stock up on a diet full of essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron and zinc, a healthy body can generally mean healthier hair.
Hair Loss
You can generally consider to be suffering with hair loss when something stops the hair from growing or when hair strands of thinning hair have progressed to become vellus like (fluffy white hair). This kind of effect is not visible to the human eye and can be interpreted to be hair loss. It can be caused by:
- Over reactive immune system
- Hereditary hair loss
- Some drugs and treatments
- Hair styles that pull on the hair
- Compulsion to pull out your hair
- Harsh hair care products
An easy solution to prevent hair loss from happening could be to simply alter your usage or stop any of the above. Although hair loss is very common and happens to many people, especially as they age, its effects can still be very damaging to confidence levels and lower self-esteem. Therefore, no matter how common it is, you shouldn’t ignore signs. Remember, the sooner you tackle hair loss the better.
What should I do?
There are many products available to stop hair loss or prevent further hair thinning. Identify what is happening to your hair strands. If you are experiencing thinning hair, examine your lifestyle. Are you eating the right foods? What products and styles are you applying to your hair? Your solution could be simply a few lifestyle alterations. Look at your relatives and see if they have hair loss. If so, there is a higher possibility that you too are starting to develop the same symptoms, as it could be hereditary.
If you catch such signs early, you may dramatically reduce the rate in which thinning and hair loss can start to take effect. You may feel medical treatments are too severe for such early signs of hair issues and that natural solutions may be more appealing. Taking natural supplements for hair loss is a very convenient and effective way to restore essential nutrients, health and hair booting properties directly to the hair shaft.
Give your hair the best chance of survival and act now!
Why You Should Condition First
Regardless of what products you use, most of us were taught to wash our hair the same way: shampoo (rinse, lather, rinse, repeat) then conditioner. And unless you’re a co-washer, doing anything but that probably seems a little strange.
But now, we are being asked to do the opposite. Sounds crazy right? But, switching up your hair routine can lead you to softer, bigger-bodied hair. Basically, the conditioner reinforces the natural protective layer of the hair, smoothing the cuticle and enhancing shine, and then the shampoo rinses away the weight of the conditioner, so the hair still maintains a clean bounce. Conditioning before you shampoo is great for adding nourishment to fine hair without weighing it down. It also promotes a longer lasting blowdry and primes the hair before cleansing, allowing shampoo to distribute easier and more evenly.
Flipping the traditional routine is especially beneficial if you’re a daily washer, AKA, an over-washer, and your hair is over-processed, dry and damaged. Starting with conditioner prevents some of the essential natural oils in the hair from being stripped away.
There are some best practices to keep in mind if you’re going to start this regimen. While we’d typically only use our conditioners from our ears down post shampoo, We recommend to saturate all your hair from root-to-tip if you’re conditioning before you cleanse. You will be cleansing it after, so your hair won’t be weighed down or oily. If you typically lather up twice, scrub the conditioner into your hair like a shampoo instead.
Extra hydration sans-weight is never a bad thing, but it’s especially amazing in the summer when our hair takes a hell of a beating. So, instead of trying to find a miracle formula to quench your thirsty strands, maybe just change up your roster order. Aren’t the best answers always the simplest?