Your Hair in the Summer Sun: What it likes, What it doesn’t

CONTENTS
The sun is good for the hair
But don’t overdo it!
Greasy hair: seawater therapy
Dry hair: protect it
A summer hair problem?

The sun is good to the hair

In small doses, the sun is excellent for all types of hair. Its vitamin D helps fixate the calcium and activates the circulation of the thousands of small vessels that irrigate the hair. In one word, it makes the hair grow faster and stronger: if you want to let your hair grow, the summer is a perfect time to do it.

The sun also gives your hair a unique glint, the one that give us, along with the tan, the ‘successful holiday’ look of that no hairdresser in the world can artificially reproduce.

But don’t do overdo it!

If today we are more cautious about the sun’s impact on skin, we still too often tend to forget the skin of which the scalp is made.

- By drying the dermis and modifying the scalp’s pH, infrared rays often trigger dandruff, just like peeling skin. If only that was it…

- Both more seriously and insidiously, strong sun rays slow down the evacuation of the fatty acids contained in the sebum. They stagnate under the epidermis and automatically transform themselves in toxins that compress and get in the way of the roots’ action. Because the hair is thus less well irrigated, it risks thinning out, or even fall a few weeks later.

- Also more serious, excessive sun exposition accelerates the negative action of free radicals on the tissues surrounding the hair follicle (see Hair production by follicles). In the same way that rust attacks metal, those free radicals attack the perifollicular collagen, stiffen it and thus risk locking the roots into a stranglehold. That is yet another factor, which, adds on to the roots’ compression and its reduced activity!

Tips
Easy and NECESSARY: cover your head, every time you stay for long in the sun, because no hair product can totally protect the most fragile scalps.

To conclude...
If your hair falls too much at the beginning of seasons, remember that autumn loss can be multiplied by five by a lack of caution in the summer. So, in three words: be very careful.

Greasy hair: seawater therapy

Those whose hair greases too quickly during the rest of the year are usually very happy at the ocean. Their suddenly becomes healthier and lighter: it is not the sun, which makes the scalp sweat and stimulates the sebum, but the ocean water, made of salt and plankton, which cleanse the scalp and give it tonus.

Tips
Here is some aquagym for the hair: when you are in the ocean, put your head under the water and let the hair and scalp absorb the seawater. 

Always under water, massage the scalp, by making the following movements: lay the tip of the fingers slightly spread on the scalp and press strongly, while making a come and go movement (as complete as possible) and without moving the finger. The idea is to get the skin to slide on the skull. Then, move the fingers and start over on a different zone. Obviously, don’t forget to take regular breaks for air! For those who don’t like going under water, the same result can be obtained by soaking the head several times in water, and doing the massage during the intervals when the head is outside the water.

In the evening, rinse the hair thoroughly, or, even better, wash it with an ultra-soft shampoo. If that is not done, the hair sticks to the epidermis and annihilates the seawater’s effect. The hair will seem less greasy, but it is in fact covered by a jumble of salt, sand and sebum, which are very bad for the sebum’s evacuation. 

To summarize
For greasy hair, greasy dandruff and rashes (which often come together), seawater is an elixir of youth.  

Dry hair: protect it

Dry hair doesn’t like anything. Just a bit of sun for the glint…but not too much. That is because the combined action of infrared rays and salt (or the swimming pool’s chlorine) makes the hair thirsty, and can strongly damage hair that is naturally dry or made fragile by cosmetic action, such as perms or colourations.

Under the microscope, the hair that suffers from such summer aggressions shows a very particular type of keratin, with an irregular surface, like hissed scales, whereas it should in fact be smooth. During hairdressing, the scales repeatedly cross each other, making the hair rough and difficult to untangle as well as breaking throughout and with split ends.

Tips
When at the beach, apply a hair protection product, in order to preserve the hair’s keratin cohesion and prevent it from devitalising itself.

If you put your head under water, rinse your hair with fresh water (you can easily bring your own small bottle).

In the evening, wash the hair using only a conditioner. Add half a lemon’s juice to the water you last rinse your hair with: the acidity helps to smoothen the hair’s keratin.

To summarise
As for sensitive skin, the sun and the ocean can have a devastating effect on fragile hair. If that is your case, do not hesitate to follow the above advice. You will thus avoid devitalising your hair.

A summer hair problem?

 If your hair has a problem, falls, thins out or is too dry… don’t wait for September! Have a total check up now (Clauderer Diagnosis): the summer is a perfect moment to take care of the hair and prevent bad surprises in autumn.

Diagnosis In-depth Clauderer Diagnosis: Have a complete hair checkup