SUMMER HAIR

The glorious days of summer this usually means swimming, sun and fun! But alas summer fun and frolic wreak havoc on your hair! Summer sun and humidity can damage your hair's cuticle and result in dry, drab, split, brittle or frizzy hair and ends. What’s a bathing beauty to do? Protect those locks! If you are not careful you could wind up with a hair don’t instead of a hair-do! If that happens you will be spending all of autumn and winter trying to breathe life back into your hair.

Prevention
Hair can get sunburned just like the scalp and sunlight can be just a damaging as a hot blow dryer. Frizzy hair is often the result of to much sun time. Prevention is the best way to keep both healthy and happy during hot, humid summer months.

Cover that head! Wear a hat or a fashionable scarf when out in the hot sun. The scalp and sunlight can be just as damaging as a hot blow dryer. If you severely damaged hair the only way to fix it is by trimming. To keep the hair healthy a trim once every 6 to 8 weeks keeps the end from splitting and looking like a tumbleweed.

When lounging in the sun or driving in your convertible like Jane Mansfield, channel your inner blonde bombshell, and use leave-in hair products with SPF protection.If you're going to the beach and you are unwilling to wear a hat or a cover-up, simply massage some sunscreen into your hair, it’s not the best but it’s better than naked hair. After your frolic use a good cleansing shampoo like Philip B Peppermint and Avocado Shampoo. Peppermint works as a local anesthetic to alleviate scalp tension while stimulating circulation, cleansing, and clarifying. Avocado delivers moisture to the hair shaft and scalp. This shampoo will give a deep cleanse and refresh without stripping your hair of moisture and elasticity and all without harsh chemicals.

Another option for those who eschew sunscreen is to try Philip B Rejuvenating Oil treatment which contains safflower, jojoba and lavender oils. It provides your hair with much needed fatty acids, and makes a great conditioning treatment while you tan. It also fills in internal gaps and boosts the hair from the inside out so it looks better. These natural oils are amazing for your hair!

Healthy hair tip: Your hair is not an engine! Avoid products that contain synthetic oils such as mineral and/or petroleum oil, as they further dehydrate the hair.

Two preventive tricks so you don’t get Kermit the frog green hair:
Hair is a fiber that acts like a sponge. It can only soak up a certain amount of moisture.
This is great new for keeping chlorine form discoloring your locks! Wet hair before swimming it'll absorb less chlorine. When you emerge from your swim, before your hair has a chance to dry, rinse your hair with tap water. Rinsing with Club soda after your dip in the pool helps eliminate the copper-rich bleach of chlorine, shower off then use a good conditioner, and don’t forget the body lotion! What good is fabulous hair with scaly, flaky skin? These precautions alone will go a long way toward dodging the sea hag and looking more like the little mermaid instead.

What to do if you do turn green?
Green hair is the result if a most unwanted chemical reaction: metals and minerals have penetrated the hair shaft and lock into gaps in the hair cuticle.

First try a shampoo called Malibu 2000 or Ultra swim shampoo.

Both claim to remove chlorine but sometimes are not enough.

If your hair is still green have a V8! *Soak your hair in tomato juice, cap it and let it sit on the hair for about twenty minutes, then rinse, shampoo, rinse, and condition the hair. Follow up with clear colorless shampoo form then on like Philip B African Shea Butter Shampoo. When the hair is extremely porous it can soak up even the slightest amount of coloring in a shampoo.

African healers and beauties have known about shea butter for thousands of years: the substance is almost magical in its healing effects on dry fragile hair, burns, skin conditions, ulcerated skin, stretch marks, and dryness. It contains beneficial vegetable fats that promote cell regeneration and circulation, making it a wonderful healer and rejuvenator for troubled or aging skin. It also contains natural sun-screens.

Styling tips for summer
In most climates, humidity is a part of summer heat. This leaves aspiring bay watch beauties with frizzy, unruly, Albert Einstein-like hair instead of a smooth, cool Angelina Jolie mane. This is especially true for those with curly or wavy hair.

The good news? You don’t have to be a scientist or write the theory of relativity to tame your mane. Grab some conditioner, enhance and embrace your curls while you protect them. The look is sun-safe, sexy and sultry!

Hair curls because it attracts and holds moisture a good conditioner will keep it moist. The more hydrated the hair is the less it will frizz. First look for a conditioner that contains wheat germ which is a natural anti-static and a good source of vitamin E. My favorite of course Philip B Deep Conditioning Crème Rinse made with African Shea Butter, wheat germ, soy proteins and essential oils, it strengthens and hydrates even the driest hair. It also de tangles and adds shine, leaving hair lustrous and light.

Tip: For the best results, apply your conditioner at least two inches from your scalp and pull down the hair shaft. If possible leave a comb in the shower and take a minute to comb conditioner through the ends.

Summer is for relaxing, give your hair a vacation too!
Ditch the blow dryer and give your tresses a much needed rest. When riding the hair waves, grab your styling equivalent to a surf board : leave-in conditioners.

Repeat after me: shampoo, condition and finish. To seal the cuticle rinse with a mixture of vinegar and water. The vinegar will close down the cuticle and normalize the Ph level of your hair.

Control static electricity in your hair by applying a leave in conditioner like Loving’ Leave In by Philip B. and consider letting your hair air dry. Loving’ Leave in has restorative soy and wheat proteins & strengthening amino acids that rejuvenate your hair with moisture and sooths dry brittle ends, adds lustrous shine and supple smoothness. With nurturing extracts of aloe, nettle, chamomile, and horsetail, without weighing it down.

When the summer heat is hottest tame those grizzly frizzes by wearing your hair up in a knot, bun or braids. Not only will it take your hair off your neck and cool you down but your hair will look sassy and have a summer chic style.

You can also braid your hair when it’s wet, and release it when it’s dry, for a head full of natural, beautiful waves.

Healthy hair tip: Avoid using shine products to control frizzes. They often contain silicone and can coat your hair after just a few times.

What’s wrong with that?
Let’s talk about silicones for a moment. Silicones are viscous oily liquids that coat the hair shaft in gloss, misleading you to think your hair has a healthy sheen. It seems like a miracle at first, however, silicones are not water soluble. They can only be removed with harsh detergents that strip the hair of it’s natural oils which the scalp produces to keep the hair and scalp healthy supple and shiny. The results are straw like dry hair, this in turn makes the beauty queen think she needs more silicone which become a vicious cycle. A barrier is then created preventing moisturizing conditioners from penetrating the hair, further drying it out. It’s hard to avoid and hard to believe how bad it is for the hair. But the extra-work and avoidance is worth it to have the best hair possible.

Be on the look out and be an educated consumer. But most of all be beautiful!