With summer coming up, I know you’re excited to jump in the water, especially in Seattle where warm weather only exists 2 months out of the year and with it not being officially summer until July 5th. Almost 100% of public pools have chlorine in them, making it sanitary for you to swim in it, but making it tough for your hair’s health. I can tell whenever I have a swimmer coming in, their hair is significantly tougher to comb/brush out since the chlorine leaves in feel gritty and sometimes even leave it permanently with that distinctive chlorine smell. The beach’s water isn’t any much better, I’m sure you’ve noticed that we don’t have “real” beaches here in Seattle, I mean come on Coulon’s water is brown!!! Those amazing photos with beach babes having sun-kiss skin and natural effortless wavy hair are exactly just a photo, it’s far more from the truth of what pool or beach water does to your hair. If you bleach blonde, the chlorine will turn your hair green. If you do not bleach blonde, but still color your hair, it does fade faster. If you don’t do anything to your hair, your beautiful locks will not be as soft anymore. I don’t discourage anybody to avoid swimming especially if you do it competitively, but here’s some tips to take care of your hair if you will be taking the swimming route:
Wear a leave-in conditioner or oil
Using either will act like a barrier for your hair so when it’s time to rinse off after swimming, it will wash off more smoothly
Wear a cap
I know it’s dorky and uncomfortable seeing all your hair pulled back, but wearing a cap almost completely block out anything that comes to contact with it. You’ll still be able to hang out by the pool/beach and take plenty of cute photos, but when you decide to get down and in the water, it would be ideal to put on the cap.
Tie your hair or leave it in a braid
If you absolutely hate the idea of putting on a cap since you don’t even swim that often for there to be long term effects which to be honest, I don’t like the look of it
Brush out your hair immediately after swimming
Ideally wash or shower as soon as possible to get rid of the chlorine in your hair and not leave too much time for it to penetrate in, if not possible than at least brush your hair until you have access to a shower so it will be less brutal to brush out later and not ripe too much of your hair out since you won’t need to be as aggressive with it.
Clarify shampoo at least once a week
A clarifying shampoo is a special shampoo that shouldn’t be used daily because it takes out the beneficial natural oils, but should be used from time to time because it’s purpose is to remove residuals or build-ups from your hair to really cleanse it deep in. Once a week should be good enough for religious swimmers. Once a month if you’re seasonally hitting the pool/beach just for the short summer.
Hope you find this article relevant and helpful, please feel free to consult with any of our stylists if any other questions ever come up:) In the meantime, please enjoy the nice weather we are having!