Here’s a question from one of my readers:  

"I go to the pool a lot in the summer, what can I do to protect my hair from chlorine damage?"  

It’s funny you should ask, because I was getting my hair cut on Saturday (she butchered it, but that’s another blog all together :-( and I heard one of the stylists telling her client (who was a lifeguard) that she should wet her hair before getting into the pool. Of course, this sparked my interest, and I came home and did some research….

If you saturate your hair with tap water before jumping into the pool, it will not be able to absorb the chemicals in the chlorinated water. Duh…it makes perfect sense…I can’t believe I’ve never thought of it before.

Here is my 3-Step Plan to beautiful summer hair:

Step 1:

Saturate hair with water, then spray with leave in conditioner to protect hair from absorbing any chlorine. Most public pools have showers, but if yours does not, bring a spray bottle along to wet your hair. Fill the bottle with about 2 inches of conditioner, cover with water, and shake to mix. Spray this mixture to wet hair before going into the pool.

Step 2:

Wash hair that has been in chlorine as quickly as possible. The sooner you get the chemicals off of your hair, the less damage they will do.

Step 3:

Use a Clarifying shampoo and deep conditioner once a week. Clarifying Shampoos are great for removing build-up, but they are too harsh for everyday use. Find a deep conditioner, or hot oil treatment that you like and use it once a week. If you’re a home remedy fan like me, try mayonnaise as a deep conditioner or coconut oil as a hot oil treatment

Mayo conditioner: Apply mayonnaise liberally to hair, cover with plastic bag, allow to sit for 20 minutes, rinse, shampoo and condition as usual

Coconut oil treatment: Apply coconut oil to hair until saturated, Tie up into a bun, sunbathe for several hours allowing oil to heat up and soak in, rinse, shampoo, and condition as usual.

Send your beauty questions to [email protected] and I'll answer them in my next blog.

Thanks, 

Bethany