As the seasons change from dry and cold in the winter to warm and moist during the spring and summer, our hair changes as well. Hair goes from dry and full of static to frizzy and sun bleached by the end of the summer. Preparing for this change of the seasons can help you deal with the changes your hair will go through.
Moisture Balance.
One of the hardest things to conquer with hair is proper moisture. Just when you get your hair all moisturized to combat the dry season, it gets wet and humid and suddenly your hair is over moisturized and limp!
As the weather starts to warm up and the humidity in the air increases, its time to change your conditioning habits. It doesn't mean that you need to stop conditioning, just make a few adjustments. If you deep condition once a week, change it to every other week. If you use a heavy daily conditioner, try changing to a lighter moisture conditioner.
The rule of thumb with moisture is to listen to your hair. If you notice static, dry ends, a lot of tangles, or if your hair feels rough to the touch you are lacking moisture and need to add a deep conditioning treatment or a moisturizing conditioner to your hair routine. If your hair is limp or oily start cutting back on the moisture.
Healthy Highlights
Balancing moisture can be a whole other issue if you highlight your hair in the summer. Frizzy and dry ends on highlighted hair can be more pronounced in the summer, especially if you lighten your hair more, spend time in the sun, or spend a lot of time in the water. Protein treatments or protein enhanced conditioners can help restore your highlighted hair's strength. Balance the strength with a good conditioning treatment or even a leave-in conditioner on highlighted hair.
Manage the Sun's Effects
Just as the sun causes your skin to age, it also will effect your hair. You may notice that your hair lightens in the summer. As a child, I was always super blond in the summer and more of a dark blond in the winter months.
While the sun's natural lightening doesn't cause a lot of damage to your hair, over exposure to the sun's rays can cause dryness and unwanted lightening to colored and highlighted hair. To keep the sun's effects at a minimum, try a UV protectingshampoo, conditioner, and styling aids.
Chlorine
If you spend a lot of time in the pool, it won't take long before you realize that the chlorine build up can be a real issue. Chlorine can dry your hair, cause your ends to appear more damaged, and build up on your hair. The build up feels unpleasant and makes hair dull and hard to style.
To prevent chlorine from causing problems, the first step is to wash your hair throughly immediately upon exiting the pool every time with a clarifying shampooand follow with a moisturizing conditioner.
Although shampooing often is a great way to start to combat the chlorine problem most of my clients say that it doesn't completely get rid of the chlorine build up in your hair. Many salons can do an in-salon treatment to help remove the chlorine build up in hair. I recommend that my clients with chlorine issues come in for a treatment every 4-8 weeks.
