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You Won't believe What the Sun Can Do To Your Hair!

13 November, 2016 - 10:44pm by - First Lady | 9 Comments

Article by BR Natalie

The Husband asked me a question today when I was spritzing some lightening spray in my hair.   "Why does the sun tan your skin, but lighten your hair?".  I got to give him my favourite answer to hair care questions.  "Your hair is dead from the root down, duh."  

See when your skin is exposed to harmful rays it produces more melanin, the pigment that determines skin and hair colour.  The melanin in your skin becomes darker the more it's exposed to the sun's rays in an effort to prevent burning and damage.  When hair is exposed to the sun, the sunlight causes the existing melanin within each strand to get lighter, and unlike your skin, your hair can't produce more melanin. 

Lightening your hair isn't the only effect the sun has on it.  Just like with our skin, the sun can damage hair, and whilst it might not be as detrimental to our health, sun damaged hair sure doesn't make for good hair days.

Sun damage in hair begins at the cuticle.  When your hair is shiny, soft and smooth the cuticle will be laying flat.  When your hair is frizzy, dull and coarse, the cuticle will have been damaged, likely by things such as the sun's UVA and UVB rays.  

The signs of sun damaged hair are:

  • Dry brittle strands
  • Frizzy hair
  • Split ends
  • Thinning 
  • Loss of pigment / discolouration
  • Dull hair with little-to-no sheen
  • Dry to touch

Still not sure if your hair is sun damaged?  Damaged hair is really hard to style, it won't hold a curl, flick or even stay straight.  Dry and damaged hair will also dry really quickly - this is because the cuticles aren't laying flat and so the strands lose moisture easily from the core. So when blow-drying, it's easy to quite literally dry it out.

Prevention is obviously better than cure, so here's some suggestions to do less damage this summer:

  • Wear a sun hat.
  • Avoid heat styling in the summer, opt for boho hair!
  • Deep condition your hair at least once a week.
  • Invest in a good hair oil and use it daily.

Avoid soaking your hair in chlorinated water.  Summer days by the pool may be bliss for you, but they scream hell for your hair.  Chlorine strips your hair of natural oils making it dry, dull and less flexible.  Chlorine can also get in between the fibres of the hair, weakening them dramatically.  Add in the power of the sun, and your hair is sure to suffer.  Try soaking your hair in fresh water before jumping in the pool (hair is like a sponge, the wetter it is, the less it can soak up) and rinsing really, really well after you've finished swimming.

Now of course, we talk about practical ways we can protect our hair from the sun, but inevitably, if we haven't already been doing so, our hair will be exhibiting some signs of sun damage.  You can do the usual deep conditioning or oil treatments, or you can incorporate a bit of protection into your everyday routine.  Products like the brand new Schwarzkopf Extra Care Sun Repair range are formulated to repair and protect hair from sun damage.

This new innovation in hair care contains Monoi-Flower extract to repair damages caused by sun rays, chlorine and salt water and UVA/UVB filters which protect the hair and prevent it from drying out.

The range consists of a shampoo, conditioner and leave-in conditioning spray.  The Leave-In Conditioner Spray is an on-the-go must, you can use it to instantly combat sun, chlorine and salt water damage.

So there you have it - our guide to enjoying the sun, without ruining your hair.  Tell us - do you think about sun damage to your hair?  Or is it something you've never really considered?  Do you think your hair is suffering from sun damage without you realising it?

Get chatting below!

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Comments

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16th November, 2016

The 'signs of sun damaged hair' describes my hair un a nut shell.

15th November, 2016

We live in NZ, sun damage to hair is basically inevitable with our high UV rays. I would love to try out the whole range of products, but in particular I'm really interested in the leave-in conditioner spray. Mostly now I just wear hats, but have never really thought of sun-protecting my hair.

14th November, 2016

Great read. I'll be looking out for this range for sure.

14th November, 2016

I really must take more care of my hair -It is really scary when you see how much damage the sun can do

14th November, 2016

It's great that there's a sun repair range. I'm not good at sun care for my hair, so might invest in a good hat - that's very good advice.

14th November, 2016

Actually I'm a stickler for sunscreen on my face, neck, decolletege, hands, lips and any exposed skin but hair I don't do much for in that department. I used to on my one day in the sun walking everywhere wear coconut oil in my hair that one day a week and sort of turn the sun's heat into a hot oil treatment but now I don't really do that anymore since I don't have a designated morning out in the sun. I'll never forget that one beach vacation when I was young I wanted red hair so bad, I thought if my sunburned skin turns red maybe my sunburned hair will turn red as well. I sat with my hair out at the beach hoping it'd get sunburned red, didn't work just came home with dry, frizzier hair.

14th November, 2016

Well yes then my hair is sun damaged dry, bleached lighter,frizzy oh heck nearly all of above problems and I never use a hair dryer or straighteners but never really thought about the damage the sun was doing to my hair. I use oil daily and definitely going to invest in a hat

14th November, 2016

Never thought of caring for my hair for sun protection.

14th November, 2016

I think my hair gets a little sun damaged each summer, but I also avoid things such as using straighteners in summer which helps keep damage minimal. I hadn't really thought about the fact that sun lightens hair and darkens skin before.

Julieal
14th November, 2016

I am the same

MareeB
14th November, 2016

Lol. We seem to learn best if we do it the hard way!

tannygirl
14th November, 2016

Yeah I wish I had known that sunburned hair doesn't turn red like your skin.

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