Keep your Summer Hair Color Vibrant

Summertime can be a blast—beach trips, pool days, lake days, sun tanning, and cooking out. We tend to be outside way more in the summer, and that often means extra exposure to both the sun and water. While all of these activities are tons of fun, if you color your hair, they can be your hair’s biggest enemy. We already told you all about the super cool SU line from Davines, so to continue our Summer Survival Guide, we’re giving you our BEST hair tips and tricks for PRESERVING your summer hair color all season long.

Let’s talk about the SUN first.

You’ve heard the phrase, “sun-kissed highlights” before, right? There’s a reason that term came about. Sun will lighten your hair whether colored or not so if you’re out in the sun a LOT there are a couple of options.

1. Invest in a good UV-protectant hair product. Are you tired of hearing about SU yet? You shouldn’t be…we promised she would be your Summer BFF. SU milk along with the Davines Oi Milk are great UV-protectors. For curlies, Kevin Murphy’s Motion Lotion is an awesome curl-enhancing lotion that includes UV-protection, and their Smooth.Again and Young.Again lines will also do the trick. [[ R+Co products ]]

2. Buy a really cute hat. No, seriously. The best way to protect your hair from the sun is to prevent it from being exposed to the sun in the first place. Wrapping your hair up under a hat, or wearing a hat with a wide-enough brim to keep your hair shaded from the sun will prevent the sun from reaching (and bleaching) your lovely colored locks.

Let’s be real…if you’re not sitting in the sun, you’re probably soaking in the water.

Both the salty ocean and the chlorinated pool can be equally damaging to your hair, so no matter which water you choose to splash into, protecting your hair in advance is KEY to preserving your color. There’s a few options for protecting your hair from the salt and chlorine.

1. Use a leave-in conditioner before swimming. This works best on already damp hair, but it’s better to use it on dry hair than to not use it at all. Bare with me while we get the slightest bit sciencey. Okay, so, your hair is porous, which means it can absorb moisture. When you apply a product to your hair, it doesn’t just sit on top of the hair strands, your hair typically absorbs the product. When you wet your hair and coat it with a leave-in conditioner, you are filling the pores of your hair so that when they come in contact with salt water or chlorine, your already full hair strands will not absorb the salt or chlorine. Boom. Hair protection. If your hair is extremely porous (lightened hair), you may want to sub in a hair mask for a leave-in conditioner. The extra moisture and weight of the mask will help keep your hair full enough to avoid absorbing chlorine or salt.

2. This might sound silly, BUT, if your hair is long enough to pile atop your head, consider pinning your hair up and keeping your hair above the water. Maybe even under that cute hat you’re wearing to avoid the sun. It’s not the MOST fun solution, but it WILL keep your hair away from the damaging effects of the water.

Depending on your Summer routine, this one might be tough, but…

Avoid washing your hair every day. Shampooing your hair is pretty much guaranteed to fade your color, even when you’re doing everything right. Water (particularly hot water) opens the cuticle of your hair allowing the color molecules to slide on out. If you’re in the ocean or pool every day it might feel like you HAVE to wash your hair every day to get the buildup out (which is totally avoidable with the aforementioned tips), but the routine of shampooing daily is guaranteed to fade your color faster than usual. Like all of our tips, you’ve got a couple of options.

1. If you can manage to go a few days between shampoos, but feel like your hair is going to need an extra boost of shampoo to remove the buildup, try a color-safe gentle Clarifiying Shampoo. (Let me take a second to warn you that NOT ALL CLARIFYING SHAMPOOS ARE CREATED EQUAL.) Chances are, if you can buy it at your local drugstore, it’s the kind that WILL strip your color from your hair. We have four awesome clarifying shampoos here that are ALL color-safe. Kevin Murphy’s Maxi.Wash, R+Co’s Oblivion, O&M’s Detox, and Davines’ Solu. After using a Clarifyer you want to make sure to condition your hair to replenish the moisture and nutrients.

2. Invest in a bomb Dry Shampoo. Dry shampoo can absorb oils, refresh your roots, and give a little extra boost if your hair starts falling flat. Even if it just gets you through one extra day before shampooing again, dry shampoo can be a total lifesaver in terms of protecting your color. Our fave dry shampoos are Kevin Murphy’s Fresh.Hair and R+Co’s Death Valley or Badlands.

Since we’re on the topic, let’s go ahead and discuss Shampoo real quick.

Using a color-safe shampoo may be THE most important thing you can do to preserve your color year-round. When you invest in gorgeously colored hair, protecting it with a high-quality color-safe shampoo and conditioner seems like a no-brainer. All of our product lines include color-safe shampoos and conditioners that will maintain your color as you inevitably wash your hair. Salon quality shampoos and conditioners are designed to not just protect your color, but keep hair hydrated, reintroduce nutrients that can be lost through coloring, and target specific hair needs like rebuilding protein and offering smoothing effects. It’s important to have an awesome color-safe duo year round, but it becomes even MORE important as you subject your hair to extra wear and tear in the summertime.

Finally, let’s chat a little bit about rejuvenating hair that just hasn’t been able to escape the effects of sun or water.
If you forgot to toss your leave-in conditioner in your pool bag, or your hat flew off on the boat (hey, we’re giving you the benefit of the doubt here), you can rejuvenate your hair in (you guessed it) a few different ways.

1. Hair Masks are basically hair-resuscitaters. If your hair is in need of moisture and hydration, or reparation from damage, or protein rebuilding, masks are the heavy-hitters that really target these issues. Masks can be used for a variety of hair concerns, and there’s a mask for every hair texture. Using a hair mask once a week (or as prescribed by your stylist) can begin to undo the damage from sun and water. Try out Davines’ SU or NouNou hair masks, Kevin Murphy’s Young Again or Hydrate-Me Masques, or O&M’s Seven Day Miracle Masque.

2. Use that leave-in conditioner post-shower as well. Most leave-in conditioners treat the hair with renewed moisture and reparative properties, and they typically promote softness. Kevin Murphy’s Leave-in Repair or Staying Alive and R+Co’s High Dive would be particularly great for summertime hair woes.

3. Leave out the heat styling and embrace your natural texture. Whether your hair is straight, wavy, or full-on curls, using a product targeted at air drying your particular hair texture can save your hair from additional damage caused by heat styling with a blow dryer and hot tools. Ask your stylist which product will give you the desired air-dried look you would love, and fall back in love with your natural tresses.

Alright, SO. Let’s sum it all up.

PROTECTION is key from both the sun and water, but when you can’t protect, SHAMPOO less, using salon-quality products, treat with leave-in conditioners or masks, and let your hair air dry for minimal further damage. It IS possible to survive the Summer with your gorgeous color in tact so long as you take a little extra effort to care for your investment.

As always, if you need help figuring out what is the right prescription for YOUR hair and YOUR Summer activities, chat with your stylist at your next visit or give us a call.