(BlackDoctor.org) — Glorious, shiny hair is not a matter of luck —it is a matter of good hair care. During the summer, the sun’s heat rays can be very damaging, causing hair to become dry, brittle and frizzy. A few simple summer hair care tips will help you keep hair strong and healthy. When it is time to turn on the air conditioning, it is also time to step up the hair conditioning. Regular conditioning treatments are important to keep hair moisturized, shinny and flexible. Don’t take shortcuts when it comes to summer’s hair care regime.
Consider These Survival Tips:
• If you normally use hot hair tools (blow dryers, hot irons, electric curlers) every day, try and give your hair a break during the summer months. Consider letting your air dry. Take a break from hot curling.
Hair braided with medium to lose tension when wet will air dry into beautiful waves.
• For sun exposed or sun damaged tresses, perform regular deep hair conditioning treatments utilizing hair repair products.
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• Jojoba oil applied to the ends of your strands will help soften them. Jojoba oil also works wonders on frizzy hair; and can also be utilized as a pre-shampoo treatment or applied to dry strands for protection during the day.
• For extra conditioning treatment apply a deep conditioner to damp or dry tresses, wrap in plastic wrap or a shower cap just before bedtime. Allow the deep conditioner to soak into damaged hair sections overnight for extra repair and re-moisturizing benefits.
• When you find yourself out in the sun, at the beach or at the pool without pre-planning, reach for a hat to cover delicate strands. If a hat is not within reach the next best thing, sunscreen. Slather a regular SPF product on your tresses making sure to concentrate the product onto your scalp as well as the full strands of your hair. Although not a perfect solution, it will help to block the sun’s harmful rays and save your tresses from major sun damage. Hair can get sunburned just like the scalp. The only way to deal with severely burnt hair is by trimming the damaged sections off. Prevention is the safest plan. Frizzy hair is often the result of too much sun time.
• If you love the look of blow dried hair, use a leave- in conditioner designed to protect your hair when blow drying.
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• When the summer heat is hottest manage frizzies by wearing your hair up in a knot, bun, braids or twists that are not too tight.
• Be careful using shine products to control frizz. These products often contain silicone and can coat your hair and make it look dull after just a few times. This will only make the problems worse in the long run.
• Be religious about your trims. Since summer heat can be brutal, make sure you have the ends trimmed every 6-8 weeks during the summer months. When your ends are frizzy, it’s a sure sign that they are either damaged, split or both.
• Hair needs to be treated more gently during the summer. Consider switching to a moisturizing and overall gentle shampoo. Always follow up with a deep moisturizing conditioner.
• For summer months consider switching to hair care products that are as all-natural as possible. Keep in mind it is best to avoid any hair care or styling products contains alcohol such as holding sprays; or formaldehyde which may be found in some gels since they can be excessively drying to the hair.
• Shampoo your hair weekly during summer months to allow your tresses to absorb maximum moisture. When possible, finish with a cool to cold rinse to seal the hair cuticle, this will give your hair natural shimmer and shine.
Take care of your hair during the summer and you won’t have to spend the fall and winter trying to repair your summer hair care indiscretions. Prevention is always the best action for your hair.
By Jacqueline Tarrant, BDO Contributing Writer
Jacqueline Tarrant is a beauty expert, consultant, columnist, founder & CEO of Style Infinity Products & The Hair Trauma Center in downtown Chicago. Jacqueline Tarrant has pioneered effective methods to help men & women re-grow hair with her multi-layered approach to hair loss, known as Quadra-Follicle Stimulation. Jacqueline’s expertise on hair care and hair health is expressed monthly in national columns that reach millions through various publications.
With numerous Style & Beauty appearances nationwide on Good Morning America, NBC, CBS, & the Fox Network; Jacqueline’s credits also extend throughout print in such publications as Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Essence & the Wall Street Journal to name a few.
Her reputation as a renowned Educator, Trainer and Platform Artist has taken her throughout Canada, Europe, Africa, South America and the Caribbean.
Primarily through her anchor salon on the East coast & her latest location Downtown Chicago, The Hair Trauma Center, Jacqueline has the unique advantage of staying in tune with the pulse of today’s cutting edge hair care and beauty trends. Jacqueline shares her hair and beauty tips through print as a monthly columnist for Sophisticate of Black Hair Magazine with a reach of over 1 million monthly readers monthly.
BDO (http://BlackDoctor.org) is the World’s largest and most comprehensive online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans.
