When you surf, it’s likely that your hair gets an overdose of saltwater and sun. On the one hand, it’s definitely a more efficient way to get highlights than spending hours (and a fortune) at the hairdressers for those little blonde streaks that gives your hair a sun-kissed shine.
On the other hand, not only does saltwater and sun give you highlights, but it also makes it dry. Even if you have oily hair by default, chances your hair, especially the ends, get quite brittle and dry when you spend a lot of time in the saltwater.
“I love that colour where did you get it done? Followed by ‘unfortunately, we need to trim quite a bit to get the dry ends of’ is the standard commentary by my hairdressers.
So I’ve been a bit on a mission…after my last big chop I don’t want to lose any more of my locks and decided to give them a bit of extra attention and care. I’m not a big fan and believer of product. I’ve tried a few sun care specific shampoos, sprays, conditioners and masks and I’m yet to be convinced. Anyway, the hippie in me thought surely there are some great homemade hair masks that would give my hair a bit of moisture boost. A quick Google search revealed hundreds and hundreds of DIY hair masks. I found a Coconut Hair mask on a blog and it sounded like a great plan. Mix 2 parts of coconut oil with 1 part of olive oil, put it in your hair and shower cap over the top. Leave for 20-30 min. Shampoo, condition and rinse and that’s it. Easy peasy… I followed the recipe almost exactly…I did only a bit of freestyling and added some banana from another promising DIY hair mask recipe (which doubled up as a face-mask…the things you find on Google…) It looked disgusting but smelt great. Anyway, I put all of it on my head with focus on ends as per recipe. After half an hour, I did the shampoo and rinse part and I was all excited about my new hair. However, the excitement did not last very long. As it turns out my ‘newly moisturised’ hair was so moisturised it would not dry for days. It was super greasy and oily and looked like I had not washed it in about a week. In order to get it back to its normal state, after I’ve shampoo it five times and spent some substantial time in the ocean. DIY hair mask fail.
Hm maybe the trick is not to do fix the damage but to prevent the damage. I’ve heard of two techniques that are supposed to work. Wet your hair with water from the tap before you head out into the water. Apparently, the hair is then soaked with non-salty water already by the time you get into the ocean and does not get as dry. Or my hairdresser recommended to putting conditioner in the hair before you go for a surf. Again, it’s meant to protect your hair from soaking up the salt water. I’ve tried both a few times and I think it worked – especially the conditioner one – but it’s a bit impractical. Who has time to think about their hair before the surf? All you want to do is get in the water.
Maybe I have to look out for another product after all or suck it up and spend five minutes before the surf and soak my hair with conditioner. The search continues…
Are there any other gidgets out there who have found what it takes to protect their surfie mane from the sun and salt? Myself and I bet many of our gidget readers would be forever grateful if you could share your secret with us.
x Clauds
No Comments