With the sunny months ahead, hair is more fragile than usual. Your strands are subject to the harmful effects of the sun, sea, chlorine and even sand. On one hand, UV rays alter the keratin present in the hair. On the other, sea and chlorine produces a favorable ground for the oxidation of the hair fiber, making it more fragile. Outcome? The hair becomes duller, loses its shine and pigments.
Ask any professional and they’ll say the most important skincare product in your routine is sunscreen. It turns out, this approach may apply to your hair too. “If your hair undergoes prolonged exposure to the sun, the UVA and UVB rays can damage the outside cover of the hair strand, called the cuticle. It can damage the hair shaft and lead to discoloration, early greying, dry and brittle strands, broken or split ends, thinning and frizziness,” says dermatologist Dr. Ameesha Mahajan, founder, RM Aesthetics. Below are some tips for how you can protect your hair from sun damage.
- Protecting your scalp
Topical applications of hair products containing sunscreen will help produce a barrier against sun damage. A leave-in treatment that you just spritz on your scalp and strands post-shower is essential, and will be lightweight enough to protect your hair from messing with styling.
2. Create a protective shield
“Leave-in conditioners with UV filters containing dimethicone, which can deposit a thin film of the conditioner and the sunscreen it has on the hair shaft. This does not evenly coat all the hair strands but it does have some photo-protective effect,” says Dr. Mahajan. “Protection of hair by physical barriers is probably the best way to protect against UV damage. A hat, a chic scarf wrap or even an umbrella will protect hair against UV damage to the hair,” she says.
3. Skip bleach
If you’re going on a beach trip, skip touching up your color for a few weeks prior. The sun’s rays function as bleach on the hair. It reacts with the melanin in the hair and removes the color in an irreversible chemical reaction. It also damages keratin. Hot tools and hair lightening can harm the protein even more, allowing sun and heat to penetrate the hair more easily, which can result in fragile hair strands.
4. Include a deep-conditioner to your routine
Similar to how moisturizing can help repair the skin’s protective barrier, conditioning your hair can make the hair stronger, more flexible and less prone to frizz and breakage by sealing the cuticle and making it less permeable. “Pollutants, dust, dirt, treatments like perming, straightening and coloring can cause shaft damage and it is not totally irreversible. Deep conditioning once a week or fortnight will provide the essential moisture, especially for damaged hair,” says Dr. Mahajan.
5. Include antioxidants in your diet
“The sun’s rays can cause oxidative damage. This is why it is important to include fruits and vegetables in a lot of colors in your diet. A rainbow diet with four to five different fruits and vegetables is loaded with antioxidants which help cut the oxidative damage,” says Dr. Smriti Naswa Singh, consultant dermatologist and cosmetic dermatologist, Fortis Hospital, Mumbai.
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