Summer! Beautiful weather, but summertime as wonderful as it is, can also come with a few challenges when it comes to your hair. Your refreshing dip in the community swimming pool could be doing major damage to your hair. The primary enemy? Chlorine, a gaseous greenish-yellow element used for its disinfecting power. The chlorine in swimming pools does major damage to even the healthiest head of hair.

One of the most common and obvious problems affect blondes. Blonde hair is known to turn green because of the exposure to chlorine. Skin problems can also occur in frequent swimmers. If you think about it, skin is the largest organ in the body. While technically water-proof, the skin can absorb contaminants from water. Although long term exposure to chlorine makes our skin and hair very dry. Hair can become unmanageable and color-treated hair can be ruined. Thankfully there are several ways to protect ourselves from chlorine.

Apply a thin layer of olive oil or coconut oil to your hair before swimming. Pour the oil onto your hands and just rub it through your hair to protect it.

Wet your hair with non-chlorinated water prior to swimming will lessen the amount of the element that can be absorbed.

Re-wet your hair frequently to rinse of the chlorine and keep it saturated with clean non-chlorinated water.

Use a bathing cap to keep water from contacting your hair. Tip, treat your hair with a hair mask or oil under your cap.

Always wash your hair good after your swim.

Enjoy your summer swim 🙂