Avid swimmers and hair

[melodee]

Avid or frequent swimmers, please tell us of your experiences with hair care. Do you get damage? What is your regimen for avoiding the damage. Please do tell, as I plan on swimming this summer. My family has an awesome pool and I never get in because of my fear it'll wreck my hair.

 

[patience]

I always make sure that I saturate my hair with water BEFORE putting on a swim cap. You may also want to put conditioner on your hair. Doing this helps to keep chlorine from absorbing into the hair.

Be SURE that you rinse your hair THOROUGHLY after swimming. I'd also recommend a deep condition at LEAST once a week if you swim more than 4 times each week. A protein conditioner called "HAIR" sold at Sally's worked really well for me when I was permed. Queen Helene's Creme Cholesterol conditioner was a staple for me as well. As for shampoo's I used to use Suave's Clarifying Shampoo. It literally strips pretty much EVERYTHING. I later switched to diluted Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castille Soap and added some Olive Oil, Vit. E and Aloe Vera Gel to it. It works great. I would then follow that with a conditioner wash and be on my way.

I hope this helps. Enjoy yourself in the pool!

 

[Neroli]

I swim alot in summer both in pools and the ocean. I have 4b relaxed hair. The BEST way I deal with this is to get braids -- makes my life easier AND is better for hair health since in a protective style and is not being constantly manipulated. Now, I HAVE done a lot of swimming with my relaxed hair loose and bottom line, it's a lot of extra care and attention to keep it moisturized and prevent breakage. In both instances I always:

1. use a moisturizing conditioner on hair before entering pool/sea. I don't recommend oils, but suggest creamy leave-in moisturizers or washout conditioners, whatever you like - I like nexxus humectress for this purpose, my cheaper alternative is any cholesterol conditioner -- lightly coat hair from roots to ends.

2. after applying conditioner, wet hair thoroughly with regular water before entering pool or sea. If don't have time for the conditioner, at least wet hair first. By wetting first, the hair absorbs the "regular" water and thus less opportunity for the pool/sea water to be absorbed.

3. ALWAYS wash/rinse after pool/sea and apply a moisturizer. This will remove the "hard" chemicals in pools and the salts in sea. If swimming all day, I found using shampoo 3 or 4 times is too much, then I RINSE hair out with regular water each time I get out for a significant period -- just let regular water run over hair and that gets out some of the hard stuff. ALWAYS use shampoo at end of swimming sessions. Reasons swimming so rough on hair is because of the cheimicals/salts that's on the hair and my goal is always to limit how long it remains on my hair.

Finally, I don't use "swimmers" shampoo because they are simply too harsh for my hair -- I found that a regular moisturizing shampoo is tons better and leaves my hair softer, and more manageable than the special swimmers stuff.

If my hair is loose, I washing and moisturizer at all cost -- really difficult to maintain a straight style because I limit heat and so end up in buns or with a textured look because less hassle. With braids, just wash and go!

 

[chanou]

Neroli do you follow this routine with your hair in braids also??

 

[Neroli]

[ QUOTE ]
chanou said:
Neroli do you follow this routine with your hair in braids also??

[/ QUOTE ]

I admit to being lazier when my hair is braided. However, even with braids, I always:

1. wet braids before swimming
2. rinse braids after swimming
3. wash with shampoo at end of day/swimming

 

[Stylepink]

Great tips, ladies. Thanks!

 

[melodee]

Yes, great!

By the way, what swim caps do you use?

 

[happylocks]

I was looking for some info on this, Since I plan to go swimming today,

 

[Boadicea]

I don't wear a swim cap. I just put my hair in a ponytail and dive in. I use Dabur Vatika Henna Cream Conditioning shampoo and Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner and Salerm 21 leave-in.

I haven't experienced any breakage. I wash my hair fairly close to after having gotten out of the water (it only takes longer, of course, if I'm at the beach which isn't close to my house).

 

[UmSumayyah]

k-pak makes a swimmers shampoo called "phine" that's supposed to get all the chlorine off. Maybe you could try that.

 

[greAtness333]

bump

 

[hottopic]

bumping this

 

[silverlotus]

 

[almondjoi85]

I was a swimmer in high school and a diver in college. I had damage from the frequent swimming, but the swimming seasons are also in the winter when most people have lots of hair related problems anyway so it was a double dose of trouble for me. But in the summer it wasn't much of a problem. I would wet my hair prior to swimming and coat it with a deep conditioner then cover with a swim cap. After swimming I would wash my hair and use conditioner then put on another round of the DC (only for about 5 minutes while in the shower). After all this I put my hair up and never blow-dried.