Summer can be both the most-welcome time of year, and the harshest time of year. Those bright days at the beach so longed for during the winter months can easily turn to visits of discomfort, and regretful days of sunburn and irritation. While many are cautious to take care of skin during the summer, it’s easy to overlook, or be misinformed about, hair care. The summer sun, heat, humidity, pool and ocean water, and dirt can be hard on the scalp and hair. Fortunately, Linda Maurer, owner of Linda’s Salon, has a few simple ways to keep hair moisturized, clean, and protected throughout the summer months.
Farming, gardening, off-roading, hanging out at the beach, and more can get one all sorts of dirty during the summer. The scalp and hair aren’t immune to the dust and the dirt, so showering, shampooing, and scrubbing the right way can get out pesky grains of sand and deeply caked dirt off the follicles and hair. Linda recommends, after a long day of sweat and dirt, shampooing twice during a shower. The first shampoo will loosen up the dirt and grime, and the second wash will actually get the hair clean.
Moisturizing is also a crucial step to keep hair healthy during the summer. The sun and heat dry out hair and skin. Applying moisturizer after shampooing will help keep hair moisturized. Linda’s coworker and stylist, Sabrina Forbes, recommends getting the hair wet, or even applying moisturizer, when swimming in pools with chlorine. The commonly used chemical may keep the pool clean, but it also dries out hair, and can even cause discoloration. Wetting the hair and applying moisturizer before swimming will lock in moisture, preventing further damage like split ends.
While cleaning and moisturizing are certainly important steps, one crucial step, especially for those with sensitive or thinning hair, is to protect the hair before going outside in the sun. Long periods of exposure in the sun will not only dry out the hair, it can also burn the scalp. Women with parted hair, or balding men, are especially susceptible to sunburn on the scalp. But there are easy measures to protect one’s head in the summer, the obvious being wearing a hat while out and about, or applying sunblock directly to the hair and scalp. Sabrina noted that sunscreen can easily be applied to the hair just like gel, or spray sunscreen can be used as well.
Linda encourages readers planning to get some sun this summer to consider getting a base tan at her salon. Too often people will go out into the sun after several months indoors without using proper protection, or will go to tanning salons that don’t monitor fair skinned people. At Linda’s Salon, Linda and her staff monitor customers using tanning beds in order to prevent burning. Coming in during spring and early summer months for a light base tan in a controlled environment can help prevent the irritating and painful sunburns.
For more information, readers can visit the Linda’s Facebook page, or call (517) 386-0737. Linda would also like to let readers know that she’s looking to hire a full or part-time massage therapist.
