Keep Hair Shining This Summer

Belle About Town's guide to achieving shiny hair this summer

While we’re never going to complain about warm weather and sunny days, summer isn’t always as good for the hair as the heart. Holiday hair dried out by too much sun or chlorine can leave formerly luscious locks looking dull and brittle. So how do we combat dreaded holiday hair and keep our do looking divine all summer long?

Roni Chapman, Senior Stylist at The Chapel which has branches in London, Kent and Verbier, told Belle About Town: “Summer hair is something that you have to prepare for as factors such as a hot sun, dry air, and sea/sand can seriously affect its health and appearance. When you wash your hair, try and leave it to dry naturally, especially if you have textured hair. The best way to do this is to scrunch a small amount of conditioner and leave to dry without rinsing it out. It is a really great way of conditioning you hair while sitting on the beach. If you are in a hot place and the sun is beating down on you, then cover your hair as if it’s very hot – a hat or bandana is great for this.”

Here are some more tips Belle About town has gleaned through experience and from the experts for keeping sun-damaged hair shining this summer.

Lay off the heat

High heat styling tools are great in the short-term, but the long-term effects are damaging. Roni says: “If you are going on holiday somewhere over the summer, just don’t pack your hairdryer or your straighteners. Applying extra heat to hair which is already dried out will damage the condition of your hair, so give it a break.” There are various other options available such as rag curls, rollers and braid waves. If you can allow your hair to air-dry as often as possible or select the cold settings when using a blow dryer, this will also make your hair look shinier!

Tip: Celebrity hairstylist Agsaar Saboo says, “If you do have to use hot air, keep the dryer a distance of at least 6 inches between your scalp and the blow dryer nozzle.”

Take a cold shower

A super steamy shower can take its toll on your hair, leaving it coarse and dry. Rinsing with cold water, on the other hand, helps to seal the cuticles and strengthen the hair, helping it to grow longer whilst maintaining its health.

Up your Vitamin E intake

Vitamin E is extremely good for achieving shiny hair that has otherwise been dulled by the sun. It has been an essential ingredient in body lotions, shampoos, and conditioners for years. You can use it individually in a capsule to work from the inside out or even mix vitamin E oil with coconut oil and apply it to your scalp for a luxury hair mask.

Tip: Agsaar says, “Leave to soak in overnight for extra nourished shiny hair.”

Trim regularly

Snipping your hair more often encourages faster hair growth and removes split ends. Regular styling makes your hair prone to split ends and damaged cuticles therefore trimming the lower portion of your hair every six to eight weeks is always worthwhile as it minimises damage.

Avoid over-colouring

Whether you have highlights or lowlights it will have a direct impact on how healthy or unhealthy your hair will look – shiny hair looks healthier, it just does. Over-colouring causes dry split ends, lack of lustre, hair breakage and plays havoc with the appearance and overall health of the hair. Ultimately when you dye the hair you are destroying the first layer to change the colour within, thus destroying the protective layer. Put the dye down to stop breakages which shortens your hair by inches.

Want shiny hair? Grab a coffee!

Coffee is excellent for balancing pH for hair and is also really effective in stimulating your roots by improving its structure and growth. Apart from making the hair stronger and smoother, caffeine also gives a natural sheen to make it more manageable.

Tip: Agsaar says, “Pour pre-brewed cool coffee into dry hair and allow it to sit for 20 minutes before cold rinsing and conditioning out”.

Give hair an intense boost

The Envy Dual Fix 12 contains a perfect balance of silk proteins and keratin amino acids to target damaged areas and attract moisture, and used as an intensive treatment it gives really good results and extra shiny hair. Massage a handful of the oil into dry, unwashed hair from root to tip. Then dry roughly with a hairdryer, leave for a few minutes and shampoo out. This miracle in a bottle can also be used weekly in between shampooing and conditioning to give an extra boost to sun-damaged hair.

There are myriad products on the market claiming to keep hair shiny and healthy, but The Chapel’s Roni suggests these as the most effective:

Kerastase hair care range Soleil – It has complete UV protection for all hair types and will protect against all the summer element such as chlorine, salt and uv rays

Aqua seal is ideal to block the chlorine from the hair before going to the pool. Simply wash and condition your hair, then apply a small amount to the hair and let it do

the rest.

Redken has a fantastic styling spray with 25 benefits that’s perfect to chuck in your beach bag. It’s called One United and helps to protect and detangle sun exposed hair.

Celebrity hairdresser Agsaar Saboo is a renowned figure among celebrities and a regular on red carpets. He has styled the hair of a host of A Listers including Cindy Crawford, Eva Longoria and Twiggy.

Emily Cleary

After almost a decade chasing ambulances, and celebrities, for Fleet Street's finest, Emily has taken it down a gear and settled for a (slightly!) slower pace of life in the suburbs. With a love of cheese and fine wine, Emily is more likely to be found chasing her toddlers round Kew Gardens than sipping champagne at a showbiz launch nowadays, or grabbing an hour out of her hectic freelancer's life to chill out in a spa while hubby holds the babies. If only!
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