How To Heal Your Sun-Damaged Hair

The end of summer is near and that means for the last few months our hair has been out fighting the elements: the sun, ocean, chlorine, and wind. After a summer of sun (and other environmental influences), it’s not uncommon for hair to feel dryer, show signs of breakage, and there’s always inevitable frizz. If you add this to the damage that your hair may already be accruing from heat styling and color treatments then that’s all the more reason to take a moment to access your hair’s health and give it a moment of revival. In short, the end of summer is a great time to perform an audit on your hair health! Where are you in your hair health and where do you want to go? Our Aveda products, alongside some of our favorite home remedies, will set your hair back on a healthier path just in time for fall.

1. Look for the superfoods

   One step to boost your hair’s hydration is adding in a daily leave-in conditioner. We recommend Aveda’s NutriPlenish line because it’s packed full of superfood ingredients that will reintroduce the essential lipids to your hair that the sun stripped away, including omega 5 fatty acids from pomegranate seed oil. The seed oil paired with the conditioner’s remedy of mango butter and coconut oil will bring that shine and softness all the while curing the hair’s dry, brittle texture.
   
   Now — we know what you’re thinking — another product to commit to the hair routine? Don’t worry, this can be a temporary addition, used only when needed. That being said, if your hair truly feels damaged the UV rays, signs of this are brittle hair that easily breaks, then using the leave-in conditioner for two weeks straight can help bring your hair back to the equilibrium it needs and then you can wane off the conditioner and use it on an as needed basis.

2. Replace lost moisture

   Hair cannot repair itself and that’s why it’s worth going the extra mile with a botanical repair hair masque when you’re experiencing a high volume of breakage. The main goal when healing hair from dryness is to increase the hair’s elasticity. The best way to accomplish this is to double down on the vitamins and lipids that our hair needs most and treat the hair from the inside out. This botanical repair masque has ingredients that addresses the absence of moisture on all three layers of the hair fiber.

3. Say goodbye to split ends

   Split ends are caused by a variety of factors and come in many shapes and sizes (read more here). They can be caused by something as simple as a cotton pillowcase or, you guessed it, the summer heat! Once you’ve addressed the dryness of your hair by adding in more moisture to your hair care (see bullet points 1 & 2), then it’s time to move your attention to your split ends. There’s really only one cure to split ends and that’s to trim them. Split ends are a form of hair damage and since new hair is continuously growing, it’s best to part ways and let you hair grow back anew. The important note is that just trimming your split ends without addressing the root cause of them will just leave you back in the same position a few weeks down the road. That’s why it’s important to add back the moisture and improve your hair’s overall elasticity as well.

4. Rinse with cool water

   Once you’ve taken the steps to heal your sun-damaged hair via conditioning ingredients as well as shedding the too-far-gone split ends, one at-home trick to protect your hair cuticle on the daily is finishing your showers with a cool water rinse. The cool water helps seal the cuticle, allowing it to lay flatter and therefore reducing the porosity of the cuticle and reducing your risk of further environmental damage (and frizz)!