Moisture Balance.
One of the hardest things to conquer with hair is proper moisture. Just when you get your hair all moisturized to combat the dry season, it gets wet and humid, and then the sun comes out and wreaks havoc on your locks.

As the weather starts to warm up and the humidity in the air increases, it's time to change your conditioning habits. It doesn't mean that you need to stop conditioning, just make a few adjustments. If you deep condition once a week in the winter months, change it to every other week. If you are using heavy daily conditioner, try changing to a light moisture or balancing conditioner.

The rule of thumb with moisture is to listen to your hair. If you notice static, dry ends, a lot of tangles, or if your hair feels rough to the touch you are lacking moisture and need to add a deep conditioning treatment or a moisturizing conditioner to your hair routine. If your hair is limp or oily start cutting back on the moisture.

Healthy Highlights
Balancing moisture can be a whole other issue if you highlight your hair in the summer. Frizzy and dry ends on highlighted hair can be more pronounced in the summer, especially if you lighten your hair more, spend time in the sun, or spend a lot of time in the water. Protein treatments or protein enhanced conditioners can help restore your highlighted hair's strength. Balance the strength with a good conditioning treatment or even a leave-in conditioner on highlighted hair.

Manage the Sun's Effects
Just as the sun causes your skin to age, it also will affect your hair. You may notice that your hair lightens in the summer.  While the sun's natural lightening doesn't cause significant damage to your hair, over exposure to the sun's rays can cause dryness and unwanted lightening to colored and highlighted hair. To keep the sun's effects at a minimum, try a UV protecting shampoo, conditioner, and styling aids.

Chlorine
If you spend a lot of time in the pool, it won't take long before you realize that chlorine build up can be a real issue. Chlorine can dry your hair, cause your ends to appear more damaged, and build up on your hair. The buildup feels gritty and makes hair dull and hard to style.

To help prevent chlorine from causing problems, wash your hair thoroughly immediately upon exiting the pool every time with a clarifying shampoo and follow with a balancing conditioner.  Your hair is like a sponge.  It soaks up whatever it is exposed to.  Like a sponge, if you fill it up, I can't absorb any more.  So, a method I recommend it to wet your hair before you get in the pool and apply a heavy conditioner.  This will fill your hair shaft, making it hard for the chlorine to get in.  I also recommend a swim cap.  To help remove unwanted chlorine buildup, many salons offer an in-salon treatment.

Natural At-Home Remedies

When choosing a recipe to include in this section I was torn between summer care and personal pampering, so I chose one of each.  I am always willing to answer questions and take suggestions for topics on my hair tips page.  Email me @ thewildhair@frontier.com or send a text to 208-882-6563.

Create your own Swimming Pool Hair Care

This recipe will help to help cleanse your hair and aid in the removal of chlorine and other chemicals.  Swimmer's hair can turn green and have a strong chlorine smell.  This treatment will help refresh and restore your hair.  Always condition after this treatment. 

Ingredients needed: 

2 tbsp baking soda

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp milk shampoo

Mix together all ingredients until well blended.  Wet hair and massage mixture well into hair and scalp, making sure hair ends are coated.  Cover hair with a plastic bag or shower cap and leave on for 30 minutes.  Rise hair well and shampoo as usual.  Repeat treatment as needed. 

Create your own Apricot Facial Mask

If your completion has become colorless and dull, this mask can be used to revitalize it.  Apricots are rich in vitamins A, which is important for healthy skin.  Combined with milk and honey, they return moisture to the skin, helping it look and feel smoother and softer.  My daughter loves to eat any leftovers from this mask-it tastes great on toast! 

Ingredients needed: 

½ cup dried apricots

½ cup warm water

1 tbsp nonfat dry milk powder

1 tbsp honey

Place all of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  Spread on your face and leave on for 15 minutes.  Rinse off with tepid water and pat dry.