I’ve always been pretty careful about keeping my face in the shade, knowing that the quickest way to damage my quite fair complexion would be to subject it to the harsh rays that emanate from a sun that’s particularly powerful here in the southern hemisphere.
But somewhere along the line, I forgot about my hair.
Back in the 90’s I even went so far as to spritz sun-in and lemon juice all over my tresses in the hopes of getting natural looking streaks of super-white blonde. This of course only resulted in frying my hair and ending inevitably with several correctional trips to an expensive hair salon in an attempt to repair the bits that frayed and eventually just fell off!
Nowadays everybody seems a lot more aware of the potent effects of the sun on our hair as well as our skin, and I’ve personally extended my sun protection from my face to my hair, with pleasing results.
So how does the sun cause damage to our hair exactly?
The UV rays will penetrate the hair shaft, dehydrating the follicle from the inside out, resulting in dry, frizzy strands. Just like your skin, your hair will be sunburnt. It will also leave your locks dull and brittle, and the extreme lack of moisture means that coloured hair will no longer be able to hold its dye properly and it will quickly fade away.
So, how to prevent this from happening?
The obvious solution is to stay out of the sun or cover your head with a pretty hat or scarf, and if you can’t do either of those things, there are numerous spritzes, serums and oils available that are designed to act as styling products as well as sunscreen for your hair.