Signs of sunburned hair and how to protect hair from damage in the summer sun

The sun is the “refiner” of the skin and hair. Sunburn, frizz and split ends can happen if you don’t know how to protect your hair from the effects of the sun.

Don’t worry, let’s learn 4 precautions to protect sunburned hair from UV attack to minimize damage.

How does the sun damage hair?

Long-term exposure to UVA and UVB rays from the sun can damage hair in a variety of ways, causing the cuticle (the outermost layer of hair) to gradually weaken.

UVA rays penetrate deeper into the hair structure, destroying natural hair color pigments and weakening the hair’s ability to protect . Meanwhile, UVB rays burn the surface of the hair, damaging the cuticles and breaking down proteins (keratin) and lipids in the hair, thereby making hair weak, split ends and more prone to breakage.

In addition to the harmful effects of the sun, which causes sunburned hair, the scalp is also at high risk of burning and developing skin cancer. Therefore, both your hair and scalp need maximum protection every time you go out.

How to recognize sunburned, damaged hair

1. Hair changes color to light blonde, light brown

Many of you wonder what color sunburned hair is? In fact, hair doesn’t have to turn a sunburnt blonde to be considered a sign of damage. For example, if your current hair color is black, when sunburned, your hair color will only lighten by one to several tones.

If you notice that your hair is abnormally discolored, it’s time to protect your hair more carefully when going out in the sun such as: wearing a wide-brimmed hat, using a hair protection spray …

2. Smelly hair

Take a few strands of hair and smell it to see if it smells burnt. This is also a warning to you that your hair is suffering from sun damage. Besides, the part of hair that is severely sunburned often has a stronger burning smell and is also drier than usual.

3. Hair is frizzy and dry

To see which signs are causing your hair to burn, you can run your fingers through your hair to see if your hair is still soft, or just feels rough and rough. When the hair is affected by sunlight, the outer hair protective film will also be affected, losing the necessary moisture for the hair, causing the hair to gradually lose its smoothness and shine as before.

4. Split ends

Compared to normal hair, sunburned hair often has brittle ends and breaks easily. When your hair is directly exposed to high intensity of sunlight, your hair will no longer be able to hold its original curl.

Depending on the degree of hair damage from mild to severe, you should have temporary remedies to limit dry hair and restore damaged hair better.

Remedies for sunburned hair

1. Do not use sulfate-containing shampoos

When sunburned, your hair becomes dry, losing water and moisture to the hair. High heat from the sun will directly affect the hair and scalp by stripping away nutrients and evaporating moisture, thereby causing damage to the hair.

To fix dry hair caused by sunburn, you should start cleaning your scalp and conditioning your hair from the ground up with a sulfate-free hair conditioner and conditioner.

Sulfate in shampoo or conditioner has the effect of foaming, removing dirt, dead cells and providing the ability to clean hair. However, this ingredient can cause hair to be excessively dry and frizzy, more susceptible to sun damage.

2. Incubate your hair with a natural mask

For a highly effective hair care process, using a natural hair mask will help improve dry, frizzy hair by directly nourishing the hair.

For dry hair caused by sunburn, the hair is very easily damaged and affected by harmful chemicals from shampoos and conditioners. Therefore, to avoid bad effects on your hair, incubating your hair with a nutrient-rich natural mask will help provide a certain amount of moisture to your hair.

Some types of masks with natural extracts are often used to incubate hair such as: avocado mask, honey mask, coconut oil for hair, …

>>> You may be interested in: 6 golden benefits for hair when steaming hair oil

3. Sunburnt hair care with essential oils

Extracted from healthy herbs through distillation or evaporation, essential oils for hair will support healthy, beautiful and shiny hair, providing a mild scent.

According to hair care experts, hair oils that are rich in vitamin E and fatty acids will help smooth hair and repair damage. The types of hair care oils that are preferred by many people today are grapefruit, locust, lavender, lemongrass essential oils…

After completing the hair incubation step as above, you should dry your hair with a soft towel. Next, you put a few drops of hair oil in the palm of your hand, apply evenly to the hair and massage the scalp to relax. To avoid greasy hair and oily scalp, you should only use a sufficient amount to apply to your hair.

4. Protect your hair on the go

One of the ways to restore the health of sunburned, dry hair is to protect your hair from the sun. Many of you often do not have the habit of protecting or covering your hair every time you go out, such as the need to cover your head, or wear a wide-brimmed hat, hair protection spray, etc. to help your hair not come into direct contact. with ultraviolet rays.

A few notes when taking care of sunburned hair

If left for a long time, the condition of sunburned hair will become more and more serious, so you need to fix it as soon as possible. Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind to minimize damage to your hair from the sun:

• Compared to normal hair, sunburned hair is very weak. Therefore, you should not brush your hair too much because the more you brush, the more prone to breakage.
• Absolutely do not bleach your hair or use harmful chemicals in hair dye because it will make the hair burn more and more damaged.
• Do not tie your hair too tight
• Limit the use of chemicals to make hair, press, curl, straighten or dye hair to help prevent and protect hair from damage.
• The way to protect your hair from sunburn is that you should not wash your hair with water with a temperature that is too high or too low, because it will strip the hair’s natural oils and make the hair much more susceptible to damage.

In a tropical climate like Vietnam, sunburn is quite common. The above hair care measures will help you improve frizzy, damaged hair into stronger and softer hair to withstand damage from the sun.