Looking Frazzled? Here’s How to Protect Your Hair from High Heat and the Sun

When it’s hot, and the sun is shining, most people reach for the sunscreen, frequently paying little or no attention to their hair. Although brilliant for producing Vitamin D, the sun and heat can cause significant hair damage, including frizziness, dry and brittle strands, and in some cases, even thinning. This guide looks at the steps you can take to protect it.

With the UK currently experiencing extreme temperatures, this can affect your health and appearance, damaging your hair and skin. Our hair may look and feel dry, coarse and brittle in the heat, and this is due to the extreme heat, humidity and overexposure to the sun.

For this guide, Abbas Kanani, Lead Pharmacist and health adviser for Chemist Click, shares his tips for getting your hair through a heatwave as temperatures hit 39 degrees across the country.

1. Conditioning hair masks
Treating your dry locks with conditioning treatments is the best way to help reverse and repair any heat damage done to the hair. I would advise applying a deep conditioning treatment to the hair in the evening and sleeping in it. Once washed out in the morning, your hair should feel much healthier and look shinier. If you don’t have any hair treatments to hand, you can also use household items such as coconut oil, avocado or honey, which can naturally help to replenish and revitalise hair.

2. Turn down your shower
Washing your hair with lukewarm or cold water can help to lock in moisture in the hair, which should help it to look and feel healthier. Using hot water on your hair can weaken the hair and damage the scalp; rinsing with cold water can help seal the cuticles shut and boost shine, which means your healthy hair is maintained.

3. Heat protector
The best way to protect your hair from sunlight and humidity outside is through a heat protectant spray offering SPF protection. These are often hard to come by, but sun sprays can be found in larger drugstores and help protect the hair, root and scalp from sun damage.

4. Avoid bleach
Avoid any hair colouring or bleaching during the hot weather; bleach can dry your hair out, so adding heat and sunlight into the mix will only leave your hair struggling even more. Try to avoid any sort of hair colouring over the summer months. If you can, your hair will thank you in Autumn.

5. Protect your scalp
Burning your scalp can be really damaging to the delicate skin on your scalp and could also lead to symptoms of sunstroke due to the direct sunburn to your head. I would always advise wearing a hat if you are outdoors in direct sunlight or a head scarf. If not, try and protect your scalp with a scalp spray, or you can even spray normal sunscreen onto the scalp area, although this could leave your roots looking greasy. A scalp spray would be best.

6. Avoid overwashing
Overwashing your hair can cause the natural oils in your hair to be stripped, and this can lead to dry, damaged and lifeless hair. It is beneficial to leave the hair longer in between washes during the summer months to allow the natural oils to keep your hair feeling and looking healthy. I would also avoid shampoos which include sulphate, as this chemical can lead to dry and damaged hair also.

7. Sleep on silk
Silk pillowcases can protect your hair by reducing friction between your hair and fabric, which can cause breakage and split ends. If your hair is already struggling due to the heat, then the last thing it needs is to be damaged further in your sleep, so swapping out your normal pillowcase for a silk case should help to look after your hair as you sleep.

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