Don’t Let The Pool Water Down Your Hair’s Potential, By Mary Jo McGinnity, Fantastic Sams Trend Expert

What do you get when you mix sunshine, extreme heat, chlorine, bromine and copper compounds with your hair? Let’s just say, it isn’t pretty.

Hair that was once silky, thick and bouncy can become brittle, rough, faded and in some cases green. It’s called swimmer’s hair and it is a sacrifice we make in the summertime to enjoy a regular dip in the pool. For Twin Cities’ athletes, swimmer’s hair is a year-round challenge.

But, don’t go shave your head or pull a pixie just yet! There are simple and inexpensive ways to keep your locks looking and feeling fabulous even if you can’t avoid the chlorine. Here are a handful of do-it-yourself and in-salon options we like to pass on to our Fantastic Sams clients:

·         After every swim, wash hair with a clarifying shampoo such as Fantastic Sams Cleanse, which will help to remove mineral build-up and chlorine.

·         Use a moisturizing conditioner that contains sunscreen to protect hair from damaging UVA/UVB rays like Fantastic Sams Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner.  There is also a Fantastic Sams Color Protect regimen with a Leave-In Conditioner that protects salon color from fading.

·         Consider a Malibu treatment each month with your regular haircut. This in-salon service, consisting of granules mixed with water and rubbed into the hair and processed under the hair dryer, removes excess build-up in hair caused by hard water, chlorine or water softeners.

·         Replenish your hair with a deep conditioning treatment that nourish distressed, colored or weak hair with customized protein and moisturizing ingredients. Just one 10-minute treatment can rejuvenate your hair for several weeks and costs around $10. Fantastic Sams offers the Redken Chemistry System, which allows you to blend or mix the different “shots” to provide liquid therapy for distressed hair. And, from July 8-July 21, Redken conditioning treatments are just $7.99 at participating Fantastic Sams salons.

·         Don’t forget a swim cap!  Not only functional and fashionable, a swim cap protects your hair from the sun and the effects of chlorine build-up.  Also, consider adding some conditioner to your wet hair before putting your swim cap on to nourish your hair while you swim.

For more information on the types of conditioning treatments available to tackle specific hair challenges—from keeping color-treated hair rich and vibrant to strengthening dry and brittle, chemically damaged hair or simply taming hair and making it more manageable, visit www.minnesota.fantasticsams.com.

I hope you will consider these ideas this summer so you can enjoy the pool, without watering down your hair’s potential.