Hair needs a little extra tlc in Summer, especially if you’re holidaying somewhere really hot as heat and UV rays leave can leave it feeling parched - and fade both natural and artificial colour. Chlorine & sea water might make your locks look cute & surfy (if you’re lucky) but they’ll also dry it out - and again, won’t do your colour any favours.
My biggest hair enemy, humidity, will play havoc with carefully coiffed styling as you dine al fresco. When we were in Singapore at Christmas my husband charmingly informed me that my hair was getting bigger as the evening went on (& not in a good way!).
So don’t wait until the damage is done - start nourishing your hair now and take steps to protect it throughout the summer. Here are a few products I’ve been using lately…
Colour Protection
BC Bonacure Color Freeze - Although I only have a few surface highlights, I like to use colour guard products on & off all year around. They don’t strip your hair colour like others can and actually guard it, helping it stay true and last a little longer. I’ve raved about BC Bonacure by Schwarzkopf Professional before - I’ve used various formulas from this range since I started colouring my hair around 8 years ago and been very impressed with most of them.
Color Freeze Shampoo is sulphate-free, which I try to stick to as much as possible; less chemicals mean the product is gentle on both hair and scalp. This shampoo literally helps freeze the colour pigments in place and restores elasticity. It smells gorgeously fresh and the 250ml bottle is long lasting as only a little is need. It’s a bit large to chuck in a suitcase so I’d probably dispense some or buy travel sized products for holidays.
Color Freeze Coloured Ends isn’t a conditioner, but a leave in treatment that mends split ends (binding them temporarily) and adds shine.
Click to enlarge if you’d like to read the ingredients list.
Deep Conditioning
Lulu & Boo Organics ~ Shea Butter & Jojoba Deep Hair Treatment (phew!) is the ultimate natural deep conditioner, especially if your hair is dry, coarse, frizzy or coloured. *ticks all 4 boxes*
It comes in a cute little opaque glass jar, containing lots of 98% organic goodies: Shea Butter, Coconut, Castor, Olive and Jojoba Oils for silky softness & Geranium, Lavender and Cedarwood Essential Oils to heal and soothe the hair. Ahhhh….
The texture isn’t like anything I’ve used before, which is why I’ve tried to describe it with pictures… it looks and feels like a bouncy mousse in the jar, comes out like a fluffy butter on your finger, then melts into an oil as you warm it on your palms. Unsurprisingly with all those gorgeous ingredients it smells quite heavenly, if you like natural zingy herbal scents, which I do.
I’d use two blobs the size that’s on my finger for my whole hair - and I have a lot of hair - so although there’s only 50ml of product I think it would last most people quite a while. Leave it on for 20 mins before shampooing out (or overnight if you can bear it - just pop a towel over your pillow). It makes my hair extra soft & shiny - I’ll continue to use it once a week throughout the Summer.
UV Guard
BC Bonacure Sun Protect - yep, more Bonacure… this is one to take with you on holidays (decant definitely required). The Shampoo gently cleanses hair of chlorine and salt, while working against free radicals with anti oxidants and protecting with an additional UV filter. This would also be a good one if you swim regularly.
The Sun Protect Spray Conditioner is the real star of the show here. Sprayed onto towel dried hair it detangles, adds elasticity and moisture, guards against humidity and offers UV protection. Personally I still need a regular conditioner before this to avoid the Worzel Gummidge look, but this is a great final step for me and can be topped up between washes.
So your colour has been protected, your hair is deep conditioned, you’re guarded against UV, next up… two finishing treatments.
Nourishing Finishing Treatments
Nourishing oils are huge at the moment - Argan, Moroccan, Macadamia - you name it. I haven’t tried any of those (yet!) but I’m absolutely loving this one…
L’Oreal Mythic Oil came highly recommended from numerous other bloggers, (inc Stina of Chic Beauty Blog & Holly of Yummy Mummy Beauty Blog) - for which I’m so thankful as this has been my favourite hair product since I picked it up a couple of months ago.
Enriched with avocado and grape seed oils, just a few drops of this product warmed in my palms and run through my hair with fingers after washing is enough to defrizz and add shine. It’s as simple as that - no fancy stuff - it just works. Also good to define ends and add gloss to dry hair.
The pump bottle is handy; a spray would = perfection! Mainly because I am lazy and can’t be bothered to wash my hands after using it, but come to think of it, it’s probably doing them some good too.
Last but certainly not least, it’s time to get Naked…
Naked Style Extra Shiny Finishing Serum is another great finishing treatment designed for use on dry hair. Silicone-free, this moisturises and adds instant shine without build up & is great for taming frizzies and flyaways. If I’ve used the Mythic Oil, I wouldn’t usually need this as well, but we all have days when we need a little extra help and this is a lovely easy and economical way to get it!
The cute, chubby little plastic bottle is very lightweight and again comes with a handy pump mechanism.
Prices & Links (incase you’re wondering - I provide links & best prices I can find for your convenience only; none are associates)
BC Bonacure Color Freeze Shampoo £6.36 here (Beauty Bay has 20% off all Bonacure - happy days!)
BC Bonacure Color Freeze Coloured Ends £7.96 here
Lulu & Boo Organics ~ Shea & Jojoba Deep Hair Treatment £10.95 here
BC Bonacure Sun Protect £7.40 here
BC Bonacure Sun Protect Spray Conditioner £8.75 here
L’Oreal Mythic Oil £13.55 here
Naked Extra Shiny Finishing Serum £4.99 here
I really hope this has been helpful - if you have any questions or any tips you’d like to add, please leave a comment below…
some products were samples provided for review
