As much as we all crave ‘beach hair’ (you’re saying you’ve never taken a photo of Candice, Miranda or Doutzen a la plage into the hairdressers?), all that sea, sun and surf isn’t so great for your locks. Beachy texture often means salt and chlorine giving your hair that undone, messy-wavy feel – which is all fun and games for a day or two, but when you get home and realise you can’t get a comb through it? Less fun. The extreme heat and swimming in the sea can be incredibly dehydrating for your hair, especially if you regularly use heat tools or have coloured your hair (so, all of us then).
Luckily, the right kit will help your hair handle what the holiday’s about to throw at it. We spoke to Sophie Ruggiero, System Professional Expert and champion of their new EnergyCodeTM concept, who’s seen more cases of ‘holiday hair’ than you have air miles. Read on for her expert tips on how to keep things manageable this summer…
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1 Be prepared
Knowledge is power here. How can you expect to protect your locks when you don’t know what could possibly harm them? As Sophie explained, ‘Obviously lots of people know that chlorine’s not good for coloured hair, but it actually goes a lot further than that. In reality, a cocktail of everything fun about your vacay can wreck your hair! As much as we all love a holiday, our hair doesn't always. The combination of heat, sun, chlorine and salt water gives us that "holiday" hair – and by that, I mean drier, faded, damaged and tangled locks.’
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2 Use SPF
We all know the importance of using sunscreen to protect our skin from burning – and also, from wrinkles and sun spots – but did you know your hair and scalp needs protecting, too? ‘Strong UVB rays penetrate the hair and damage the proteins of hair such as keratin. Keratin is the main building block of your hair, so when you weaken that, you’ll notice more breakage, and colour fade,’ explained Sophie. ‘SPF is really important to avoid burning your scalp. This can be so painful and weaken the hair at the root area. The best protection for our hair comes from UVA/UVB filters just like for your skin. Within System Professional we have an amazing choice of sun products for all hair types. These filters will help prevent damage to the inner structure and surface of our hair, preventing weakened areas and colour fade. Always use a sun protection product like the System Professional Solar Helio-Spray before going into the sun and water, and remember to top up with product throughout the day,’ noted Sophie.
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3 Colour before
With everything we’ve just told you, you might think colouring your hair before you go away isn’t worth it, right? Well, not exactly. Over to Sophie: ‘It's not bad to colour before a holiday as long as you’re looking after your hair. We all want to look our best on holiday, so it's always important to have a colour-saving and protecting treatment before you jet off – it’ll help you minimise damage to your hair while you’re away. Most colour care products contain UV filters but it's worth checking with your stylist, as you can always purchase something additional to make your colour look as fresh as the moment it was coloured.’ The EnergyCode™ Solaris range is ideal for this – there’s everything from shampoo and conditioner to oil and a styling spray.
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4 Cut after
Okay, we understand that you want your hair to be its swishiest best for your Cancun/Bahamas/Maldives/Croatia snaps – but you’d actually be better off saving the big chop for after your trip. ‘No matter how careful you are, you’re always going to get a bit of damage if you like swimming in the sea. A haircut and treatment in salon when you get back home will ensure all the weakened hair and split ends are treated properly – and will enhance how fabulous you look after that well-needed break! When it comes to treatments, your hair will need lots of moisture and something repairing to rebuild the inner structure of the hair,’ said Sophie. It’s better to wait until after your trip and then have a bit of an MOT cut so to speak – something to sort out all the dry ends and get your hair feeling thick and nourished again.
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5 Deep cleanse
As tempting as it might be to keep piling on the dry shampoo and not washing while you’re away, a really good clean is exactly what your hair will be crying out for after a long, sun-soaked day. ‘Removing chlorine and salt from the hair is so important,’ began Sophie, ‘Leaving any residue can damage the hair, so use a shampoo that both cleanses the chlorine and salt from the hair whilst still caring for the hair. I always recommend and use System Professional Solar Shampoo – not only is this product packed full of care qualities, it also gently removes build-up. Always follow it with a repairing conditioner to mend the sun damage and to continuously protect. I personally use the Repair Mask by System Professional which intensively strengthens and rebuilds, but System Professional’s Solar Conditioner is designed for holiday hair.’
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6 Arm yourself
When we asked Sophie if there was only one thing we could do to prevent holiday hair, she said…’Products, products, products!’ That’s right – all these UV-filtering, colour-protecting, deep-cleansing products exist for a reason – to help you maintain your best-ever hair. ‘If you have a regime you’re happy with then make sure you take those products with you and add a mask treatment and specialist sun products to your luggage. If not, then ask your stylist for specific sun products to help maintain the health of your hair. “Personally, my perfect holiday regime is H1 + R3 + SOL4: Hydrate shampoo for moisture, Repair mask to treat my hair and the Solar Sun Oil for smoothness and UV protection. System Professional products are designed to work together so I can mix and match them to address all hair needs. This helps to prevent damage from the sun and chlorine, gives me soft, shiny and conditioned hair and works as a sun treatment!’
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7 Style it out
Let’s face it – wearing your hair down all day in a tropical climate isn’t the one. Sticky neck, greasy hair…need we go on? Turns out, how you style your hair isn’t just a comfort thing on holiday – it can actually help protect your hair, too. As Sophie explained, ‘Loosely plaiting your hair or tying in a loose twisted bun will look stylish, and also prevent the hair from being too sun damaged and tangled [ed note: we love Invisibobbles for tying the hair without breakage]. Always use a wide tooth comb to gently comb your hair free from tangles, and do keep topping up your hair’s protection throughout the day and you’ll notice a huge difference in the manageability of your hair,’ advised Sophie.