To quote Marilyn Monroe from There’s No Business Like Show Business:
“We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave
Temperature is rising it isn’t surprising…”
I don’t think I need to tell you any other way, kids – July is HOT.
Whereas we had a cool June, July has more than made up for it. We are in the depths of summer, folks! And whether you believe it is the heat or the humidity, the rising temperatures have us all seeking some relief.
One of the most popular ways to cool off is to head to our local pools. Nothing is more refreshing in 90 degree plus heat than a head to toe plunge.
Swimming is the third most popular sport throughout the world for the simple reason that anyone can do it. It also increases flexibility and burns calories. There’s also the social aspect that the pool provides (thespruce.com).
I remember spending quite a bit of my childhood challenging my cousins to races, flips and cannonball contests at our local pool while my parents caught up with my aunts and uncles. It truly is a beneficial to all individuals type of activity, whether 3, 33, 63 or 93. Everyone benefits from a dip in the pool – well almost everyone….
Anyone who remembers swimming as a child, most likely also remembers the green meanies. The lovely swamp colored hue our hair took on after spending hours upon hours in a pool.
Those with flaxen strands are more susceptible to a puce (that’s a shade of green) colored mane however everyone could benefit from a little preventative hair TLC.
And I so dutifully volunteer to serve as your lovely lock saving lifeguard – rescuing you from pool induced tangles and unwanted olive tinged ends.
First up, a little back story – green hair is caused by minerals that occur in chlorinated water. Copper is one of those minerals.
The best example of this is Lady Liberty. She was gifted to us by the French and is actually made of copper. But what color do we know her as? Green! This is what happens when that metal oxidizes.
In pool water, the copper bonds with the chlorine in the pool and those molecules will bond to the hair strand. Factor that in with sunlight and you have a perfect recipe for Kermit colored strands. Gotta love science!
My grandmother always used to say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care. I never understood what that meant as a child, but now as an adult it makes sense. If you spend a few minutes taking preventative measures, you avoid a big mess at the end. Thanks for that life preserver, Grandma.
The same could be said for fighting off the green meanies in hair. Purchase a regular spray bottle and fill it up with some filtered water. Before you go to the pool, completely saturate your hair with the filtered water and braid it, bun it, ponytail it – whatever floats your boat. This prevention method fills your hair with fresh water, leaving little to no room for the hair to soak up the chlorine and other minerals in the pool.
You could even take this one step further by coating the wet hair with conditioner (I like Aveda’s After Sun Care Masque). This then makes your hair strand like a duck feather. Ducks are oily birds and rarely spend any time drying off since their feathers naturally repel the water. Same can now be said for your hair!
Be sure to pack both items in your pool bag and reapply as you feel the hair start to dry. Easy peasy prevention!
If you just got home from the pool and forgot your spray bottle of filtered water, hop in the shower with a bottle of chelating shampoo. A chelating shampoo gently encourages the mineral deposits in the hair to bond with it, ensuring that it rinses out of the hair and down the drain.
Aveda’s Sun Care Hair and Body Cleanser is FAAAAAAABULOUS for this. It gently gets out the copper and chlorine deposits, but leaves the hair feeling soft and not stripped. It also helps rinse all the chlorine from the body as well.
Its sweet orange tinged scent will leave you feeling fresh as a summer breeze too.
Summer’s here so let’s get out and enjoy it! Take a dip without worry and look hot while you stay cool – and may the only green you see be the garnish in your drink.
