Whether you’re going out to the beach, picnicking at the park, walking around your town, hiking in the woods, sunbathing in the backyard, lazing around the pool, working in the garden, or doing some other activities outside, it is important to know how to protect your hair when spending time outdoors.
Our hair is exposed to environmental elements any time we step outside the house. The sun’s heat, UV rays, dust, wind, water (from sweat, humidity, rain, water bodies, or splashes), sand, grass, smoke, and other air pollutants can all damage your hair when you’re outdoors.
But you shouldn’t let worries about your hair keep you from enjoying fun outdoor activities or going about your everyday routine.
If you want to spend time outside but are worried about your hair getting frizzy, dirty, or tangled, developing split ends, breaking, shrinking, or a particular hairstyle getting ruined, this article has got you covered. We shall discuss some of the best ways to protect your hair while outdoors. Read on…
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How to Protect Your Hair When Spending Time Outdoors
- Cover your head
Covering your hair with something like a scarf, sun hat, beanie, baseball cap, or your jacket hood is one of the easiest ways to protect your hair from the elements, especially the sun, dust, and smoke, whenever you’re outdoors.
- Wear your hair in a bun
A lot of people prefer to wear their hair loose for aesthetic appeal or a sense of freedom. However, this hairstyle is not protective. It exposes all your hair to environmental elements, especially wind, which can make it tangle and develop split ends, and the sun.
When spending time outside, try to keep your hair, or at least most of it, hidden, out of your face or away from your upper body. Wearing your hair in a bun or several buns will protect it from friction, breakage, tangles, sweat, and dirt.
However, the bun shouldn’t be too tight, as that will be counterproductive.
- Bring an umbrella
Whether it’s rainy or sunny, you should carry an umbrella if you’ll be spending time outdoors. It can also help on windy days.
On rainy days, use a strong umbrella to protect your hair from the rainwater that would ruin your hairstyle, make your hair shrink, cause frizz, and deposit air pollutants onto your head.
Bring an umbrella on sunny days to provide shade from the sun and protect your hair from the harmful UV rays.
- Use heat protestant spray
Just like you need sunscreen to protect your skin from the sun’s UV rays, your hair needs protection too. The sun can be as damaging to your hair as heat styling tools, making it dry and brittle.
Since you may not want to cover your head all the time or perhaps you live in a sunny place all year round, use a hair protection spray before going outdoors. It will protect your hair from direct sun exposure, prevent frizz, and keep hair moisturized, soft, and shiny.
Some of the most recommended heat protectant sprays for hair include;
- L’Oreal Paris Sleek It Heat Spray
- Mizani Style Shifter Heat Protection Spray
- Kenra Platinum Heat Protectant Spray
- Don’t lie down directly on grass or other outdoor surfaces
Want to lie down on the sand or grass while outdoors? Don’t do it unless your hair is protected.
Your hair may come into contact with or collect soil, sand, bugs, or grass and leaf debris that not only make your hair dirty but can also irritate your scalp. Additionally, lying directly on these surfaces may cause friction, which could result in hair breakage, tangles, and single-strand knots.
Some things you should do to protect your hair when lying down on grass, soil, or sand outside include covering your hair and lying down on a blanket, piece of cloth, or a pillow.
- Keep your hair clean
Depending on the outdoor activities you engage in and how dirty your hair is, you should wash your hair at least twice a week. However, don’t wash it too often or over-shampoo it because shampoo dries out your hair and scalp, making your hair brittle and prone to breakage, while your scalp could become easily irritated, itchy, and flaky.
If you have to wash your hair often, opt to co-wash it or use dry shampoos.
- Use leave-in conditioner with UV protection
After washing your hair, it is important to apply leave-in conditioner. If you want to spend time outdoors, ensure you use a leave-in conditioner that has UV protection. Just like sunscreen for your skin, leave-in conditioner with SPF will protect your hair from the sun’s damaging UV rays, keeping it healthy and moisturized.
Since it is a leave-in conditioner, you don’t have to rinse it off, and it will make your hair easier to manage for long periods. It will soften your hair, make it smooth, reduce frizz, and ease the detangling process, making your hair not only easy to style but also less prone to breakage and split ends.
Some of the best-rated leave-in conditioners with SPF include;
- Sun Bum revitalizing 3 in 1 Leave-in Conditioner with UV Protection
- Stream2Sea’s Leave-in Conditioner with UV Protection
- Moroccanoil All in One Leave-in Conditioner
Note that the best leave-in conditioner for you depends on your hair type.
- Moisturize your hair
The drier your hair is, the more likely it is to break. To protect your hair while outdoors, moisturize it often so it can withstand the effects of sun exposure.
If you intend to spend time outside, you can use a hydrating shampoo, leave-in conditioner, hair serum, hair cream, and natural oils for hair, such as avocado, coconut, jojoba, or argan oil, to keep your hair moisturized.
Using a hair mask and deep conditioning your hair once a week can also help add moisture to your hair and lock it in, and also repair hair damage.
- Trim your hair
Shorter hair is easier to manage, hence trimming your hair when you will be spending time outside can help. A trim will also enable you to get rid of split ends and fairy knots, so your hair is healthier.
- Braid your hair
If you have long hair, you probably have the experience of your hair flying every which way in the wind or getting dry and brittle because of the sun. Before heading outdoors, braid your hair to reduce sun exposure, limit daily hair manipulation, minimize friction on the strands, and prevent tangles.
There are many cute protective braided hairstyles for every race.
With braids, you won’t have to worry too much about a particular hairstyle getting ruined while you engage in fun activities outside. However, ensure the braids aren’t too tight or too heavy as that could lead to traction alopecia, headaches, and sleep problems.
Tips: If you’re a Black person, don’t leave your braids in for too long, as it may lead to matting, lint or product buildup, and hair breakage. Moisturize your scalp every 2 to 3 days, use mousse to control frizz, and take your braids down in 4 to 6 weeks, or earlier, depending on your hair type, hair growth rate, and how dirty or messy your hair has gotten when spending time outside.
READ ALSO >>> Braided Baldie Designs: 30 Different Bald Head Braids Hairstyles
- Eat well
Did you know that what you eat affects hair health? A balanced, nutritious diet will do wonders for your hair’s overall health, promoting growth, strength, moisturization, and shine.
Since your hair is exposed to harsh conditions when you’re spending time outdoors, protect it by eating well. Include foods such as spinach, chicken, berries, Greek yogurt, eggs, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, oysters, avocados, seeds, and nuts in your balanced diet.
- Wear a swim cap
Water can damage your hair or make it shrink. If the outdoor activities you want to do involve water, especially if it is chlorine water, salty water, or any water whose composition is unknown, protect your hair by wearing a swim cap.
- Stay in the shade
Protect your hair from the sun’s UV rays and heat however you can. When you have to be outdoors for a long time, spend some of that time in shaded areas, such as under an umbrella, in a cabana, under the trees, on the patio, or in a gazebo.
- Avoid chemical treatments
When intending to spend time outside in hot weather a lot, for instance, in summer, go easy on chemical treatments, such as hair dyes, relaxers, and hair styling products with toxic chemicals.
Chemical treatments are already harsh on hair, stripping it of its natural oils, thereby making it dry, brittle, and prone to breakage. Combine that with the sun’s damaging effects on hair.
- Avoid too-tight hairstyles and hair accessories
Another good way to protect your hair when spending time outside is to avoid hairstyles and hair accessories that are too constricting. For instance, avoid too-tight ponytails, buns, or braids, and too-tight head wraps, hair clips, headbands, or scarves. They are not only uncomfortable and damaging to your hair and hairline, but may also trap sweat, leading to an itchy and irritated scalp.
- Drink water
Just like plants, your hair needs water; otherwise, it dries out. Since you’ll be spending time outside where the sun may dry your hair out, protect your hair by drinking water before heading out or while outdoors.
Drinking water helps a lot with hair health. It will keep your hair strands and scalp hydrated, preventing dryness that could cause scalp itching, dandruff, hair breakage, and hair dullness.
Additionally, water helps flush out toxins, improving general body health, thus scalp and hair health.
- Be careful with hair products
You may be tempted to use generous amounts of hair oils and creams, thinking they will moisturize and protect your hair while outdoors. But doing that may cause more harm.
Some hair products attract pollutants such as dust, lint, and pollen. Using too much hair oil and creams will increase the amount of pollutants that get attached to and build up in your hair.
- Avoid heat styling tools
If you’re going outdoors in hot weather, reduce the use of hair heat styling tools such as blow dryers, hot combs, curling irons, or straightener brushes. The sun’s heat is already too much for your hair. Adding more heat by using heat styling tools will add to the damage that sun exposure causes to your hair when you’re outside.
If you have to use these heat tools, apply a heat protectant before starting the process. You can also opt for more natural hairstyles when going outside on sunny days.
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Wrapping Up
Your hair is your crown. Protect it at all costs. We hope the above tips for protecting hair while spending time outside were helpful.
Don’t let worries about your hair getting dirty, messy, or damaged keep you from enjoying your time out in the sun (or rain). You now know how to protect your hair when outdoors.
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