Hi,

Is anybody interested in protecting their hair as well as their skin from the damaging rays of the sun? Now that the weather is warming up, I've begun to think about this, and today I prepared a homemade concotion to protect my hair from excessive drying due to sun exposure.
I took one of my old spritzer bottles, ( if your a hair product freak like me, you'll have lots of these lying around !) and I filled it three quarters ful lwith water. Then I added 4 / 5 drops rosemary oil. I use the rosemary oil that GNC stores in the U.S. sell. Added to that 3 / 4 drops of lavendar oil, and shook it up, then sprayed it on and combed it through.

Voila ! Homemade sunscreen protection. :D

I have never heard of rosemary or lavender having SPF. I tried to google and I did find a site where the Australian government thought that EOs might help to boost the effectiveness of SPF ingredients because of their dispersive qualities.

I didn't say rosemary and lavendar had spfs. :shrug:
They are emollients to keep hair hydrated. If you know of something that can work better, please pass it along.

Thanks.

I wear a hat (baseball cap). That's how I protect my hair if I'm going to be outside in the sun for a long time like a barbecue.

What other ideas are there? I cant stand baseball caps, I just dont like them on for a long time.

You have beautiful hair Saranne. I do use a baseball cap sometimes, but that's only for exercising. For being bare headed, I use my homemade spritz.

Would tea tree oil be a better choice than the rosemary/lavendar combo? :shrug:

I'm open to suggestions. Since this is just a home made treatment, there are no rules. :)

What other ideas are there? I cant stand baseball caps, I just dont like them on for a long time.

Saranne you can cover your bun with a buff or a head scarf and that'll do the trick:thumbsup: Or use a product with UV protection in it like L'oreal color vive(hehe I'm dying for this product,it's so awesome:rockerdud)
A natural way for UV protection is also henna but well it gives color right?:D
Ofcourse oils and keeping hair moistured always help,it might work jera;)

As I understand it, products for hair that claim UV protection do not have an SPF yet.

I have read that you can use sunblock on the scalp and that that you can even use sunblock on the hair.

I think that spray-on sunblocks would be good for the hair - many have moisturizing ingredients in them, and would not be too heavy or greasy on the hair, if wearing a hat - the best protection, IMO, is not wanted.

I bought a light coloured, light weight umbrella and used that, to protect my upper body, on a trip to Arizona.

As I understand it, products for hair that claim UV protection do not have an SPF yet.

That is what I thought also.

I have read that you can use sunblock on the scalp and that that you can even use sunblock on the hair.

I've done this before. Definitely works on scalp, which, if mine is in the sun, parted at all, for any length of time at all, it usually gets terribly burned. Even if I pulled it all back with no part, I will receive burns along the hairline without this. I can't say conclusively whether it protects the actual hair any. I don't think even the large corporations with big research departments can, thus the no SPF for hair products yet.

I think that spray-on sunblocks would be good for the hair - many have moisturizing ingredients in them, and would not be too heavy or greasy on the hair, if wearing a hat - the best protection, IMO, is not wanted.

All ones I have tried have been greasy, heavy, and hard to wash out. Even ones specifically chosen because they were not so on my skin. I haven't tried them all, though. I'd love to find one that isn't.

Riot Crrl

IMO, the biggest difference between products for hair with UV protection and sunblocks is that the hair products are usually designed for conditioning and have very little UV protection in them on the ingredient list.

Sunblocks have the maximum UV protective ingredients in them because that is the only function of the product - conditioning ingredients are secondary.

I think that is why hair products do not have an SPF.

Hair and skin both have keratin. Hair is dead keratin.

The first lip glosses and make-up had low SPF's.

Now you can buy products like that with higher SPF's - the cosmetic companies increased the amounts of UV ingredients in the products and new ways of micronizing them have been developed.

It may be, that increasing the UV ingredients in hair products does something undesireable to the hair, in terms of what you said - washing them out, or makes the hair unmanageable, unless more lubricating ingredients are added to compensate for them - making the hair greasy.

Does anybody know if neutral henna can work as a sunscreen??:shrug: I am looking for a natural and good sunscreen too:)
I was thinking about coconut oil misted in water during the day and plain coconut oil(applied only at the ends) when I go to the beach,what do you girls think?:confused:

I just wear a wide brimmed straw hat when on holiday in the sun it looks fine well i think so and protects my hair and face.


xx

I wanted to know about this too as my hair lightens when under sun for long. I was wondering if I can use a regular sunblock on hair while hiking etc., I am not too keen on caps or scarves. Also I have hennaed my hair for yrs & my hair still lightened & dried when I went out in sun for long.

I recently tried a Buff for the first time, and was quite happy with it - so I ordered a UV protective one. The blurb says that it's made out of Coolmax Extreme fabric 'for faster wicking and drying in a special knitting process - 95% UV protection'. I'd rather wear a Buff than a baseball hat, personally.

My problem is that I cannot wear anything that covers my hair:(,I don't even do it for winter.So... does anybody know any natural receipe to keep our beautiful hair protected for the hot season?:cool:

I've never tried the coconut oil treatment. Having used palm nut oil and alternating with extra virgin olive oil. Nut oils are heavy. Would coconut oil blend in well enough with water to be misted on the hair as a protectant? :confused:

This is why I've been using the rosemary oil, because it's light and diffuses well in water. It acts as a detangling agent as well, which can be more important in the hot summer sun and drying salty beach winds. I added lavendar because rosemary has a strong smell on its own. Not very pleasant :(

That' why i wondered about tea tree oil, which should also be good for the scalp since it's an anti inflammatory. (If I'm not 100% correct about that somebody is sure to let me know it.) :cheese:

This is as far as my thinking takes me at the moment, except.. why not just pour some of your favorite spf moisturizer in a spritzer bottle, add water with or without whatever essential oils you prefer and prepare your own individual sunscreen. There are no rules to this.

After all, I think everybody's hair is as individual as a fingerprint. So it's best to treat it that way. One thing I have learned from reading these boards is that what works for one person may not work for all. But I like all of these good ideas so far.;)

I'm not sure if this will work or not as I have not tried it yet: I know a lady that is a land scaper and she has the fairest milky white skin. I asked her how she stays so light when she is out in the sun all day. She told me that coconut oil is a natural sunblock. Maybe it would work for hair too? :shrug:

My problem is that I cannot wear anything that covers my hair.

How so? I mean, if I want to cover my hair, I have to do it up or do something strange like wear it inside my clothes. I certainly wouldn't get sufficient coverage from a normal hat if I left my hair loose. A wide-brim hat plus a low horizontal bun are often reasonably compatible. A bun under UV-protective fabric like a UV Buff would work well to.

Rice bran oil has a sort of sunsceen in it. But does hair really need protection from the sun?

Hair does get sun damage. I've personally experienced it many times. The problems are various when trying to protect it with product and not a physical barrier though.

First of all, the FDA does not only not recognize SPF for hair products, they don't even recognize a testing process. Some people have done experiments where a human hair sample was less damaged after X minutes in the sun after being coated in Y product, but this is considered too far removed from actual use to be meaningful.

We don't get cancer from sun damage in our hair only, so it's not considered a priority, research and regulation -wise.

In the US companies are not even supposed to list SPF on a product that's only for hair, but they get around it by stating that the SPF is for the scalp.

Coconut and other plant oils have been rumored to have a low SPF, like 2-4. I can't find any research where this was tested. But even if it is true, you would probably have to completely soak your hair in it to get this, and even then it would mean that if you got hair damage after 30 minutes unprotected, you could now go 60-120 minutes with that oil. It's not a foolproof block.

Zinc oxide or titanium oxide might be, but applying and subsequently washing that out of the hair might be sorely worse than sun damage.

A mist of water that is <1% essential oils, is just that, a scented mist. I would hate for anyone to get a false sense of security that it's sun protection.

Physical barrier is really the only thing at this time in technology. Hat, etc. Zinc and titanium oxides are physical barriers, but they might be worse for hair than the sun is.

Hair does get sun damage. I've personally experienced it many times. The problems are various when trying to protect it with product and not a physical barrier though.

First of all, the FDA does not only not recognize SPF for hair products, they don't even recognize a testing process. Some people have done experiments where a human hair sample was less damaged after X minutes in the sun after being coated in Y product, but this is considered too far removed from actual use to be meaningful.

We don't get cancer from sun damage in our hair only, so it's not considered a priority, research and regulation -wise.

In the US companies are not even supposed to list SPF on a product that's only for hair, but they get around it by stating that the SPF is for the scalp.

Coconut and other plant oils have been rumored to have a low SPF, like 2-4. I can't find any research where this was tested. But even if it is true, you would probably have to completely soak your hair in it to get this, and even then it would mean that if you got hair damage after 30 minutes unprotected, you could now go 60-120 minutes with that oil. It's not a foolproof block.

Zinc oxide or titanium oxide might be, but applying and subsequently washing that out of the hair might be sorely worse than sun damage.

A mist of water that is <1% essential oils, is just that, a scented mist. I would hate for anyone to get a false sense of security that it's sun protection.

Physical barrier is really the only thing at this time in technology. Hat, etc. Zinc and titanium oxides are physical barriers, but they might be worse for hair than the sun is.

Thanks a lot for the info Riot Crrl. I recently researched this myself and drew the same conclusion. Physical barrier is the most effective protection. Applying sunblocks on your hair (and removing them later) could be more damaging that actual sunburn.

Nothing you hadn't said already. Just wanted to add the link to this article (http://thebeautybrains.com/2006/06/04/who-is-skeptical-about-sunscreen-in-their-hair-products/) from TBB which sums it up pretty well.

Also, I found out some oils do have some sunblocking properties, thought barely enough to protect skin. For those interested, here's what I read:

Shea butter has an SPF of 6.
Jojoba oil has an SPF of 4.
Sesame oil has an SPF of about 4.
Coconut oil has an SPF of about 4.


So, even though I'm sure your hair will benefit form the misting with EOs and some carrier oils, it will certainly not protect it from the sun. If you are worried about that, wearing a hat or Buff is a much better option.

There's a company that makes clothing that gives better protection from the sun than normal clothes, I don't know if they sell scarves or exactly why they can claim it gives more protection, but if they did and it did, getting a scarf there and using it as a head scarf would be a better bet than any product, imo.

Or even buy something like one of their t-shirts and tie it on there :)

If using a buff that only covers length, it's important to protect any exposed scalp/hairline with something. Applying skin sunscreen to these limited areas should present less of a wash-out problem than saturating all of the hair. I have given myself some nasty part and hairline sunburns :( That can't be too good for the follicles, and it sure isn't good for flakiness while it heals.

I still like the idea of the umbrella. It provides some protection - barrier wise.

There are umbrellas with special fabric to keep out more UV.

There's a company that makes clothing that gives better protection from the sun than normal clothes, I don't know if they sell scarves or exactly why they can claim it gives more protection, but if they did and it did, getting a scarf there and using it as a head scarf would be a better bet than any product, imo.

Now that you mention it, I remember a clothing company that made bathing suits that had LESS protection form the sun so you ould "tan through" your swimsuit.
Just thought I'd share. :P