Lifeguard hair help!

[marvel-lover]

Hello everyone! As everyone can tell by my profile picture, I'm a lifeguard year-round. But in the summer, I move outdoors in addition to my indoor facility to a water park run by my city. It's always fun.

The problem is, I don't know how to save my hair in the summer! This is my first summer really trying to take care of my hair. So, I have the following questions, and I would really appreciate any answers that you can give me.

1. What hairstyles could work for me? I usually have my hair in a disc bun with an acrylic stick at work, but at the water park, it's pretty much unavoidable that I'll have to get my hair wet. It's not always by choice; I frequently have to jump from 6 feet high chairs into water to make rescues (sometimes upwards of 6 times a day), and they usually involve swimming a distance to get to them, and sometimes frightened children grabbing at my head/hair (survival reflex). I'd do a braid, but I want my hair protected, and I have sunscreen all down my back. Plus, my hair would fall out of the braid as soon as it gets wet. I also have to be ready to run with a 50+ pound jumpbag across the water park when a medical emergency inevitably happens, and I don't want my hair in the way as I'm running or trying to treat someone, whether it is just a simple first aid on my breaks, or a full-blown emergency.

2. How can I protect my hair? As mentioned, I'm almost always getting my hair wet at work, and I work 10 hour shifts. That's 10 hours of me sitting in the sun, chlorine in my hair, with sunscreen all over me. What can I do to save it?

3. Following question 2, I'm in the sun a ton. Now, I know how to protect my skin from the sun (I'm incredibly fair skinned and burn like no other!) but I don't know how to protect my hair from the UV rays. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks everyone for your input! I really don't know what to do!

[Andthetalltrees]

I think all of those issues could be helped by a swim cap and a loose bun or something like Heidi braids inside of it.

[marvel-lover]

I think all of those issues could be helped by a swim cap and a loose bun or something like Heidi braids inside of it.

We aren't allowed to wear swim caps in the chair, or else I totally would. Thank you for your advice!

[Tosca]

A tucked French braid might work for keeping your hair tidy.

Would you be allowed to wear something like this: https://www.capsters.com/swim.jsp ? I googled "swimming hijab" and that was the first result. You could probably wear a hat on top to make it more discreet if you wanted.

[Kellylee]

I would get my hair wet in the morning apply conditioner or coconut oil and French braid it. French braids will hold a lot better and the conditioner or coconut oil will create a barrier between the hair and water. I would also look into a shampoo that removes chlorine because it's damaging and most shampoos are not made to remove it.

[Alex Lou]

French braids sound good, or just one so it's completely out of the way.

I swim with my hair in a bun secured with 1 spin pin. I don't do anything so strenuous as you but I do dive under waves, etc. In your situation, I would probably add another spin pin, for 2 total, then the bun doesn't budge no matter what. But the trick to a secure bun for me is getting the initial bun kinda self-secured. My buns will hold themselves up for a few hours and I often skip the spin pin if I'm not at work or doing something strenuous.

[Naliade]

To help with the uva and uvb rays, there are some products that act like sunscreen to the hair! Last year I bought one from schwarzkopf, and the year before that I bought one from Kiko (the cosmetic brand). Later I will search and post links!

[timeschild]

I would also see about getting swimmers shampoo it is supposed to help take the chlorine out and keep it from
Turning green.

[marvel-lover]

A tucked French braid might work for keeping your hair tidy.

Would you be allowed to wear something like this: https://www.capsters.com/swim.jsp ? I googled "swimming hijab" and that was the first result. You could probably wear a hat on top to make it more discreet if you wanted.

I'd have to ask if I'm allowed to wear something like that it the chair. I'm positive my employers would allow me to if it were for religious reasons, but as I'm not particularly religious (and they know that) they might not let me. Thank you for the advice!


I would get my hair wet in the morning apply conditioner or coconut oil and French braid it. French braids will hold a lot better and the conditioner or coconut oil will create a barrier between the hair and water. I would also look into a shampoo that removes chlorine because it's damaging and most shampoos are not made to remove it.

I usually use a spray bottle with water and conditioner combined and spray down my hair. Would that do the same thing? Thank you for your advice!


French braids sound good, or just one so it's completely out of the way.

I swim with my hair in a bun secured with 1 spin pin. I don't do anything so strenuous as you but I do dive under waves, etc. In your situation, I would probably add another spin pin, for 2 total, then the bun doesn't budge no matter what. But the trick to a secure bun for me is getting the initial bun kinda self-secured. My buns will hold themselves up for a few hours and I often skip the spin pin if I'm not at work or doing something strenuous.
My hair is very heavy, and spin pins (even 2 at a time) rarely hold it up for longer than an hour before it starts falling out. I'm also nervous that, with the rigorous water, my hair might become further tangled into the spin pin and I might rip my hair out when I go to take the bun down. Thank you for the advice!


To help with the uva and uvb rays, there are some products that act like sunscreen to the hair! Last year I bought one from schwarzkopf, and the year before that I bought one from Kiko (the cosmetic brand). Later I will search and post links!
Links would be wonderful! Thank you!

I would also see about getting swimmers shampoo it is supposed to help take the chlorine out and keep it from
Turning green.
I always worry about chlorine staining my hair, especially since I'm blonde. The swimming shampoo that I've used in the past has been just so drying! I will definitely keep looking for better ones. Thank you for the advice!

[Arctic]

This shampoo has always seemed nice to me, although I don't have personal experiences: https://www.malibuc.com/products/cn/22209/Malibu-C-Swimmers-Wellness-Shampoo

I guess you could use a sun screens meant for skin on hair too, depending on the ingredients. I recall seeing people do that.

[rusika1]

Maybe you could tell them it's for sun protection; your doctor says hair by itself is not enough to protect your scalp from damage.

[Kellylee]

I would get a cheap conditioner with silicones I would recommend 3 minute miracle and do a decent coating then throughout the day use the water mixture. The best advice I can give you is always get all the chlorine out with a swimmers shampoo. I hope this helps😁

[Lady Stardust]

Are Philip Kingsley products available near you? One of his products is called Swimcap, it's a thick cream that you put through your hair before you swim and it's supposed to provide protection. I used to use it but can't say for sure how protective it was as I often blow dried my hair after swimming so it dried out anyway! It certainly didn't do any harm. It's expensive though.

[Fairyfern]

I've been swimming about 3-4 times a week for a couple of months now and so far my routine has been working.
I start by putting coconut or baobab oil in my hair and maybe shea after on the ends.
Then I braid my hair tightly and soak it in the shower.
I use two swim caps but as that's not an option maybe try a hat to protect your roots?
Then after I wash and condition my hair normally and use vitamin c powder (Also known as salicylic acid) diluted in tap water (I have soft water)
I use a drinking bottle with maybe two teaspoons diluted in it and it neutralizes the chlorine while vitamin c helps your skin.
This seems to be working for me so I really hope it helps!

[Arctic]

I've been swimming about 3-4 times a week for a couple of months now and so far my routine has been working.
I start by putting coconut or baobab oil in my hair and maybe shea after on the ends.
Then I braid my hair tightly and soak it in the shower.
I use two swim caps but as that's not an option maybe try a hat to protect your roots?
Then after I wash and condition my hair normally and use vitamin c powder (Also known as salicylic acid) diluted in tap water (I have soft water)
I use a drinking bottle with maybe two teaspoons diluted in it and it neutralizes the chlorine while vitamin c helps your skin.
This seems to be working for me so I really hope it helps!

The bolded part: Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.

[stachelbeere]

Hello, I've got two ideas:
1. (Not vegan) Knoxing your hair. Goggle it, it's basically what synchronized swimmers do to keep their hairstyles in place when doing their elaborate routines in the water. Might be a bit labour intensive and on 2nd thought not ideal for hot weather as the gelatine might melt...?
2. I swim in a pool on a regular basis and wash my hair with a swimmer's shampoo. It's really drying but I make sure I always condition and my hair is doing alright. It also helps when I apply plenty of coconut oil beforehand.

Hope this helps!

[Fairyfern]

The bolded part: Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.

Ah cheers Arctic-should have checked with google :rolleyes:

[Arctic]

Ah cheers Arctic-should have checked with google :rolleyes:

No problems! I had to check the spelling with google too , he he!

[Arctic]

Marvel, any updates?

[marvel-lover]

Hi everyone! Thanks again for the wonderful advice! Even if I haven't responded to this thread, I always read your posts and really consider them. So thanks again!

I am on the second week of the season, and so far I've been using a lot of braids to keep my hair in order. When I go to chairs that have a higher rescue potential, I tuck the braid up, and make sure it is incredibly secure. When I go to chair with little to no rescue potential, I either leave my braid as it is, or else pull my hair into a disc bun with my acrylic stick. However, I do want to add that I wore my hair in a disc bun with a stick during training once (forgot to take it out before hand) and I did a practice passive submerged rescue at the bottom of a 12.5 foot pool, and my hair stayed put, which was awesome! :cheese:

As for the sun, I looked into sunscreen and hair. It turns out that there are "recipes" out there to keep your hair safe from the sun. I mixed a tiny bit of SPF50, olive oil, conditioner, and chamomile tea together to protect my hair from the sun. It feels healthy and not dried out at all! The highlights are a definitely a bonus. My facility is strict on the type of hats we are allowed to wear, and to be honest, I love the feeling of sun in my hair, so I prefer not having to wear a blue baseball cap that could damage my roots (they aren't very good hats. I don't know where my facility got them from) and letting myself enjoy the vitamin D.

[Kellyy]

I'm kind of surprised they don't allow you to wear hats or swim caps when the sun is so damaging. Anytime I go out in the sun for long periods of time, I usually put some kind of oil all over my hair. I use coconut oil because it apparently has a natural SPF to protect from the sun. So I usually give myself a nice scalp massage with the oil and focus on the ends of my hair. Then, I'd put my hair in some style (like a bun) where my part isn't showing (I find that my part gets burned easily when I forget to put my hair up or put oil in it). As for always getting your hair in the chlorine water, I don't know what I'd do. That must be super damaging to always have to be washing your hair to get the chlorine out. I'd just be doing oil treatments very often!!