Beach Hair?

[Gibson_Girl]

Beach season being well and truly upon us in the northern hemisphere, I wanted to ask what you do to your hair if/when you go to the beach. Oil? Braids? Sunscreen? Big hats? Has anyone found a style that's wind- and wave-proof? (If you have, tell me your secrets!) Also, how do you take care of your hair when you get back from your day of sun, beach water, and sand?

I tend to start my excursion in a braid, which I undo if it gets too loose...thus resigning myself to the fact that I'll be washing sand out of my hair for a week.

[Glitch]

Sunscreen for sure, followed by a hat (preferably a nice and big sun hat, but an average dad hat is still better than nothing). If it's salt water and I'll be anywhere near it, my hair will 100% wave out in a basically uncontrollable way into its own strong pattern and there's nothing I can do it about it :p This never happens anywhere else in the world, other than in salty open water. So, I just tend to wear it down at the beach/ocean. If I braid it or keep it in a ponytail, it'll all get stuck into itself as my hair waves out from the moisture and/or ocean waves. If this were some regular swimming pool or something, I'd definitely keep it bunned though. I also try to avoid any product like oils on the beach, because I'll just end up cooked/deep fried! Many lessons were learned during my Hawaii trip... with several sunburns I took home with me as year-long souvenirs. :rolling:

[Joules]

Depends on how much time I'm spending on the beach. Hair has to be in a French braid or in a bun for sure, preferably oiled. I don't wear hats because I hate them, plus I don't really sunbathe or anything, I don't come out of the sea at all (yes, sometimes it means I'm just floating there for 6+ hours), so what's the point of a hat? ��

Also washing with shampoo and a good mask afterwards is absolutely a must. Salty hair tangles and dries out a lot.

[lapushka]

Oooh the beach, that was so long ago for me. I used to wear a hat (well those things with a hole, the eighties anyone LOL), sunscreen and my hair up in a simple high braided ponytail.

[knobbly]

I have a straw hat two sizes two big. When I’m spending the whole day in the sun I’ll make a coronet braid and then put my hat on. It fits pretty well but there’s also a chin strap in case of wind. Sometimes I’ll put a bandanna between hair and hat but often not. You’d think the hat would pull hairs out and create friction but it’s pretty snug on there and it mostly doesn’t unless I’m taking it off and on a lot. Which I don’t when I’m in the sun for long periods.

Happy beaching! :sun:

ETA the above is what I’d do if I wasn’t getting my hair wet. I have to admit that I don’t do anything special when I’m swimming in the ocean, it happens so rarely. I probably should wet it with fresh water prior to swimming in salt water (or a chlorine pool for that matter, but I always do this because I hate chlorine lol) so that my hair doesn’t absorb much salt and dry out. But I don’t oil or put any special conditioner or product in my hair prior to swimming.

[rosenester]

I researched a handful of old threads before my first beach visit of the season and found some good tips. Previous years I’ve left it loose, brushed it on the beach, changed styles throughout the day, attempted to rinse at the showers provided, brought a detangler with me…. These did not work, I had a lot of breakage from just one day.

This year, I settled on the following beach routine:
Wide brim visor
High ponytail
Wet thoroughly & soak with conditioner at home
Braid and fasten with elastic
Bun the braid and secure with medium claw clips
I attempted to leave it be for the whole day, but released the bun for an hour or so to let the braid dry a bit and bunned again

At home, I gently undid the braid & went straight into the shower, clarified and used a mask, applied a second conditioner and detangled in the shower drenched in conditioner. Hair felt great and no extra breaks or splits during the following weeks S&D

I do not use elastics regularly, but didn’t want to get my scrunchies salty.

[spidermom]

For me, the most protective thing has been generous application of a coney serum, snug braiding, and washing my hair when I'm done with sun, pool, sea, and sand for the day. Oh, and a wide-brimmed hat.

[lithostoic]

Braids sometimes and I ALWAYS over moisturize first.

[SandyBottom]

I wear a satin bonnet with my hair loose or bunned inside. Depending on how I feel, I will a) mist it with rosemary tea, b)wet it down with warm water and conditioner, or c) oil it. If I'm going to go boogie boarding I will transfer to a swim cap (more to protect from knots and breakage than getting wet). If I'm just going in for a dip or 10, it's bunned. If that bun comes out...it's loose and makes me feel all mermaidy. I used to delay showering after the beach just because I love that salty feeling and the smell of the ocean but now that I'm trying to be a bit more responsible with my hair, I will shower when I get home. After a creepy incident last summer at the beach shower I rarely use them anymore. A guy wouldn't let me operate the shower myself and insisted on pressing the water button for me. I ended up walking away without showering but almost yelled, "PERV ALERT!" and would have if I hadn't been so close to my car. I didn't want him to retaliate. Creep.

[knobbly]

Ugh gross, I’m sorry you had that experience, SandyBottom.

[SandyBottom]

Thanks, knobbly. He creeped me out so much! It was a good lesson though, because I think that's about the only time I've ever felt put on alert/threatened by a guy over my hair. I never thought about that being a thing and it made me be more aware that not everyone has nice intentions.

[shelomit]

I swim a lot in fresh water this time of year. I haven't figured out a single thing that keeps my hair from getting crunchy after it dries ) : I do think that wetting my hair down with tap water before I head to the pond makes the process of shampooing it afterwards a little easier. This is despite the fact that my local pond has fairly soft and clean water. I usually just wear a single braid; anything else gets messy to detangle after swimming.

[Gibson_Girl]

I also swim in fresh water, shelomit--and the crunchy hair struggle is real :) I've given up on trying to prevent it before I go to the lake--I just condition the daylights out of it when I'm done.

[shelomit]

I also swim in fresh water, shelomit--and the crunchy hair struggle is real :) I've given up on trying to prevent it before I go to the lake--I just condition the daylights out of it when I'm done.

Yeah. . . I find my hair unusually difficult to detangle after swimming, but I also love swimming, so I just grit my teeth and deal with it.

[cestlavie]

I always put some kind of oil/hair cream in my hair before braiding and bunning it, secured with a clip or acrylic stick. It really helps with tangles afterwards. I make sure I wash my hair with shampoo, conditioner/mask, leave-in spray and an oil to bring it back to life after a day at the beach. A wide brim sun hat and some kind of scarf are a must for me.