SICK of travel hair!! arrrrrgh!

[Kirin]

For the Arrrgh, think of a pirate arrrrgh too!

I travel a lot selling my art, usually at Renaissance shows, so hotels, motels, you get the idea. This past weekend I did one in Massachusettes, had a cabin and a camp shower.

Good heavens to Mergatroid, my hair is like dying. After my first shower there, my hair was falling out, the ends felt weird as the get out, and it was flat, lifeless and completely unmanageable. Add in two SCORTCHING hot days way up high in the nineties and 80+ humidity, ....... eghads! I thought the humidity would help moisten up my hair, not a chance!

Finally hope, I only conditioner washed as I think I would cry to see more of my hair just fall out...... what gives with this?? Every time I go away, and today my hair is thrown up in a claw clip and headband as there's just no help for it. I will probably deep treat a trillion times this week, but I'll be back there this coming weekend, and am clueless how to keep this from happening every time I use a "foriegn" shower!

[spidermom]

The only thing I can think of is wash it before you leave and when you return. Or maybe take a couple gallons of water with you.

[Gabriel]

Travelling can be hard on your hair. I travel a lot during different times of the year and to very vastly different tempurate/seasons/weather. My hair does pretty good except when it's windy UGH. I'll usually keep my hair up and protected in a hat or in a neat bun with conditioner on the ends that are tucked under.

Can you try using a leave in conditioner when you know you will be out and in the sun, along with a mister bottle maybe to reactivate the conditioner when it dries?

Maybe get a gallon of water to rinse the conditioner from your hair with when you shower versus using whatever is the motel/hotel/camp water source?

[Islandgrrl]

I second the suggestions already made but have a couple of my own....:)

Before you travel, do an SMT or another deep moisture treatment (or three or four).
Follow all the good rules about damp bunning and oiling so that your ends don't get crispy.
Keep a spritz bottle with distilled water & something moisturizing added to periodically add moisture.
Bun, braid, put on a hat...whatever it takes to keep your hair out of harsh conditions!
Make sure you, yourself stay well hydrated - not so much going to matter to your ends, but at least you'll feel better!

Good luck!

[lady G]

Wow I stared a thread about travelling hair traumas they freak me out, my hair goes mad in foreign climates.

I think its a case of just wear it up and forget about it until you get back to normality thats what I plan to do and keep my hat on in the sun so my hair is all covered.

[Kirin]

I think I will go for the camoflouge route, and only CO maybe when I travel and deal with the short duration of yuckiness with my hair. Anything is preferrable to it drying out and FALLING out argh!

[sibylla]

Adding a vitamin C tablett to the water sometimes helps. I hate holiday hair too!!!I´m so glad I´m at home now.

[snowbird]

I second the recommendation of keeping a spray bottle of water to mist your hair with- esp is you are flying a lot. I just had a transatlantic flight and my ends were dry for about 2 days from it, despite going from one very humid clime to another.

It could also be differences in how hard the water is- if it is really bad you could travel with a brita pitcher or something similar to wash your hair with, likely easier to manage than buying or carrying gallons from home. Though I don't have any personal experience with this, just an idea.

[Little_Bird]

I agree that it may be related to the water. I am in the same boat with you about travelling, I always miss my bathroom so much! And the hair is the first thing to suffer with it... If you can't take water with you, maybe you could try not to wash your hair while you're out, if you're not away for too long that is...

Good luck!

[Kirin]

I would have gone the no wash route but after road dust , sweat, grease and 90+ degree days working I wouldn't be able to stand myself!

So this weekend I tried a different tact, i brought a huge bottle of V05 Calming Tea conditioner, and when i showered i used the size of an egg in my hand and got that in. finished my shower, rinsed, conditioned again, then used only a drop of shampoo on the scalp, rinsed well then a quarter size of conditioner..... and everything went fine!

Since i had to shower twice a day from the dirt and heat, the nightly showers i CO'ed only, and it worked fantastic.

[may1em]

If it makes you feel any better at all, the weather here just got worse the next couple days. Tuesday I felt like I was gonna die and was soo happy when the skies opened in a crazy thunderstorm.

Bringing some of your own water sounds best - in this case I'd guess that the pipes contaminated it. By camp shower, do you mean one of those freestanding things or like what you'd get at outdoor summer camp? Those don't tend to be the greatest.

[busnutmedic]

If you are worried about getting your hair wet so many times in the shower (or if it becomes an issue, as it seems right now you've got it under control with the one wash and then COing at night) you might be able to get a shower cap.

When we go on trips we have our own shower in a bus, but there's nowhere near the *amount* of water available as there is at home, and the water can vary from place to place when we refill. That caused me to give up COing once!

Bonnie