Tips for hair care this summer

Summers need not mean bad hair days. If you are alert enough and do the right thing for your hair, the stresses can well look great even in the sultriest days.

- Protect your hair from UV: A cream or spray that protects the strands from UV is a good idea. It is especially advisable when you sport coloured hair that needs prevention from fading. However, if this makes your hair sticky then just consider covering your hair thoroughly with a thick scarf when you go out to protect your beautiful tresses from pollution and sun.

- Rinse your hair with freshwater before a swim: If you thoroughly rinse your hair with freshwater just before a dip into the pool, the scalp and hair cells won’t absorb as much salt water. The result is less damaged hair. If there is no shower or bath nearby then keep a spray bottle of freshwater handy. Water from packaged mineral water is ideal.

- Skip the hot tools. At least once or twice a week, give your hair a break from blow dryers, flat irons, and curling irons. They are a sure way to have long split ends especially in summers when the temperatures soar anyway.

- Dealing with dandruff: Dandruff is common in summers due to sweat. Soak one tea spoon of fenugreek (methi) seeds overnight and apply the paste of the seed thoroughly on the scalp in the morning. Cucumber being rich in silicon sulphur is also helpful giving you relief from dandruff and the resulting hair loss. But make sure you apply them separately.

- Say No to heat on hair: Dread hot showers. Always use warm or cool water to take a head bath during summers. Heat is an enemy to your pretty mane. Also, use a moisturizing shampoo during these hot days rather than the normal shampoo.

- Compensate it with nutrition: Today, due to pollution there is no way you can protect your hair from damage cent percent. So, a great way is to compensate the damage with ample nutrition. This can also speed up re-growth if you do experience hair fall due to vagaries of summers.

Spinach is highly recommended – it’s rich in folate and iron. So, this increases red blood cell production encouraging growth. Lentils are good too, proteins assist cell growth and rejuvenation in any part of the body.