The anti-salt trick hairdressers always slip into your beach bag to protect your hair in summer
Every summer, the sea, sun and heat put hair through its paces. Yet protecting your hair in summer requires neither complicated products nor endless rituals. A few simple gestures, recommended by expert hairdressers, are all it takes to keep your hair silky from beach to evening.
Rinse, wash less often and reverse the routine
The non-negotiable reflex after the beach: rinse your hair thoroughly, then apply a rehydrating treatment. That way, salt and chlorine don’t have time to dry out the hair fibre.
It’s also better to wash your hair only about every three days. Parisian hairdresser Etienne Sekola suggests reversing the usual routine: “Apply a light shampoo directly over the conditioner, focusing only on the roots.”
Another option worth rediscovering: co-washing, which means washing your hair with a conditioner instead of a conventional shampoo. This technique preserves the hair fibre’s natural hydrolipidic film.
Apply a moisturising mask after every swim
Salt dries out the hair fibre, Etienne Sekola reminds us. Slipping a pot of moisturising mask into your beach bag is, in his view, the ultimate game-changer for protecting your hair in summer.
“The hair simply doesn’t have time to get damaged, and it stays silky all summer long.”
He recommends applying this mask after every swim, in a small amount: a hazelnut-sized amount for fine hair, a walnut-sized amount for thick hair, working it through the lengths and ends. As a result, the fibre stays nourished throughout the day.
Spritzing a leave-in conditioner after each swim also helps detangle more easily, even without a brush. Hairdresser Delphine Courteille confirms that this gesture lets you enjoy the sun’s natural lightening effect without damaging your hair, and prevents colour or highlights from turning brassy.
- Rinse your hair thoroughly when you get back from the beach, before any other treatment.
- Apply a moisturising mask after every swim, working it through the lengths and ends.
- Spritz a leave-in conditioner to detangle and rehydrate without a brush.
- Run your hair under cool water before diving into a pool to limit chlorine absorption.
- Wash your hair only about every three days, reversing the shampoo and conditioner order.
Limit brushing and avoid heat styling tools
Now that brushes have made a comeback as an essential accessory, we tend to overdo it, laments Delphine Courteille. Not only by repeating the gesture a hundred times a day, but by starting at the roots rather than the bottom third of the lengths. The result: we often tear out hair that has already been weakened by summer.
Instead, limiting yourself to one or two brushing sessions a day is plenty. The rest of the time, it’s better to gently detangle with your fingers to protect the fibre.
Hairdryers and heat styling tools are largely unnecessary. Etienne Sekola points out that “the heat and the wind act as a natural diffuser”: within thirty minutes, hair is dry. So protecting your hair in summer also means cutting back on artificial heat.
Embrace natural looks and effortless styles
Hair sophistication takes a different form on holiday. The wet look, for instance: slick dry or damp hair back with a wax or aloe vera gel, all over if it’s short, or just on the first third if it’s longer.
Etienne Sekola also suggests a pretty low ponytail tied with a scarf for a slightly dressed-up summer evening. And taking inspiration from the wild wavy look seen at The Row, Lemaire and Chloé works beautifully: braid hair into four plaits while damp, tie them into a single bun, leave to dry and undo for the evening, explains Delphine Courteille.
Act from the moment you hit the beach to truly protect your hair in summer
Limit UV damage with a protective spray, a cap or a hat. Delphine Courteille warns: “Watch out for scalp burns, which can weaken the hair bulb.” Covering your head remains the first line of defence.
So protecting your hair in summer starts before you even get in the water. If you’re using a pool, running your hair under cool water before diving in prevents it from absorbing too much chlorine. This simple reflex makes a real difference over the course of a holiday.
Finally, for those who truly want to take care of their hair in summer, all of these gestures together form a light and effective routine. Whether at the sea or the pool, every swim can remain a pleasure without leaving a mark on the hair fibre.
