How to naturally restore, rescue & treat sun damaged hair with natural hair care products

Normal healthy hair should be shiny, bouncy, full and vibrant, but ‘LIFE’ happens and we can end up with sun-damaged hair that can affect our image and self esteem.

Although we look forward to our summer holidays and the sun coming out, especially in the UK, the effect of the sun on our hair can be pretty strong, and heat coupled with UV, can leave you with sun damaged hair. Whilst your hair won’t be damaged forever and will eventually re-grow, it will in the meantime suffer breakages and lack of moisture, leaving it looking weak and unhealthy. If split ends and brittle hair are left unmanaged they could also affect your new hair growth, so read up below on what to do next!

How the sun damages your hair

When most people think of the effect of sun on hair, they generally think of it as lightening their hair colour. This happens because the hair contains melanin, just as your skin does. Melanin is the pigment that gives hair its colour but it also protects the hair from free radicals which would otherwise cause damage.

UV rays cause the melanin in your hair to oxidise and discolour. As the hair is dead and cannot react to the UV rays by increasing the level of melanin as the skin does, the lower melanin levels are characterized by a lightening of the hair. The lower levels, therefore, also cannot perform their free radical hunting duties so well.

Lemon juice is a commonly known natural method for bleaching hair when exposed to the sun and lots of people use it as a cheap way of getting highlights. Unfortunately, whilst it does have a slight lightening effect, it can also cause dryness as it upsets the PH balance of the hair.

Another damaging effect of the sun is that it depletes the hairs level of Keratin which is a vital protein that gives healthy hair its strength and vitality. When Keratin is undamaged, it lies along your strands of hair like tiles on a roof. However, when you weaken the keratin in your hair, some of those ‘tiles’ become broken and shift out of place, causing the hair shafts to weaken and become easily damaged. When this happens hair strands do not reflect light as well, causing your hair to appear dull.

Finally, the sun damages your hair by sucking the moisture and oils out of it. The moisture level should be around 8% but sun damage, bleaching and other hair treatments can cause this to fall to as low as 2%. When this happens, you’ll end up with split ends and brittle, broken strands of hair, hair that looks, weak, lack luster and dull.

How to protect your hair from sun damage

The best way to protect your hair from the sun is to wear a hat, and for those of you who don’t find a hat fashionable enough, try a bandana, they can look very stylish and be mixed and matched with your outfits, they’re great for men, women and kids!

Even though a hat or bandana may protect you for a while, they won’t be possible all the time. This is where John Masters Sea Mist Spray with lavender can help, this beautifully scented spray not only adds texture and volume to the hair, but actually protects your hair from drying. When it’s used in conjunction with their Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor after washing, then your hair will be kept in optimum condition and better able to cope with the harsh effects of the sun.

How to Treat Sun Damaged Hair

The best way to treat sun damaged hair is to immediately switch to natural hair care products that are going to nourish, restore, revitalize and rescue frizzy, dull, dry hair and revert it back to its natural shine and balance.

By using harsh chemically based shampoos, styling products and colourants, you will only further damage your hair.

We recommend using John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructing Shampoo. This organic shampoo is a must for sun damaged hair because it contains Linoleic & Hyluronic acids (which are normally found in abundance in young hair) combined with soy, rice and oat proteins to renew and reconstruct damaged hair. Each wash will fortify, strengthen and moisturise your hair as the honey and hibiscus extracts and 9 other certified organic extracts and plant oils penetrate the hair with nutrients. Also, it doesn’t contain any harsh chemicals such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, parabens or phthalates which would aggravate your hair further or damage your scalp.

Follow the natural shampoo with John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Hair Reconstructor which is a super intense conditioner that revitalizes and restores dry, damaged, colour treated, chemically treated, chlorine and sun damaged hair! Again, Linoleic & Hyluronic acids help to reconstruct the hair, whilst soy protein strengthens the hair follicles making your hair look thicker, fuller and shinier, wheat protein helps keep hair tangle free and easy to comb through along with adding shine. Finally, Bergamot treats and nourishes dry scalp and hair.

For a more intense treatment add 12 drops of dry hair nourishment to 1 ounce of conditioner, massage into hair and scalp. Wrap with hot towel and leave in 20-30 mins. And rinse.

Both the John Masters Honey and Hibiscus Reconstructing shampoo and conditioner when used in conjunction and regularly, will quickly and easily restore bounce, shine, volume and health. All in all, with rich nutrients, oils and conditioners specifically formulated by the best natural organic hair care expert on the planet, you can’t really do better for your hair.

Now if you’re on a budget, don’t worry as we have another great alternative for you that will keep the pennies in your pocket whilst also restoring the condition of your sun damaged hair naturally. Green People’s Moisturising shampoo and Moisturising conditioner are a little less pricey but will also do a fantastic job.

Green People’s Moisturising Conditioner contains several ingredients which are especially helpful to sun-damaged hair. The first is Jojoba oil, which has a very similar composition to the natural sebum and oils which lubricate and protect your hair from damage. These make an ideal replacement for the oils which are stripped away through sun and chlorine damage. It also contains Quinoa oil, an essential oil rich in antioxidants which help in protecting against UV-induced free radicals

In addition to the Jojoba oil and Quinoa oil, Green People Moisturising Conditioner also has soothing Chamomile extract and protective Marshmallow extract. These will help to bring the condition of your hair up, helping it to become shiny, tangle-free and rehydrated.