Swim and Summer Haircare tips

Swimming season, trips to the beach and other summer fun are finally here!  A lot of summer activities can be especially hard on children’s hair and skin. Between chlorine damage at the pool, dry hair and skin from lake water and sand and tangled hair from playing outside, dealing with your children’s hair in the summer can become a stressful, time consuming task. Kids’ Hair is here to help with advice, how-to’s and treatment options. We are also proud to sell the widest variety of kid-specific swim and summer haircare products in the Twin Cities! Parents can do a few simple things to keep hair healthy-looking all summer long and ready for back-to-school and picture day…too soon?

Swimmers

Chlorine loves children’s fine hair and build-up can make hair tangled, brittle, sticky and even turn hair green.  Keep in mind, swimming at the lake can also damage and especially dry out hair due to oxidizing metals in the water. To prevent damage, there are simple steps you can take before and after swimming:

Before swimming

1. Wet hair thoroughly with fresh water.  Hair follicles are like sponges, they will soak up what they can.  If your hair is full of fresh water, there is less space for the chlorine and other chemicals to permeate.
2. For girls with longer hair, putting it in a simple, tight braid before swimming will help with managing their hair when they come out of the pool.
3. Use a pre-swim conditioner.  We carry Circle of Friends Kylie’s Pre-Swim and So Cozy Splash Swim Leave-in + Detangler. These conditioners contain ingredients that act like a coating on the hair shaft to prevent chemicals from getting through. Just wet hair, spray liberally and evenly distribute.

After swimming

1. Immediately rinse hair thoroughly. You want to take out as much of the chemicals or salt as possible before they dry on the hair and scalp.
2. After a good rinse, shampoo with a clarifying or swimmers shampoo. We carry Malibu Swimmers Wellness Shampoo, a vegan, salon quality swimmers shampoo great for kids and adults and Circle of Friends George’s Swimmer’s Shampoo which is a bit milder and is perfect for toddlers or those with really fine hair. We also carry SoCozy Swim 3 in 1 that is a great after-swim shampoo, conditioner and body wash to use while rinsing off directly after swimming to repair hair and moisturize skin.
3. Follow with a good conditioner, even a leave-in conditioner, to add moisture back to the hair.  We carry Malibu Swimmers Wellness Conditioner with a rich blend of proteins and amino acids to strengthen and rehydrate hair. We also carry Circle of Friends Emma’s After-Swim Conditioner which is a moisturizing leave-in conditioner featuring a coconut scent and added vitamins to help strengthen hair.

Stock-up on your swim products during our “Fun in the Sun” Swimmer’s product promotion May 30 – July 9!

Malibu Treatment

Kids’ Hair offers an in-salon Malibu Treatment to naturally removes chlorine, minerals and salts.  Who needs a Malibu Treatment?  For kids who swim multiple times a week, a Malibu Treatment once a month can really help reverse and prevent damage.  For the casual summer swimmer, getting a treatment before back-to-school is a great way to ensure healthy, soft hair and restore moisture. The treatment process takes 30-45 minutes and starts with a shampoo with Malibu’s Swimmers Wellness and the application of Malibu’s swimmer’s treatment product. Next your child watches a movie at one of our stations with a heat processing cap on for 15-30 minutes depending on their hair thickness and extent of chlorine damage. Finally, the stylist extracts all the build-up and minerals that have been pulled out from the treatment, shampoos and conditions with Malibu products, dries and styles the hair to go!

Other Summer Hair Tips

Wind and sun can be especially damaging to children’s hair, scalp and skin. Dealing with dry tangled hair can really put a damper on summer fun.  Here are our tips for taming snarls throughout summer:

1. For kids with long hair, always put it up in a braid, pony or bun. This will help cut down on the time it takes to comb through it afterwards.
2. Keep moisture and manageability in hair by using a conditioner, even try using a Leave-in Conditioner. If you are worried about using too much conditioner on fine hair due to heaviness or greasiness, you can always apply it to just the back of the head and length, avoiding the scalp and front. We carry a variety of high quality, kid-friendly conditioners. Try Circle of Friends Pia’s Pineapple
   leave-in conditioner, Original Sprout Deep Conditioner or Glop & Glam’s Cake Batter Conditioner.
3. Use detanglers before going outside and during comb-outs afterwards. The best detanglers have vitamins and protein in the ingredients to help strengthen hair. All of our kid-specific lines carry a detangler.  Choose the brand or scent you like best!
4. Avoid breaking hair and creating fly aways by using a brush designed to help get through tangled hair. We carry both Knot Genie’s Teeny Genie and the Lil’ Wet Brush. Perfect sizes to encourage kids to be brushes their own hair.
5. Don’t forget about little one’s skin! We carry Original Sprout’s Face & Body Sunscreen, a non-greasy natural sunscreen that is great for the whole family, including babies or toddlers with sensitive skin or those whose skin gets irritated easily by other products and sunscreens.

Summer is hard on children’s hair! Make sure you and your child are taking the right steps so that tangled, discolored or damaged hair doesn’t disrupt family fun! If your child’s hair is looking especially dull or dry or is becoming a hassle with too many tangles that seem to get snarly way to quickly, it might be a good idea to come to Kids’ Hair for a Conditioning Treatment.  An in-salon “Miracle Repair” treatment similar to the Malibu treatment process but for hair damaged or dry from other influences than chlorine. The treatment restores strength, shine and moisture, repairing the damage from sun and wind and making hair much more manageable and healthy looking.

Visit any of our locations and ask a Kids’ Hair Stylist to learn more about ideas, tips and products you can use for the whole season.

Have a wonderful summer!!