Best Hair Care Practices for Sun Protection
Time in the sun feels great, especially after a long winter. But to enjoy it to the fullest, sun protection is a necessity—including for your hair and scalp.
Knowing how to protect your hair from the sun is another part of having a well-rounded routine and ensures that it’s safe from any damage. Best practices, like using sun protection made for your hair and scalp, heat protectants, UV shields, and physical coverings, and keeping your hair moisturized and hydrated are great for keeping strands healthy.
Understanding the impact of the sun on hair
There are a few ways sun exposure can mess with even the healthiest of scalps, so it’s important to protect your hair and head. The sun can directly impact the health of your hair, causing it to discolor, fade, dry out, or get frizzy. It can also weaken your hair, leading to breakage and a lack of elasticity. Like the rest of your skin, your scalp is prone to sunburns too, and it can lead to peeling, flaking, itching, and painful redness.
You also might be wondering if you can put sunscreen on your hair. While possible, the usual formulas made for your body often lead to greasy strands and skin. Instead, choose UV and sun protectors specifically made for hair and scalp, as these won’t cause the same kind of grease.
Effectively Using Sun Protective Hair Products
Shaking up the world of standard sun creams and lotions are hair-specific formulas. No longer do you have to worry about the ultra-greasy finish after a day of spreading blobs of SPF around your head.
UV protective sprays, creams, and serums all exist, which use special chemical filters and ingredients that prevent a good portion of the rays from harming you and offer high-quality sun protection for hair and scalp. Because they’re built for hair, they often have extra benefits, whether that’s a shine boost, help with hydration, or support for different hair types.
It’s important to find products that protect from both UV-A and UV-B rays and understand how long they last (and in turn, when you need to reapply them). While they’re fantastic additions to your routine, lowering your sun exposure in general is always the best option.
Sun Protection for Your Hair
Great sun protection for your hair should cover both your strands and your scalp, like the formulas in our SU collection. Plus, you’ll want to think about post-sun time. You should have products mixed into your routine that help restore nutrients and moisture and relieve any pain from a little too much time under its rays.
First, figure out a routine that has you covered (literally) whilst you’re out in the sun. SU Milk is a leave-in spray that has UV filters that protect your hair from discoloration and other issues that arise from UV rays. It’s also lightweight, so your hair won’t feel heavy or oily. Spray and comb it through your lengths and ends like you would a usual leave-in treatment. Now you’re set with hair that’s both moisturized and protected.
Post-Sun Exposure Care
Once the sun has gone down, it’s time to tackle any damage and revive lifeless strands or pink skin. The SU Hair & Body Wash is made for gently cleansing your hair and skin, providing it with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. It calms, softens, and moisturizes—all essential when you’ve spent time in the sun.
Following this, the SU Hair Mask is a must. After leaving it for five to 15 minutes, it restores hair back to its hydrating, shiny, detangled self. Its anti-aging properties also help combat the effects of sun, salt, and chlorine. Show your skin a little love too with the SU Aftersun, a cooling and hydrating gel that feels ultra-soothing when you may have forgotten to reapply enough sun cream.
Importance of Haircare Routines in Sun Protection
When spring and summer roll around, adjusting your routine is a great idea. You may also want to learn how to protect hair from sun if you’re travelling somewhere sunny. These situations will call for UV shields and sun protective products, as well as shampoos, conditioners, masks, and after-sun products that help restore moisture and nourish your hair. These should be worked into your usual cleansing and styling routines for the best results.
Another tip? Comb instead of brush. When your hair is damaged or gets tangled from wind, sun, and other factors, a comb is often a gentler styling tool than a brush, gently working through knots. Use it with a detangling spray and you’ll be golden.
Try to reduce the amount of time your hair is out in the sun too. If you’re spending most of the day outside, reapply sun protection to your scalp and hair (like you would with your body), and bring along physical protection like UPF-rated hats, scarves, or clothing.
Sun Protection for Different Hair Types
All hair types and scalps need sun protection. Whether your hair is fine, coarse, curly, oily, or grey, it needs support in deflecting the sun’s rays and preventing further damage. That being said, there are a few types of hair that might need a little more attention than others or require specific types of protection. Davines has plenty of sustainable haircare picks that double as sun and heat shields. Let's break it down.
For cosmetically colored and treated hair, you may find a few other issues crop up with sun exposure—mostly to do with your actual shade. Too much sun can lead to fading, lightening, and discoloration. This is often the case for blonde hair. Add another layer of protection with Heart of Glass Sheer Glaze, a thermal protection spray built for blondes that protects from hot tools and the sun.
Grey hair is also more susceptible to sun damage because it tends to have less moisture. When your hair is already dry, UV rays and heat can sap even more hydration from your strands. On top of sunblock and a good hair mask, consider bringing MOMO Hair Potion along with you to sunny locations. It’s a lightweight leave-on cream that infuses moisture and hydration back into your locks when they’re feeling dry.
Sun protection is also important for curly hair. With too much heat, they can lose their shape and dry out quicker. Sun protection should be a top priority too, but something that caters to your curls or coils. The LOVE CURL Primer is a milky spray that deflects humidity and lessens the impact of the sun whilst moisturizing.
Natural Ways to Protect Your Hair from the Sun
On top of using sun protectors, there are also a few ways to naturally and physically keep your hair safe from sun damage. Here are some ideas to try:
- Wear a hat, scarf, or head covering for physical protection. Try to look for clothes and accessories that are UPF-rated.
- Avoid hot tools during the days you spend time in the sun as this can contribute to more dryness and breakage.
- Try air-drying your hair. Not only is this more sustainable, but it will give your hair a break from heat, especially if it’s also in the sun!
- Stay hydrated and eat a balanced diet to give your hair the nutrients it needs and help replenish its moisture.
With the right routine, sun care products, and natural methods, your hair can stay healthy, hydrated, and free of damage when you’re in and around the sun.
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