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Written by Olivia Wolfe
Have you taken a trip lately, only to notice that your hair has become damaged? It’s great to take vacations and explore new places, but exposure to climate changes in the sun, humidity, pollution, and even your diet can put a beating on your hair.
No one wants to spend much time caring for their hair while traveling. After all, you went there to enjoy yourself and experience the location you’re in, not spend a couple of hours in the bathroom each day. But throwing your hair up or putting on a hat to go out can lead to dullness, frizziness, and dry strands.
Rather than spending ample time working on your hair each day, consider trying some quick, effective ways to help protect your hair from damage while traveling. Here are some helpful techniques and products you can bring along for the trip to help ensure you take good care of your locks when traveling.
9 Best Hair Care Tips While Traveling
1. Use Hair Serums When Styling
There are plenty of good serums out there for your hair. Before you go through all the ways to curl your hair for your vacation photos, make sure you apply a serum first. Doing this simple action before styling is the best way to ensure your hair is protected from outside sun and wind damage. Serum nourishes your hair and provides shine, allowing it to stay healthy and glowing for those pictures.
Get a travel-sized bottle to bring with your curler or straightener. Some of the best serums for hair protection include the John Frieda Frizz ease Serum, the Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum, and Herstyler Hair Repair Serum. They fight frizz, tame any flyaway strands, and help to protect, smooth, and strengthen your hair.
2. Keep Your Hair As Moisturized As Possible
Moisture is vital when you travel because the weather that’s hot or cold and windy is bound to dry out your hair at an accelerated rate. Your scalp should also keep moisture in to help ensure that your strands don’t become too dry or damaged.
If you’re going on an airplane, it’s important to note that the recirculated cold air on planes takes moisture out. Your hair will dry out before you land at your destination! Drinking water helps, but consider adding natural oils to your hair and scalp to keep the moisture locked in during your flight.
Moisturizing shampoos, conditioners, and oils are great products to keep at hand when traveling. Moroccan oil or argan oil are great resources for shampoos, conditioners, and natural leave-in hair oils that can help retain and restore moisture to your hair and scalp.
3. Get Your Strands Trimmed
Before you leave for your travels, getting your hair trimmed is another good idea. It’s good to cut your hair regularly anyway, so you can rid your strands of dead and split ends. Trimming off those dead, brittle pieces keeps your hair protected, so the damage doesn’t work its way up your hair.
Suppose you don’t have time to trim it before you leave; look for a salon nearby or in your location. The hairstylist may also provide you with some great recommendations for keeping your hair looking healthy and moisturized in that particular weather, so it can be a great place to get some insider information on your haircare.
4. Wash Less Frequently
If where you’re traveling is colder and windier, or it’s during the winter time, consider washing your hair less frequently. When you wash your hair often, it leads to more hair breakage and drying out. Pay attention to your scalp – does it feel itchy? Do you see flaky skin coming from it?
Wait a couple of days between washes to allow the natural oils in your scalp to nourish it and your hair strands. If you have concerns about it looking too greasy so it can get hydrated, you can use a dry shampoo. You could also make a homemade hair mask for damage in between washes.
5. What to Use for Travels to the Beach
If you’re traveling to destinations with beaches, the hot sun, sand, and ocean are glorious to look at and enjoy. However, they can also impact your hair, not in a good way. The sun can discolor your hair, and the saltwater and sand can massively dry it out.
Bringing some hair products to spray in your hair at the beach can ensure that you’re taking care of your rough hair. Look for spray products with coconut oil or even lather with the oil. Let it sit in your hair before you go to the beach. Coconut oil is an excellent barrier to give your hair the protection it needs from the harsh elements at the beach.
6. Use Gentle Detanglers
Windy locations can really mess up your hair, especially if it’s long. If you’re doing a lot of lazy lounging at the pool, you could also be mussing up your tresses and creating knots. You may end up with a bird’s nest on your head!
Ensure you pack some detanglers with leave-in conditioning sprays and a wide-tooth comb. Remember always to start detangling at the bottom of your strands rather than working from the top down, where you can make knots worse. Go slowly and move in sections so you can gently detangle knots.
One thing about working with detangling your hair is that it will take some time. When you’re winding down in the evening, sit with your book, movie, or cup of tea and take your time to work through the knotted pieces of hair. The less pulling and pain you go through, the less likely you’ll be causing damage and can get those knots out.
7. Don’t Go Out With Your Hair Wet
Did you know that when your hair is wet, it’s much more fragile? Wet hair is prone to more damage and breakage, especially in hotter or colder climates. Cold winter winds are already pretty harsh on hair and can cause damage. But it’s much more likely to happen when your hair is wet.
If you’re pressed for time and have to go out with wet hair, put your hair in a hat or tie it in a scarf. You might even keep it wrapped up in a towel to protect it from outside elements.
8. Your Diet and Hydration
Most people associate haircare with protection against the environment – climate changes and weather risks. While that’s essential, there’s another aspect you should look at, mainly when traveling – keeping yourself hydrated and paying attention to your diet. It’s easy to indulge when on vacation.
If you deal with health concerns because your diet gets altered during travel, it can adversely affect your hair, too. Try to keep your health in check with balanced foods and not too many salty or deep-fried treats since they can cause dehydration. Drink adequate amounts of water to energize and support and protect your hair.
9. Take Care of Your Hair During Your Travels
Whether it’s a trip to the beach, exploring the wintery slopes, or exploring ancient, historical places, remember that you’re exposing your hair to many environmental elements that may cause damage. If your hair tends to frizz in high, humid temperatures, ensure you tame it with a serum. Keep your hair moisturized and wash less frequently in colder, windier climates.
Pack haircare essentials and keep your hair covered whenever possible to help keep the damage away. Your travels won’t give way to rough hair with preparation. And these helpful tips so that you can keep the bad hair days at bay.
