I’m so excited to officially kick off the summer season! No more school for my kids means even more fun in the sun for all of us. While we don’t have a pool in our backyard, we do have a pool membership and of course we live a whopping 2 miles from Laguna Beach – so we spend a lot of time in bathing suits in the sunshine. Naturally we always protect our skin from the sun by slathering on sunscreen, but after a week or so of swimming almost daily I started to notice changes in the texture and color of my hair. I started wondering – should I be looking for a sunscreen to protect not only our hair but also our scalps? Turns out the answer is a resounding yes!
I started looking at some of the different options available to me and honestly, there are not a lot of them available on the market right now, and the ones that are available are really pricey. So, I decided I would make my own “HairScreen” as I’m affectionately calling it, with the help of a few budget-friendly products from Walmart.
I picked up all of the above supplies at Walmart – a spray bottle (.97) (found in the travel section of the beauty department), Pantene ProV Weekly Rehab Creme deep conditioner ($3.97), Yes To Cucumbers Natural Sunscreen ($11.97), and a Gold Sharpie ($4.29 for a pack of 3).
First I decorated the bottle with the Sharpie so that I could remember what was in it in the future. But mostly, just because I like hand-lettering and I thought it would be fun to make the bottle pretty.
Then I added 1 oz of the sunscreen into the bottom of the spray bottle. I decided on a Yes to Cucumbers sunscreen because it is more natural than some of the other options.
Next, I added 1 oz of leave-in conditioner. I used Pantene, but you can use any kind that you prefer – Walmart had plenty of options. The conditioner helps to not only protect the hair, but to condition it and keep it moisturized. If you spray your hair down with this concoction before going into the ocean or the pool, then you hair will absorb mostly the sunscreen, water, and conditioner, and therefore absorb much less of the chlorine and/or saltwater. Brilliant, right?!
Finally, fill the bottle the rest of the way with hot water and give it a good shake to help it all mix together. It doesn’t have to be warm when you use it, but using hot water when you first mix it all together will help them to be more thoroughly blended.
And that’s it! Simple to make, and then just to throw into your beach bag and use as-needed. I spray this all over our hair and them comb it through before braiding it for even more protection. I usually do it before I leave the house, so we can skip that step with squirmy children once we are at the pool. Bonus: it protects little scalps from burning as well! This will be a must-pack for our trip to Palm Springs next week!
Have you ever used sunscreen on your hair?
Will this work best if applying to wet hair?
It looks great but can it use without spray?
It looks like a trip to Walmart is definitely in order. :) I need to get some hair sunscreen if I’m going to start hiking, bike riding, and just being outdoors more.