Your New After-Summer Haircare Routine Starts Here!
Your wardrobe choices and coffee orders aren’t the only changes to consider when the calendar flips to fall. Between focusing on all those extra layers and the newest pumpkin spice confections, now’s the time to consider your after-summer haircare routine.
We’ve pulled together our favorite ways to bring your hair back to life after a long, sticky summer, the hair products your tresses will love for autumn, and tons of tips to help you begin your new after-summer haircare routine today!
5 Ways to Undo the Damage of Summer
Before diving into your new after-summer haircare routine, we must reverse any damage to your delicate tresses after hours in the sun and all those dips in the pool.
Let’s get started!
1. Time for a Trim
Summer is synonymous with moisture-sapped, environmentally damaged hair, so first things first: Schedule a session with a hairstylist to cut off frayed ends that cause hair to look fried and frazzled. Snipping off a half-inch or more will give your hair a renewed life, a boost in bounce, and surprising thickness. "Dusting" off the ends will also ensure your hair grows healthier and happier from this trim forward.
2. Treat Your Scalp
Healthy hair starts at the root, so the healthier your roots are, the better your hair looks and responds to styling and products. Coming off the sweat and oil of summer, it's imperative to begin a weekly scalp detox to eliminate any gunk accumulated at your roots. New Dawn Activated Charcoal Scalp Cleanser will clarify and exfoliate, ditching dirt and oils without stripping your scalp skin. The result is shinier, cleaner, healthier hair.
3. Focus on Repair
Primary after-summer hair care must begin counteracting the damage done by summer elements—we’re looking at you, sun, salt, and chlorine! So, switch to a reparative, hydrating shampoo and conditioner to help heal damaged hair by nourishing your strands with healthy nutrients and moisture to quench summer's drying effects.
A rich power couple like Second Chance Repairing Shampoo for Dry or Damaged Hair and Second Chance Repairing Conditioner for Dry or Damaged Hair restores overstressed hair with a drink of luxurious omega fatty acids, argan oil, and multiple vitamins that leave it supple and soft.
4. Mask Up
Like a wheatgrass shot for your hair, a creamy conditioning hair mask is equal parts perfection and protection. Use it weekly to deep treat your tresses and begin undoing three months of baked-in thirst while helping prevent further dryness and damage from hot styling tools.
A butter-rich mask will also help seal broken ends and protect against further hair breakage, which may give thinning hair a fuller look. Saturate strands from roots to ends with a Butter Masque while you soak in the tub or clean the house—you can even use it as an overnight deep conditioning treatment on dry hair while you sleep. Some of nature's richest and most hydrating butters will restore lost moisture and begin to heal hair breakage so that you can expect smoother strands.
Pro tip: If your hair is fine or thin or prone to flat or oily roots, concentrate the mask on the ends to avoid weighing it down.
5. Restore Your Color
Fun in the sun can also do a number on your color—particularly silver, white, blonde, and color-treated tresses. Sun, salt, and chlorine can not only strip color and leave hair parched and bleached, but it can also oxidize your chic shade, turning it brassy. Beat the brass with a violet-hued shampoo like Silver Lining Purple Brightening Shampoo, which can help neutralize any discoloration and even conjure a Prince lyric or two! But seriously, its cool color will cancel out any overly warm tones and refresh your amazing gray or whiplash blonde.
If you highlight your hair, color correction is also vital. Now’s the time to consider a fall hair color makeover with a deeper base or toned-down highlights. Rather than pulling out color from tender tresses, darker hair colors fill them with new pigments and conditioning agents that plump and revive strands, making hair appear instantly healthier.
The Best After-Summer Haircare Routine
Now that you’ve undone the summer's damage, it’s time to make over your after-summer haircare routine. Here are our five favorite styling and haircare tips to prep your tresses for the long winter.
1. Form a Hair Habit
As you ease off the hot weather and effortless days of summer, recommit to your hair with an after-summer haircare routine that works. That means overhauling the products you’ve got, scheduling regular trims, and making an effort each week to give your tresses TLC at home with the right shampoo, conditioner, mask, and stylers. Why wait for the new year to start your hair resolutions? Begin now with a new weekly after-summer haircare routine, and you’ll have a crown of glory for all your holiday festivities.
2. Shampoo Mindfully—Less Is More
Paying closer attention to your hair’s needs doesn’t mean washing it more. If anything, it’s a good idea to limit your hair washing to three times a week—tops! Especially as winter approaches, you'll have fewer sweaty hair days, your scalp will be less oily, and your delicate strands will appreciate less frequent contact with water, which is extremely drying and harsh on color. Allow your natural oils to work their magic and provide extra conditioning before lathering up.
Pro tip: A non-comedogenic dry shampoo will quickly become your best friend on days you don’t suds up, especially if you're trying to hide sweaty hair after a session at the gym. It not only refreshes tresses between hair washings but also helps to create volume and fullness!
3. Hold the Heat
One summer habit to hold onto for good? Back away from the blow dryer as often as possible. Applying intense heat to hair, especially delicate aging hair, is one of the most damaging things we can do to the ‘do! Limit your contact with any hot styling tools, and when you do use heat, don’t forget to prep your hair with No Remorse Heat Protection & Taming Spray. Easily one of your new favorite hair products for autumn, it contains vitamin E and other nourishing oils to help shield each strand from heat as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit—so don’t feel guilty if you’re the queen of the curling wand. It also helps tame frizzy hair, flyaways, and static, too!
4. Turn Up the Volume
As we swap sweat and humidity for crisp fall days, we say sayonara to frizzy hair and, for better or worse, all that volume that comes along with it. This is often good for some (hi, curly girls!) but not so much for others. If you fall into the latter category, add your thickness and volume with Lift Me Up Hair Thickener. Its precision nozzle delivers easy right-at-the-root application, giving you more lift where you need it most. Use on damp hair or to refresh already styled strands.
And because volume starts in the shower, if it’s lift you’re lacking, partner your styling products with a volumizing shampoo and conditioner.
5. Get Holistic About Hair Care
Just as with your skin and nails, what you eat and drink impacts the health of your scalp and hair. Fun Fact: Trichologists and nutritionists have been known to study hair to see what’s going on internally and make personalized recommendations.
Shiny, supple hair is generally a sign of good overall health and hair care. However, nutrient deficiencies contribute to hair that looks dull, dry, and thin—and poor overall health and nutrition are linked to hair loss. If you haven’t already been doing so, now’s the time to load up on legumes for iron, zinc, and biotin; fish for omega fatty acids, protein, vitamin B12, and iron; and dark leafy greens for vitamins A and C. Getting sufficient vitamin D—which can become more challenging with fewer hours of sunlight in autumn and winter—is also super important as it helps activate hair follicles to support a healthy hair growth cycle.
You can also supplement with Significant Other Hair, Skin & Nails gummies, packed with biotin, vitamins, and minerals to help strengthen your roots so your hair is healthy and strong from the start.
For an added boost of shine, make our Full Transparency Pure Revitalizing Shampoo and Full Transparency Shine Revitalizing Conditioner part of your after-summer haircare routine. This fragrance-free, dermatologist-tested, and hypoallergenic duo will add luster and liveliness to dull, dry hair without weighing it down or irritating sensitive scalps.
And since healthy hair starts with a healthy scalp, Superpower Fortifying Hair & Scalp Serum is another superhero to summon. This award-winning serum nourishes the scalp and addresses the early signs of aging hair so your hair looks stronger and healthier daily.
Bonus: 3 Mane Moves for Your After-Summer Hair Care
Now that you’ve got a handle on your new after-summer haircare routine, we couldn’t part ways without sharing a few final styling tips and hair tools designed to help your tresses look their best all winter.
1. Brush Basics
While there’s no need to channel Marcia Brady with 100 brush strokes daily, daily brushing has perks, including even distribution of natural oils (aka sebum) from scalp to end, exfoliation, and scalp stimulation. This one move can improve shine, smoothness, elasticity, and growth like dry brushing for your scalp. Grab a boar-bristle brush and gently move through dry hair from root to tip before you shower or sleep. For the curly girls among us, try using a wet brush or a wide-tooth comb on damp hair.
2. Pony, No!
As tempting as it is to sweep up longer hair into that go-to ponytail, pass on the pony as part of your after-summer hair routine. The old faithful style standby can cause hair breakage and scalp stress, which is the last thing your aging tresses need coming off of summer rehab and heading into the drier winter months. Instead, try slipping on a chic headband or letting your lovely locks flow. If you must pony up, get a low version, secured with a gentle elastic.
3. The Magic of a Massage
As simple as it sounds, try pressing your fingertips into your scalp and rubbing in circular motions. Massage has proven benefits, from boosting your spirits and instantly relieving stress to improving circulation, and rubbing your scalp can help energize it and stimulate the follicles. Bonus: Not only will you feel better, but you’ll also be helping to improve your scalp’s ability to absorb the treatments you apply.
Pro tip: Our Superpower Liquid Comb offers another great way to treat your scalp with a massage. Designed to help increase circulation, it also effortlessly delivers all the powerful benefits of our Superpower Serum directly to your roots.
Tell Us: Now that summer's hot weather has passed, are you ready for your new after-summer haircare routine? Share your favorite hair products and tips in the comments below!
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