Summer is here with long days, golden and glorious. It’s the season for outdoor living: gardening, walking, cooking out, and soaking up the sun at the pool or the beach.

Yet we all know the damage that prolonged sun exposure can cause to delicate skin tissue, making it dry and causing premature aging. We are all well-versed in the abbreviated language of summer sun: UVA, UVB, SPF. Sunscreen is now a part of life for sun-worshippers. We know that sunburns and overexposure to sun lead to permanent damage and discoloration. We have seen the reports of the increased incidence of skin cancer. Sunscreen has become a part of every womnan’s summer wardrobe.

But what you may not realize is what all that sun is doing to your hair. Hair is just as susceptible as skin to the sun’s damaging UVA/UVB rays. The sun bakes down into the inner layer of hair, destroying it and causing hair color to fade. It also dries and damages the outer layer of the hair shaft, causing it to become brittle and break easily.

While there are hair care products that contain sunscreen, many of these won’t have much lasting effect. Shampoos and conditioners are rinsed out and there is no way to know how much sunscreen may be left on the hair. A leave-in conditioner with sunscreen won’t get rinsed out but brushing and blow-drying your hair can remove the sunscreen from the hair shaft.

So, what’s the answer to protecting your hair from the sun…?