Swimming and Clarifying

I’m not much into finding Nemo. I took swimming lessons as a kid, but prefer to just lay out by a pool, and have actually only swam once in the past few years. However, for the love of healthy hair, I gathered info for my readers who may enjoy diving in head first.

I scoped out one of my fave YouTubers, Naptural85 because I know she is a swimmer and here is her video about it:

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bgjH8Gcql8′]

She only uses a mud wash and has done so for a couple of years, but at the time of this recording, she was changing her regimen a bit when swimming. And as you saw in the video, there is a little prep prior to entering the pool that will help you once you’re out. Also bear in mind that you will need the proper swimwear for when you are getting in the pool/swimming, so check out websites like Hermoza to see what would be best for you.

I also came across this article about clarifying: http://womenshair.about.com/od/healthyhairmaintenance/a/clarifyshampoo.htm

While this is not specific for 4-type natural hair, the article holds true to mine. I haven’t clarified in months because I haven’t had much buildup but clarifying with weekly wash days during swim season should be fine especially if you’re adding the moisture back in. And like Whitney of Naptural85 did with adding conditioner and oil to her hair before swimming, you could try this to help your hair not be as dry on swim day.

Some have drier hair while swimming frequently. Have you tried hot oil treatments? You can do this weekly or just biweekly for at least 15-30 minutes on wash days. Whatever oils you normally use will work. Here are some of my favorites. And when I do a hot oil treatment, I don’t use my more expensive ones like jojoba since it’ll be rinsed right out. I’ll often use olive oil and coconut oil.

Before washing, I often use coconut oil to pre-detangle and to add moisture in before I strip it back out with shampoo.

(Watch the first 2 minutes of video 52)

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGEFqtRk45c’]

A shampoo I recently tried and enjoyed was Curls Unleashed Sulfate Free Shampoo

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV-h5bEGRwI’]

I have also used this dark and lovely au naturale shampoo and conditioner too.

(I show the shampoo and conditioner in the beginning)

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q8_b-qSQO4′]

And lastly, here is a sulfate free shampoo by III Sisters of Nature that I use often.

(I talk about it in minute 6)

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGEFqtRk45c’]