Secret Hair Tips for the Surfer Girl!
There is one thing every girl who surfs has in common. I mean, besides all the health and physical benefits – one of the downsides is, we all have hair problems. Just think of putting a fine strand of silk in salt water and then letting it bake in the sun, then wetting it again, then letting it dry…then repeat this for hours, sometimes weeks in a row. But maybe we don’t get all the salt water out, and it stays in our hair ’til we wash it that night…or we surf again and once we've rinsed off again we have maxed out on water for the day so we avoid the house shower and instead put our last bit of energy into getting a barbecue going…and then we don’t wash it in the morning ’cause…we gotta go surf! This uncontrollable behavior just adds to the problem. 
1) Wet your hair before you go out into the water. (This tip was gifted to us by Gwen atPaul Marie Salon in Hilo – check ‘em out, they give good head…of hair…) Hair, when dry, acts like a sponge, absorbing water into it. Having it absorb regular water first will prevent it from absorbing the salt. And you may question the ability of hair to absorb large amounts of anything. But any long-haired girl who surfs can attest to the weight that is added to her head as her neck is being annoyingly tugged back. Just to emphasize its absorbency, NASA studies have indicated that hair may be a very useful tool in cleaning up oil spills. Future fem scientist Marguerite Blignaut, at the Kentucky Junior Academy of Science, followed it up with her own study and concluded: “Hair absorbs the oil which means the oil collects under the surfaces of the hair fibers. I used human hair in mesh bags and floated them on 10w40 oil-water mixtures. After two days I removed the bags and let them dry. An increase of mass indicated the amount of oil absorbed. I found that human hair does remove oil from the water surface and that straight dark brown hair seemed to be the most efficient.” Thanks Marge, good to know. Does this mean they’re using hair to clean up Exxon disasters? Doubtful. It more likely explains why it’s so hard to get the oil off of the poor birds. And it becomes clear that, whatever your hair absorbs while it’s out in the ocean, likes to hang out in the fibers.
2) Put conditioner in your hair too. I know, this seems silly, since it would surely rinse out in the waves, right? Well, there are a few factors involved. It nicely coats your hair and keeps it protected from absorbing other things. Some conditioners even have UV blockers. You put sunscreen on your face and sure, in the end much of it comes off, but it keeps you protected while it lasts. With my thick hair, it holds it in, and I usually notice it’s still in my hair when I’m rinsing off at the shower. My hubby has dreadlocks and they tend to break in the surf. He started putting sunscreen in his hair. This works well no more breakage.
When you have a shower put a conditioner in and comb it with a afro or wide tooth comb, This is only if you have straight or wavy hair. As you know form my blog with afro thick textured hair its impossible.
Any Oils work before a surf- coconut oil, argan oil or any thick conditioner.:)
3) Plat/braid your hair. Many surfer girls opt to keep it short and carefree, but if this is not you, and if your hair is long enough, braid it! This will protect the more exposed and fly-away parts of the hair from getting too much sun and drying out. Tighter braids will seemingly keep it from absorbing so much water and also hold that conditioner in. And hey, maybe even keep it out of your face while going for that huge airdrop take-off.
4) Diet and stress affect your hair – no lie! Veggies are essentia. Vitamin B’s and B-12 sublingually (or if you’re in Hawaii eating a banana or Australia eating your vegemite!) is highly advised for everything from stress to breakdown of carbs to glucose and fats and proteins for the nervous system and even hair quality. Yum! Chemical exposure, medications, alcohol consumption, smoking, caffeine, and lack of sleep also affect your hair. Basic theory: do whatever keeps you healthy, happy, strong. Lucky most of us surfer girls do just that!
5) Don’t over-shampoo. Many water girls use conditioner as their “shampoo” – myself included. But you should shampoo once a weak to clean build-up and start anew.
6) Don’t brush your hair while it’s wet.
7) Wear a hat! Protect the hair while protecting the face. Reefrash wears a hat when surfing because she is about as white as a haole girl can get (nah, they can get a little mo’ white). But she knows how to pull off the look (and not everyone can) because…she has no choice. Please beware; she’s working on a full-on mask to cover her face. So if you see her out there…paddle fast and hard and don’t look back!
8) I have no idea what else. I do know that Hawaiian women were traditionally famous for their lovely long brown hair. Was it the coconut water/oil treatments they did after swims? Was it their rich diet that included poi, banana, papaya, lilikoi, coconut, sweet potato, breadfruit, laulau, fish and seafood? Maybe drawing from a gene pool (including those of the Asian races that have mixed here) that is renowned for their beautiful skin and luscious hair doesn't hurt.
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