How to Take Care of Vacation Hair

Fashion Bomb reader Rae is going to Miami for Spring Break and wrote in asking for tips on how to maintain her relaxed hair.
Since Miami is super hot and humid (or at least it was when I went there–The Weather Channel says average temps in April are around 84 degrees), you’ll want to jump into a pool any chance you get. When you’re not swimming you’re too hot to want to have to do too much to your hair (the humidity will get it anyway). Plus all that chlorine (or salt water if you go to the beach) needs to be washed out of the hair as soon as possible to avoid drying the hair out or ruining any hair color. If you go swimming often, you’ll need frequent cleansing.

One easy way to deal with this is to get wet and wavy hair extensions aka “vacation weave”. The maintenance is surprisingly low because after you cleanse the hair, you can towel dry and wear the hair wavy. If you want something sleek, after the hair dries you can make it straight with a flat iron. You’ll be able to go from pool to the club without a whole lot of time spent on doing your hair.
If you want to work with your own hair (whether you relax or you’re natural), it’s best to get the hair saturated with water and add a little conditioner to it before hitting the water. The hair can only absorb but so much water so it’s best it not be chlorine nor salt water. You’ll want to skip shampoo and do mostly co-washes (cleansing the hair with conditioner) to prevent drying the hair out further. I also recommend air drying the hair as frequent blow drying can be too harsh. Cleansing the hair before going to bed and wrapping it with a silk or satin scarf works because your hair can dry while you sleep. Putting some Moroccanoil Treatment in the hair helps to speed up drying.
Styles like messy ponytails, buns, chignons, and braid outs (braiding the hair for a few hours and then taking the braids out for a wavy look) are ideal hairstyles that don’t require much maintenance. You can also play around with accessories like head scarves, straw hats, and headbands.