After reading Tom Ellison's brilliant discussion on VO2Max and hair cair :D , I am wondering what people are using to keep their hair from becoming straw. I did a search of threads, but they were either green hair or dry skin, not quite what I'm looking for.
Wearing a cap during practice is impractical. I've been hit in the head a few too many times, so the cap isn't large enough to stay on. :p
I'm guessing that most people will recommend UltraSwim or MalibuC (those were stocked at the local Kiefers). What I'm wondering is, are there any good products I would find in the *supermarket*. I saw a lot of products. Unfortunately, the packaging wasn't very, uh, manly.
OK, I admit it, I have researched this problem. I suggest Nexus Aloe Rid, both in shampoo and a treatment you use after a shampoo. Also, Paul Mitchell Shampoo Three (I think) is great. I also leave the shampoo in for a loooooooong time to work it's magic. Oddly enough, even super cheap stuff works nicely if you leave it in long enough.
Alternatively, get a buzz cut every month like I do.
things you can do for your hair is to get it wet before you swim. The hair will absorb whatever hits it first, be it regular water or pool water. It's really helped keep my hair from, as you say, turning into straw. Not to push a product....but I just use a decent shampoo and conditioner for dry/processed hair (Infusium works for me - you can buy it at any drug or grocery store).
I spray my hair with spritz on conditioner/detangler before I put my cap on. That works very well.
Buy a bottle of uh, MANLY shampoo, use it up and then pour the um, UNmanly shampoo into the bottle.
Elaine
The best simple advice has been given by fishgrrl. Wet you hair first in the shower. The water will fill the hair shafts and make it a bit more diffucult for chlorine to seep in. After you swim use a conditioner..any kind. Belive it or not hair stylists can tell if people swim in pools with chlorine capless. How ? by the feel of the hair in some way. A cap is the best protection but there not for everyone. The silicon ones are small for lots of men , there are some other caps for men however. See my page Swim Caps and Hair Care and you will see some men with two color caps. These are designed for colder water swimming but also protect hair. You will have to scroll down some what on the page its at the bottom, As much info on swim hair as you will find on the web! For swimmers and water exercisers !
www.geocities.com/.../scg.html
I will definitely be trying some of the suggestions in these replies over the next few weeks. Shakey, you need to create you own thread. But instead of weekly workout posts, it should be short stories from the mosh pit (pool) or the barber's chair! :)
What really killed my hair was going to the outdoor pool (quarry) and not showering until much later, after I had already dried out. (Hello, temperature control for the showers? I'm not trying to boil an egg. :eek: )
I don't like to cut my hair too short. I've got a scar in back, when I slipped off a starting block and got stitches. (I was 7. Don't ask what I was doing on the block, before I fell backwards. :p )
Originally posted by lapswimmr
Belive it or not hair stylists can tell if people swim in pools with chlorine capless. How ? by the feel of the hair in some way.
Yeah, it's sticky. I just had a mental image of my flamboyant transgendered hairstylist a couple of years ago putting his, er, HER hands into my hair for the first time, then snatching them out almost immediately and planting them firmly on her hips, saying, "Ew! You've been SWIMMING lately HAVEN'T you?" For the next half hour, between strange one-sided conversations about whether Britney Spears or Madonna was more talented, she intermittently scolded me for not taking better care of my hair.
I've always wondered why the principle of osmosis isn't applicable to hair that has been wet with tap water before swimming. Or maybe it is and this wet your hair first really doesn't work. Anyone know why?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The definition of osmosis:
Diffusion of fluid through a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a low solute concentration to a solution with a higher solute concentration until there is an EQUAL concentration of fluid on both sides of the membrane
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I know Mark has lots of big bumps on his head and needs to appear manly (is there a connection?) But,
When I was younger I would amaze my friends by grabbing a lock of my hair and pulling it apart in half. Now I use a cap, and my hair is brown, lustrous, and bouncy. At least, what little I have left . . . :(
