Holiday Hair Style: How to Look Perfect in Summer

Keeping your holiday hair style under control isn't just about keeping your expensive up-do from falling down while you're dancing. It's about healthy-looking hair during those wet, hot, and sticky months of summer, whether at home or on vacation.

Those who live in areas where the sun and humidity get downright unbearable during the summer know how difficult it is to keep their hair looking good. But if you aren't familiar with the potentially damaging effects of humidity, salt water, sand, chlorine, wind and dry air, you might not know how to properly care for your holiday hair.

It's easy to breathe new life into it by following a few simple summertime tips.

Hair that's full of split ends looks bad so the first thing you should do even before the summer months set in is give your hair a good trim to remove those damaged ends or try a new hair style. Hair looks instantly better after it's been cut.

If you plan to color your hair, remember that chemically treated hair is more vulnerable to environmental conditions such as sun, water and humidity. Plan your hair coloring three weeks before your trip so your hair has time to regain its natural balance and is more resistance to damage.

Another thing you can do is ask your stylist for a deep conditioning treatment prior to your vacation. This will help to smooth the hair, repair damage and make the whole hair structure stronger.

Depending on your destination climate, you might also need to bring a surface conditioner with moisturizing qualities for hot, dry weather or frizz control cream for a humid climate. Unlike deep conditioners, these products coat your hair with a protective layer while adding gloss and making your style more manageable.

It just wouldn't be a summer vacation without time in the water. Although swimming and other water activities are a lot of fun, they can wreak havoc on your holiday hair. Whether you're swimming in the sea or at the hotel pool, always rinse the sea salt and chlorine out of your hair with plenty of fresh water.

Chlorine dries out the hair, making it brittle. It also fades the color and with some hair colors, can turn hair an unsightly shade of green. It's not the chlorine that turns your hair green but the presence of heavy metals like copper. The chlorine initiates the process by damaging the hair cuticle, which allows these metals to enter the inner structure of hair.

It also wouldn't be a summer vacation without spending as much time as possible in the sun. We know how damaging the sun's UV rays are to our skin, but these rays also damage the hair's structure. They break down the keratin which results in dry hair that breaks easily. So look for hair care products that contain UV protection and use them as directed to help your holiday hair style look as healthy as your holiday tan.

Lots of people with fine hair apply too much anti-frizz serum to their scalp and hair, which makes it look greasy and weighed down. Instead, apply a light conditioner beginning at the middle of the hair strand and continuing down to the ends. Then finish your hair style with anti-frizz serum applied only to the ends to seal off the tips so water can't enter the hair shaft.

When you're packing your suitcase, be sure you include a mild shampoo, a mild conditioner, an anti-frizz serum (especially if you have naturally curly hair), and hair spray for those times when your holiday hair needs extra hold. And check to make sure all these products contain UV protection. Just remember: using UV products doesn't mean you can stay out in the sun indefinitely. Your hair and scalp can be damaged if exposed to too much sun so don't forget to bring a sun hat.

Nancy Faizabadi is a professional hair stylist and the founder of http://www.short-hair-style.com where you can find free tips on short hair style and color ideas, hair color trends, hair products and much more. Whether your hair is fine, thick, curly, straight, processed, colored or in need of a new style, short-hair-style.com has a section for you.