Yes!!! It’s that time again. Kiss Jack Frost good-bye until next year. Hopefully, your hair has made it through the winter unharmed.

But if you did experience some damage or breakage due to the winter; check out this 5 Step Repair For Seasonal Breakage here.

Being a mad hatter is a wonderful way to protect your hair. Sporting a chic sun hat to keep hair and skin shielded from those bright UV rays, while protecting color and moisture. But aside from wearing a sun hat every day, here are some other awesome tips that you may want commit to memory.

Here are 10 Best Summer Tips for Natural Hair

MOISTURIZE!!!

When it comes to hair, I really can’t emphasis the importance of moisturizing enough. Your moisturizing routine or lack thereof can literally make or break your hair. Your hair needs moisture!!! And water equals moisture. In the past, we have been taught that water makes our hair dry and brittle. Now we know, that is so false. Your hair needs water.

Spritz & Seal at night before bed or during the day when your hair and scalp are extremely parched will save you from cleaning up hair strands off the floor.

In the summer, I carry a bottle of drinking water and a spray bottle for my hair (just in case). Moisturize your hair as often as you needed especially if you leave in very hot climates.

Summer Natural Hair Tip: Moisturize hair as often as needed to prevent dryness via @naturalhairrule http://nathairrul.es/1mAwn3m

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You may have to experiment with hairstyles that give you the freedom to moisturize without frizz or minimal shrinkage (if that bothers you).

Twisted or braided styles are usually perfect for that. If you live in an area with hard water, this maybe the only exception to limited tap water on your hair. Use bottled water instead to make your moisturizing sprays.

Do You Live in a State With Hard Water?

You can combat hard water by clarifying regularly with apple cider vinegar or a great moisturizing clarifying shampoo like Ouidad Superfruit Clarifying Shampoo or Sheamoisture Black Shampoo and Balancing Conditioner.

For Extremely Dry Hair: Try an Oil Rinse

An oil rinse has been compared to a hot oil treatment, but done in the shower. This is something that I do year round. It’s simple!

Apply any of the three oils that penetrate hair (coconut, olive, or avocado) or try all three in the shower after shampooing your hair and scalp. Make sure to ring out excess water and apply oil from ends to roots.

Then condition hair as normal. It’s guaranteed to leave your hair soft and moisturize but not greasy.

Penetrating oils aid the hair by increasing its ability to absorb and retain water molecules. Oils such as coconut, olive, and avocado oils enter the hair and bind to water molecules due to their polar structure.

Read more about the Benefits of Oil Rinse.

Spritz & Seal

Spritz & Seal is a great way to moisturize DAILY and prevent breakage. A moisturizing spritz that consists of water, aloe vera juice, and avocado oil will hydrate the driest of hair. Some of my readers, shout the praises of Argan Oil too. But moisture can easily escape if not sealed in with a natural sealant.

The best natural sealants are heavy oils (jojoba, castor, or almond) or thick butters, Shea Butter for example.

Shea butter (here are 10 Place You Can Buy Shea Butter) is also rich in SPF which protects your hair from UV rays. Try my simple whipped Shea Butter Recipe. You will find it here.

Spritz & Seal is perfect for moisturizing protective styles like braids, Marley Twists, or Havana Twists. (If you love Box Braids (and we all do) you may want to check out these quick Do’s and Don’ts of Braids.)

Read: Castor Oil & Hair Regrowth

Don’t Forget The Leave-In

After being exposed to the heat and sun, always replenish moisture in your hair by applying a hydrating leave-in treatment that softens, promotes manageability and shine, while busting frizz. Giovanni Direct Leave-In Conditioner and Eden BodyWorks Coconut Shea Leave-In Conditioner are both available at Wal-Mart.

Also, be sure to do a deep conditioning treatment every two weeks or as needed to rejuvenate your locks.

Co-Wash In Between Shampoo Sessions

Sometimes your hair and scalp can’t wait until your next shampoo session to be fully saturated with water. For a mid-week re-hydrating session cowash your hair with your favorite conditioner and then style as normal. Your hair will love you for it.

For some people co-washing daily is even great for their hair. Once my hair got to a certain length this wasn’t the best option for me. But when it was shorter my hair and scalp LOVED it. You may find that your hair feels the same.

Now, it creates more shrinkage than I wanted and more work during my already busy week.

Check out this list of 10 Cowashing Conditioners You Should Know

Get Rid of Those Dead (Split) Ends

Split, damaged, dead ends will not retain moisture. It’s just best to cut them. Get rid of those dead ends, girl!!!

Some signs that it’s time for a trim are pesky single strand knots, tangles, extremely dry & frizzy ends, and your hair just doesn’t appear to be growing. This is the perfect time to cut them before that cause any more trouble.

If you’re unsure of what your trim schedule should be read this post on things that determine how often you should trim your ends.

Detox those locks!

If you’re using a lot of oil (oiling hair daily, regularly using heavy butters and oils e.g shea butter, castor oil, doing regular oil rinses/hot oil treatments etc), you may find that mild shampoos simply aren’t able to clean your hair, sufficiently.

You may find that without the occasional clarifying shampoo, you may develop build up issues or that your hair is dull. In some case, your hair may even be dry because water is unable to penetrate.

Naptural 85, Youtube Blogger saw many of these signs and decided after 3 years without it to go back to shampoo. You can see it here.

Clarify After Swimming

After swimming in a pool or the ocean, be sure to wash your hair that same day with a clarifying shampoo such as SheaMoisture African Black Soap Deep Cleansing Shampoo to remove chlorine or salt, which can cause dryness and damage, leaving it brittle and fading color.

Again a more gentle alternative, that’s also great for color treated hair is Ouidad Superfruit Clarifying Shampoo.

Embrace Shrinkage

Shrinkage is not the enemy… Our hair has a natural tendency to tightly curl or coil which exhibits itself in shrinkage. I personally see about 50% shrinkages. Although my hair is mid-back length, it shrinks to about shoulder length. I wrote about my experience here.

Shrinkage isn’t all bad because it’s your hair’s way of protecting itself from losing moisture. Embrace it or if you want to minimize shrinkage use heatless methods of stretching hair like these hairstyles: 5 Hairstyles That Minimize Shrinkage

Products that Stand Up Against Humidity

I know a lot about humidity. I was born in Houston, TX. Can you say ‘hot and humid’?!

Humidity can cause your hair to swell in a matter of minutes. The best way to beat the poof and frizz that comes with humidity is to invest in great styling products that keep your hair hydrated, yet shield it from the moisture in the air.

Here are a few styling products that do that…

EDEN BodyWorks All Natural Coconut Shea Pudding Souffle
Design Essentials Natural HONEY CurlForming Custard with Honey & Chamomile
EDEN BodyWorks All Natural Coconut Shea Curl Defining Creme
Miss Jessie’s Original Curly Pudding
Jane Carter Twist and Shine
As I Am Twist Defining Cream