I'm going out to the island were my boyfriend lives next week and I'm going to spend quite much time in the ocean. How am I going to handle that with my hair? Can I co away the salt? Or should I just do as I normally do, mild shampoo and condish? I use a cone-free condish.
btw, the other day dad mentioned how shiney my hair has been since I started to "experimenting" as he said. (he just shakes his head when I talk about hair, lol)

I'd say to be careful to keep your hair moisturized. If I'm going into the ocean I coat my hair with conditioner and put it in a bun, then rinse out later.

I'd think you might want to put some sort of leave-in on your hair to protect it, but what, I'm not sure.

I'm not sure how to prevent problems, but you might want to look over this thread. Mostly read the first post to see what the problem was then go to page 3 and read about Heidi W's recomendations.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=12690&pp=15

I would definitely soak your hair in water and use "something" to protect it from the salt. We went to a salt bathing area nearby and it just trashed my dd's hair. Not even -cones would giver her hair slip after that!

I'm in Iceland right now and doing a lot of swimming, both in chlorinated and salted water. Be very afraid of the salt. I've found what works best is to oil heavily before swimming and then braid tightly. Wash out immediately after. I have a swimming cap, but I'm not sure how well it works. I think water just gets trapped in there, almost making it worse.

I'm going out to the island were my boyfriend lives next week and I'm going to spend quite much time in the ocean. How am I going to handle that with my hair? Can I co away the salt? Or should I just do as I normally do, mild shampoo and condish? I use a cone-free condish.
btw, the other day dad mentioned how shiney my hair has been since I started to "experimenting" as he said. (he just shakes his head when I talk about hair, lol)

We live 5 minutes from the beach so this is from much personal experience. I always wet my hair at home, add a heavy condish with sunscreen, do not rinse out, and bun or braid for the day. With your hair wet and coated, it will absorbe very little salt, and you should be able to wash and condish normally after a day at the beach.

Have fun!

Wow, all that protection bit is such a bummer! One of the joys of swimming with long hair is having it loose and swirling around in the water!

I lived near the beach when I was young and I don't remember any problems other than wanting very much to wash/rinse the salt out very well at the end of the swimming day. but I didn't know much about hair-care then either. Though I did care a lot and wanted it to be beautifully soft and silky. And mostly it was, as I recall - but that was many years ago.

Personally I think the worst abuse is from the salt/sun combination. The hair will dry in the sun with the salt in it. It really can't be combed out until after you've rinsed the salt out and conditioned it.

How annoying.

wow, your hair must have been pretty easy maintenance. I took no precautions when I took my dd to the salt bath - we don't go very often - but once was enough for us both to notice a considerable change in her hair. There was just no way to comb through it at all.

I know it's already been mentioned, but just wanted to support the practice - wet your hair first with regular water, then add some oil or conditioner.

For swimming either at the sea or in chlorine, what I normally do is start with my hair in a ponytail, then hop in the shower to wet it down (doesn't hurt to wet your bathers too - especially if you're swimming in chlorine). I add my fav conditioner or a good amount of oil to the ponytail, then twist it into a firm bun and hold with pins. When I've finished my swim, it will still be choc full of conditioner, so I know that the salt water hasn't got in :grin: