Problem Of Hair In Surf

Taranaki Daily News, 20 November 1937, Page 13 (Supplement)

Problem Of Hair In Surf

How To Prevent Damage

Gay days ahead! With hats off to surfing, tennis, golf, sailing and riding, you outdoor lovers will want your hair looking its best, so something wiU need to be done to keep it healthy and lustrous against the ravages of salt water, sun and siunmer winds. It is going to be difficult, for salt water and sun combined ruin the texture of the hair quicker than anything I know. Pity the poor hair-dresser faced with the problem at the end of tht surfing season of putting a satisfactory permanent wave into hair exposed all summer. Moderate doses of tlie sun— one of the sources of vitamin D — are good for hair and health generally; but, like the skin, the hair is just as sensitive to the sun, and needs similar protection. You can partially waterproof hair against any prolonged siege in salt water by using a heavy a plication of a cream preparation of which there are several to be had. One with a lanoline base is good, particularly for children, as, apart from protecting the hair, it replaces the oils dried out bj constant exposure. There are other lightei creams that will do the trick almost as weD and are not quite so h^avy. If your hair becomes wet, don't dry it in the sun,1 as this causes ugly bleached streaks. Wash it at tlie first available moment, and do not imagine that a dip under the cold shower will remove the salt water. A light Jquid shampoo should be used with warm water, or, better still, one of the vegetable oil compounds (soapless oil shampoos, they are called) will remove the coating of salt water quickly and effectively.

If you cannot manage the shampoo, give the hair a good brushing, and then rub it over with a spirit friction lotion. This temporary expedieru will do until you can get to your hair-dresser, where you should have an oil treatment, in which the hair is soaked in warm oil and hot packs, which remove all the impurities. Or you could have one of the comparatively new reconditioning life-savers— a treatment with a creamy substance, which, it is claimed, furnishes necessary vitamins lacking in hair suffering from exposure to cver-baking by the sun or other agents. There is a great diversitj of opinion as to whether vitamins can be supplied externally per medium of creams and lotions to the hair and skin, or whether these essentials to life and health can only be supplied through our food intake. Whichever i. right, it is a fact that the above-mentioned cream lias an immediate and beneficial effect on the hair, softening and restorin& the lustre in one treannent. Tlie hair is first washed and, while still damp, massaged tnoroughly with the vitamin cream (reversing the usual order) from tfu tips to the roofs. An electrically-heated hood is then placed over tlie head, while heat— very gentle heat— causes tlie cream to permeate to the scalp. Tlie theory that a mild degree of heat . is more beneficial than a higher temperature is based on a scientific fact that the greater amoimt of heat causes the scalp to perspire and prevents the absorption of the cream.