Holiday swimming pool hair

[KathleenW]

I'm going on holiday and I'd like to swim plenty but my hair is a mess of frizzy curls after any minor encounter with water. Not nice curls, more like a windswept birds nest.
Does anyone know of a product or technique that can prevent this?

Coconut oil and very tight french plaits

Daily swimmer here. I wear cheap, PU coated fabric swim caps (about £2 from Amazon) so I don't have to wash my hair every day - they don't pull my hair as much as normal silicone ones. If you don't want to wear a swim cap, soaking your hair before you get in the water stops it absorbing so much chlorine/salt, and adding a protectant conditioner etc will moisturise at the same time. Some great advice here - nobody has better advice on looking after curls than women with natural hair www.ebony.com/style/ways-to-protect-hair-when-swimming-993/

I use a Kerastase protector for coloured hair & plait it. My hair is long, wavy & there’s lots of it.

I get my dd to very tightly French plait my hair every few days on holiday as mine does the same. Although I care far less when on holiday than I do when I’m at home. My already quite low standards slip considerably!!

Probably unhelpful but I am the same and have just decided that this is what hats are for...

Kerastraight/keratin treatment is a life changer. It's not the cheapest (if I hunt around I can get it for 100-150) but it lasts 4 months+ and my hair is straight and frizz free after a blast dry!!!! Even if I don't dry it its almost straight. Love it, I have it done year round as it takes loads of time off getting showered/ready. But perfect for holiday. You can get cheaper versions that just take frizz out (like perfect first shampoo, used to get it for like 40 and lasts 6 weeks, but nowhere near as good)

Pie I once had a hair relaxin treatment to enable me to fly for a wedding abroad without the need to take straighteners and all my paraphernalia away with me.
It left my hair coated in the most disgustingly textured almost waxy residue and it lasted for months - worst still, my hair was still mental so it didn’t even bloody work properly. I’ve swerved anything remotely similar ever since but I’m tempted by your post.
Do you go somewhere for it?

The keratin stuff is totally different to chemical straightening, it makes your hair smooth and glossy, SO soft. Then it just seems normal again. You have to use sulphate free products after to make it last better, but I had mine done beginning of March (yeah, in salon, but not a big name, just local so cheaper) I have REALLY curly hair (poodle hair 😂) and for the first month I didn't see a hint of curl, then since when it's wet there is but I can get it straight in 5 minutes with hairdryer with barely any brush. I have a lot of baby hair due to hair loss too and it keeps those under control, 4 months in and I can see about an inch of roots in my colour, but it's not really frizzy in that bit or anything? It's just slowly wearing off all over. Honestly it's been life changing not to have to plan in an hour for hair drying/straightening/re curling with straighteners... Now it's just blow dry in 5 minutes (treatment and the aftercare "insulator" smoother, which I got "free" with treatment and has lasted the whole time, makes it dry faster too!!) I had nanokeratin but there's kerastraight and stuff too. I think you can have it done lower strength so you keep your curls but get rid of frizz if that bothers you, but my curl is back if I want it and leave it to dry naturally... and frizz still WAY better months in. Styling lasts longer and my hair is less greasy too (which could be the sulphate free switch I guess). I sound like an advert but honestly as a curly girl whose natural curls have just gone horrible since hair loss, this has made me so happy to have hair I like again and is easy. Every holiday I end up with my hair up the whole time/ have to spend an hour washing/drying/straightening after a day with any contact with water... Then know it'll get wrecked again the next day... I can go out in the rain now and not end up with mental hair!! Honestly it's magic and my very fragile pathetic hair has got on fine with it too, so gotta be better than the known damaging of "relaxing" treatments. Also, you can wash it as soon as you want after treatment. I used to do a keratin kit off amazon (about 20 quid) at home but made my eyes water, you have to straighten your own hair like 3 times, you can't get it wet/wasn it/put it up for 3 days 😬 was not ideal!!! But that's how desperate I've been ha.

Thanks for these replies - French plaits are a good idea and I've done that before but not with coconut oil so may try this. Swim hat is no good as the fabric ones don't keep hair dry, the rubber ones are awful to wear and I want to look chic on my holiday. I tried a spotty shower cap before but I looked a bit daft. Pie you sound like you have the same crazy hair as me. I'm going to look into the Kerastraight.

Boots do a range called Sun gym and swim. I use the protector spray before swimming.