Better Braid-Outs for a Swimmer?

[Courtney]

Hello Ladies!
Lately I have been swimming on a daily bases for school, and even thought I put about 15 different layers under my swim cap, water always seems to seep in through the back and get my hair damp. Though I like wearing my relaxed hair straight, the water and humidity from the cap make the back of my hair wave up. I hate the idea that I have been straightening the back so often and lately I've noticed that my ends are getting really thin and ragged. I guess a braid out with a leave-in would be a better solution to match the texture my hair gets when it's wet. The only problem is swimming is leaving my hair really dry and I don't know what to put on it when I braid it up at night. I usually put it into two french braids with rollers at the ends, but when I take it out in the morning, it's either really dry and stiff looking, or really oily and weighed down (I have fine hair) and no matter what the wave pattern is never even or uniform. Even when I french braid it evenly, some parts of the wave fall or it gets really frizzy. Anybody know any products that leaves braid-outs, soft, moisturized, shiny and uniform (especially if you swim)? Some products I tried that I didn't like for this purpose were: Most wrap lotions (too dry), bottled oil (weighs down), John Frieda fast-absorbing daily replenisher (still kinda dry) and Lusters Pink Moisturizer (too heavy for my hair).Any feed back would be greatly appreciated...thankx ladies!

 

[Jenai]

Don't have any advice on the braid out thing, but are you putting conditioner on your hair before getting into the pool? I got that advice years ago from a Caucasian friend of mine who used to belong to a local swim team. She said it helped prevent her hair from drying and frizzing.

 

[EmeraldSky]

<font color="purple"> Try a braid-out using scurl activator or the world of curls activator gel on damp/wet hair, I've tried both and it came out very nice the activator is very moisturizing. I use a little wild growth over the scurl for extra softness and to seal in the moisture sometimes. To counteract the damage from the water a gentle deep cleansing shampoo every few washes is a good idea. Also I would recommend doing a protein treament every 4-6 weeks and a deep conditioning treament with every wash, hot oil treatments are also very good. My favorites are L'anza's deep cleansing shampoo or Nexxus's aloe rid for deep cleansing and removing chlorine, ORS hair mayonaise, Nexxus Emergencee or Aphogee Treatment for damaged hair for protein conditioners.
I hope this helps! /images/graemlins/smile.gif </font>

 

[brownrelaxedhair]

Hi Courtney,

I agree with using s-curl in your hair. I have relaxed hair and after washing/conditioning, I spritz it through out and braid the hair into 2 pigtails to dry. It comes out once airdried, with a moisturised waves. The s-curl has glycerine as the second ingredient which I've come to realize is a key moisture retainer. I had to get my head round using activator on relaxed hair /images/graemlins/ohwell.gif but trust me it works!!!

Conditioner wise, I have heard that Aubrey Organics Swimmers Conditioner is excellent. I haven't yet tried it but will one day. I don't swim but it is apparently ultra moisturizing. I love Aubrey Oranics Island Cream Spice and for protein, their GPB is fantastic. Very effective and doesn't dry out the hair like other protein conditioners. You don't even have to follow with a moisturizing conditioner but I still do out of habit /images/graemlins/grin.gif

If I were you, I'd put in a good moisturizing leave in conditioner, follow with s-curl and braid the hair. You'll lose the straight look you liked but you'll have healthier hair that should look nice once air dried with those products in it.

Let me know how you get on?

 

[brownrelaxedhair]

Also, consider adding a tsp of extra virgin olive oil to your conditioner, this really helps boost the moisture content of your hair that stays in the hair after its dry. I like doing this followed with the s-curl on wet hair for the braid out.