When Oil And Water Mix

Long Hair And Surfing

There’s something about saltwater that makes long hair look great. But it’s not all glamorous.

At some point you’re gonna get slammed or tossed by a wave, wrung and spun in the whitewater. Compounding matters for the longhaired surfer is coming up with a heavy wet welcome mat of long hair in your face. Unless you like being blinded and trying to breathe through a salty wet mop, it’s a pain in the ass.

Worse when you go to push it back out of your face and it’s so tangled, matted and knotted you can’t run your fingers through it and it feels like it’s plastered to your face. Sometimes you just have to paddle with this mess.

Solution: Coconut Oil

I started using coconut oil in my hair before surfing. What a difference.

From the first time I immediately noticed my hair felt smoother and softer in the water. Instead of feeling rough, sticky and matted, pushing my hair back is easy, it just glides off my face. It still gets plenty tangled, but doesn’t feel stuck or plastered.

I’ve had especially good results when also using sunscreen on my face. Mixed with sunscreen the coconut oil creates a protective barrier for your entire face and hair, not just from the saltwater, but from the sun and wind also. Which is a good idea.

Bonus: Great Hair

What’s awesome is how good this is for your hair.

Saltwater acts like a natural shampoo. Salt and minerals exfoliate your hair and scalp, cleansing your hair of oils, dirt and grime. That’s great, but the salt also sucks the moisture out, particularly with the sun and wind as well. Stripping all the natural oils and drying it out can make your hair hard, brittle and break easily.

Coconut oil prevents that from happening. It coats your hair and scalp, protecting it and preventing the absorption of salt. In other words you’ll get the positive cleansing effects without dehydrating and damaging. It also lubricates your hair, smoothing and reducing friction so it’s not so matted and stuck to your face.

Next Up: Doing It

Follow the steps in Quick Tips for applying coconut oil to your hair and scalp, brushing it out, then tying it up until you’re ready to paddle out—which carries the major side-benefit of not getting your hair caught in your wetsuit zipper.

Once you get out the saltwater has already cleansed, so you don’t need to wash afterwards. But you do want to get the salt out, so rinse thoroughly with fresh water. Then use conditioner, then finally a spray in de-tangler to comb it out. And you’re DIALED.

Get that beach hair working for you. Oil and water stepping up your #longhairgame

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