Skin and Hair Care for Swimmers
Original Image よぴんこ（yopinco） / Fotolia
In this summer that went by, the heat was really bad. And most of the time I couldn’t bring myself to go to gym. So as I was wondering what to do, I decided to learn swimming. This is something I wanted to learn long ago, but never happened.
The benefits were immense. For one, I overcame my fear of water and learnt to trust my body more. Secondly, it was really enjoyable and good way to beat the heat. And hey, it is always good to learn a new skill. However, with the benefits, came the not so good side effects. For one, I was tanned and my already dry skin became even more dry. I tanned by at least two shades over my natural skin tone. Which meant all my foundations. compacts and BB creams found their way to the back of my shelves.
I did try using sunscreens which claimed to be waterproof, however, they did not work in preventing the tan. I realized that though you cannot avoid skin and hair damage by 100%, there are ways and means that can definitely reduce the damage. Here are a few tips for skin and hair care for swimmers from my experience which I hope would benefit you as well –
1. Use swimming cap
Most basic thing you can do to protect your hair is to wear a swimming cap. Also, at most pools, they will insist that you wear one. I use the one meant for long hair by Speedo. It is also very important that you learn the right way to wear it. Else water will seep in through the cap, and find it’s way to your hair.
2. Use a protective serum on your hair
Use a a good protective serum or a very little quantity of non-greasy hair oil along the shafts of your hair. By this, I don’t mean use it just before you go. Leave it on for some time before you go for a swim, so that it gives your hair some time to absorb it and form a good protective layer. So, inspite of using a cap, your hair still gets wet in the pool, there is some protection from it coming in direct contact with your hair.
3. Shower before and after swimming
At most pools, they are very particular about you taking a shower before getting into the pool. The reason is to reduce contamination of the water. But, there is another benefit to it. When you take a shower before swimming, your skin gets saturated with the water, thereby reducing the amount of chlorine water it will absorb. Also, for obvious reasons, it’s also important that you take a shower as soon as you’re out of the pool.
4. Moisturize your skin
Make moisturizer your skin’s best friend since the chlorine in the pools is going to make your skin really dry. Make it a point to moisturize before and after swimming. Again, when I say before swimming, I don’t mean just before you go for a swim. Give your skin some time to soak it in. Also, once you’re done with swimming, shower as soon as possible and moisturize.
5. A quick DIY to reduce tanning and skin damage
Mix – Besan (chickpea flour) + curd + turmeric to form a paste and apply to your face and body. (Not when you’re at the pool, silly 😛 ) Leave on for around 20 min and wash off. The curd helps with moisturization and de-tanning, and turmeric adds a glow to your skin. Besan again helps with de-tanning and as a mild scrubbing agent.
This is the only thing that showed noticeable results and reverse the tanning and damage done to my skin due swimming.
6. Use Aloevera gel post swimming
Aloevera gel is another product I really loved to soothe my skin post swimming. Since I have sensitive skin, I did have minor irritations and inflammations post swimming, for which aloevera gel worked wonders.
Well, these are all I could come up with from my experience. Hope you find them useful. Would love to hear more tips from you. Do stop by and leave a comment!
