How Does Water Affect Your Hair & Hair Extensions?

You’ve been enjoying your day and living life, when all of a sudden the sky greys up and next thing you know, you’re running under the rain. Some people say this is worse and will make you get all wet faster, some others just embrace it without knowing how rainwater can affect your hair and skin, and a few people (very few) are prepared and always carry an umbrella with themselves. Unless you belong to the latter category, chances are you’ve found yourself coming home being a soaking-wet mess, and needed a shower. If you wear hair extensions, this can be a further cause of concern. But how does rainwater affect your hair and hair extensions? Let’s find out together.

1. Does Rain Make Your Hair Greasy?

Yes, it does. One of the most common things happening after getting caught in the rain, is that unless you shower immediately and give your tresses a good round of shampoo, you’ll end up with heavy, flat and lifeless hair until it gets washed. Hair that gets flattened down by rainwater isn’t just annoying and inconvenient, it also makes your tresses and scalp get dirty. Given the fact that we have messed around with our planet too much, as a result rainwater contains several pollutant agents and is, therefore, toxic. As a result, your scalp will be gasping for hair and be affected by build-up, grease, and your hair will look and feel dull and heavy. Not ideal. On top of that, the germs and bacteria carried by rainwater can inflame your scalp and hair follicles, leading to itchy scalp and dandruff.

2. Does Rainwater Damage Hair?

Although there might be something romantic about getting caught in the rain, as soon as you realise how bad this can be for your hair, you’ll change your mind quite quickly. Hair is at its weakest when wet, and this obviously includes rainwater. All the pulling from your jacket, bag, and even you trying to keep your wet hair away from your face whilst hopping on your train, trying to get back home asap, can lead to premature breakage and split ends. In the case of  hair extensions, things can go downhill real quick when it rains on them. Remy hair extensions can encounter brittleness and dryness and become irreparably damaged if exposed to rainwater for too long.

Like regular water, rain can lift up your hair cuticles and lead to tangling, roughness in your hair and other factors that may lead to hair breakage. And the same goes for hair extensions! Read more about how water affects your hair in our dedicated blog: How Is Your Water Affecting Your Hair?.

3. Does Rain Cause Hair Loss?

Yes, it can and it will. Exposing your tresses to rainwater one too many times can even be a leading cause behind hair loss, due to its suffocating effect on hair follicles. Dandruff and build-up are two big problems that you can encounter if you let rain come in close contact with your scalp for too long. People getting caught in the rain too often are more prone to getting sick: for the same reason you wouldn’t want to catch a nasty cold, you don’t want any of that to come in contact with your hair and skin!

4. How Does Rain Affect Curly Hair?

Because of its texture, curly hair is particularly prone to getting damaged by hair water. If your curly hair has a high porosity level, your strands could swell dangerously when in contact with rain water for too long, becoming fragile, lifeless and lacking in shine.

5. How Does Rain Affect Damaged Hair?

Damaged tresses, no matter how straight they may be, encounter the same issue as curly hair. With their outer layer of cuticles being damaged and lifted, damaged strands (whether it’s heat damage or chemical) are more likely to have a high porosity level that will allow rain to wreak havoc in your mane.

6. How Does Rain Affect Hair Extensions?

As previously mentioned, rainwater can have a drying and brittling effect on both natural hair and human hair extensions. In the case of clip in hair extensions, mixing wet hair and metal clips is a very bad idea. First of all, the clips would be more likely to damage or break your actual hair; secondly, the whole thing is fertile terrain for a terrible hair-matting disaster.

If you’re wearing tape in hair extensions, for example, the dirt and build-up of rainwater can make your hair significantly greasy, and potentially lead to your tapes slipping off easily.

7. How To Protect Hair From Rain?

Now that you know how bad rainwater is for your mane, it’s time to take a few precautions for you to limit the damage. Let’s find out together how you can protect your hair from the effects of rainwater.

Wear A Protective Hairstyle

Tucking your ends and lengths in a protective hairstyle such as a braid or a bun can be an effective way to limit the damage that rainwater can do to your tresses. Protective hairstyles are the best way to look cute and fashionable whilst taking care of your hair, sheltering it from damaging agents such as rain, wind and general pulling and tugging. You can also wear a protective hairstyle for sleeping; in the case of braids and plaits, this can also be a cute idea to get a wavy or curly ‘do overnight. You can read more about it on our dedicated blog: 10 Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping (Straight To Loose Curls Edition).

Wear A Hat

Wearing a hat isn’t just a fashion statement, but it can make a huge difference when it starts drizzling. A hat will protect your scalp and roots from rainwater, significantly limiting the damage they could go through if you were to get caught in the rain. Fungal infections thrive in humid and hot environments, and a warm scalp splashed with rainwater makes the ideal field for fungi to proliferate. Stay safe!

Carry An Umbrella

This may be kind of a given, but if you have checked the weather and it says it might be raining, don’t put your hair’s health and beauty in the hands of fate – take an umbrella with you. Nowadays there are many options and colours, also available in pocket-size for you to carry in your bag.

Use Anti-Frizz Products

Even if you’re carrying an umbrella, the general humidity of the weather can potentially make your hair frizzy – especially if you have curly hair. If the weather doesn't look too promising, make sure you treat your hair accordingly with anti-frizz products. In the case of hair extensions, using Cliphair Moisturising Silky Spray can be an effective way to shelter your precious tresses from humidity and frizz.

8. How To Fix Hair After Rain?

If it’s too late and rain has mercilessly fallen down on you already, make sure you wash your hair thoroughly as soon as you can. Washing your hair too often might be a little harsh on your scalp, but it doesn’t even come close to the havoc that rainwater can wreak up there.

Make sure you focus on gentle, reviving products that will help you get rid of any possible build-up in your hair and scalp. If necessary, consider using a scalp scrub too!

9. Conclusion:

Look up! Not just a great film, but a heartfelt piece of advice. If the sky looks grey, make sure you take all the necessary precautions to protect your hair and hair extensions in case of rain. From the right hairstyle to the right products, next time you’ll get caught in the rain you’ll be prepared.