Ugh. Blondes. Having blonde hair is beautiful, but rough! If you’re a blonde like me, learn how to care for blonde hair while traveling to keep those locks beautiful and full of life!
Don’t get me wrong, I love my blonde hair! I was born with golden locks and have been dying my hair the same color since I was 15 to keep it up.
But the maintenance that comes with being a blonde… UGH! It’s more than a drag-it’s super hard work! (Whoever said blondes have more fun clearly didn’t spend much time with them during their beauty routine.)
Whether you’re a natural blonde or a salon-treated one, odds are you’ve probably had to put in a little more work with keeping your hair healthy than your brunette or red-head friends.
And traveling makes it worse!
Different elements, water filled with rough minerals, harsh sunlight and a lack of a regular beauty care end up destroying your precious, golden hair.
I know. I’ve been there.
I’ve traveled long-term on a few occasions now and have picked up quite a few tricks for blonde hair care management while traveling on the road. Follow these tips so you can save your hair!
Avoid Protein-Based Shampoo
There are a lot of positive benefits to having protein-rich shampoos for treating those long, blonde locks. If you have particularly thin hair, protein based shampoo (like quinoa or keratin) helps create volume and build each strand of hair.
However, when traveling to different places around the world, there are a lot of different environmental factors that can change the consistency of this shampoo. This can include wind, snow, pollution and sunlight.
Check with your colorist or stylist to see which shampoo works with your hair type first! But while traveling, save that volume for home. More often than not, your hair will experience a lot of dryness on the road. Pick an oil-based shampoo to help hydrate your hair.
Protect Your Hair From the Sun
When I was young, my mom would put ‘Sun In’ in my hair and let the sun blonde it up. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and the habit to let the sun kiss my hair is a hard habit to break!
Depending on where you travel, the sun can be even harsher on your hair than your home country. But no matter where you live. the sun can strip your color, dry out your hair and break the ends! To keep your hair from these horrible conditions, bring a cute hat or scarf. This will not only protect your hair from the sun, but keep you cool as well.
Rinse With Bottled Water
Before you freak out about purchasing INSANE amounts of water for your hair, don’t worry. I’m definitely not encouraging every wash with expensive, bottled water!
However, the water you are washing your hair with is probably different than your hometown’s water (which your hair has become accustomed to). Water doesn’t just differ from country or state, but cities as well!
Using bottled water will help rinse out all kinds of residue from your scalp as well as the strange microbes and metals often found in foreign water. To keep from using too much, measure out two cups of bottled water and rinse only with this allowance.
*Tip: For an ultimate rinse, you can add 1 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar for every cup of water after shampooing your hair. However I DO NOT recommend this for dry hair.
Pack and Use Coconut Oil on the Road
If you’re having a great vacation, chances are your hair is dried out.
Snorkeling, diving, sunbathing, snowboarding, paragliding and other action-packed activities will leave your hair very dry and brittle due to the various weather conditions you’re putting it through. You need to add a lot of moisture and hydration to your hair!
No matter how long my travels last, I always make sure to bring USDA organic, virgin coconut oil. You can either put a quarter-sized dollop on your ends before you go out to the beach or you can cover your whole head with it the night before you shower in the morning. (Click here for the perfect, traveler size coconut oil.)
Bring Blonde (Purple) Shampoo With You
For those of you cool, icy blondes, I feel for you.
Keeping up with those ashy tones is a real pain and quite difficult to do. Whether it’s hard water or certain hair products you use, it doesn’t take long for those icy, blonde strands to turn yellow.
Purple Shampoo (also known as silver shampoo) is perfect for maintaining your cool color, longer. While you don’t need to use it for every wash, every other wash is perfect for saving your hair and your wallet. This is a must for every blonde’s travel bag!
*Tip: If after using this shampoo you find your hair feeling straw-like and dry, it probably has too much peroxide in it. Test out a couple of brands before your trip so that you will have the healthiest hair during your travels. Or you can mix the purple shampoo with your normal shampoo!
Visit The Salon
If you’re at your wits end (like I was during my honeymoon around the world), you just might need to chop those dead ends off or touch up those roots. But this can be tricky as well!
If you’re traveling through Southeast Asia, it can be hard to find a good, blonde colorist. In Europe, it’ll be hard to find one that isn’t very expensive. And no matter what, they just aren’t the same as your colorist/stylist back home!
Before your trip, talk to your colorist about the products they use, the percentage of peroxide used on your hair and have them write this down for you! When you visit the foreign salon, give them this paper.
This will remove more chance of error when touching up your hair. And if you’re just looking for a cut, research online for notable and trustworthy hair stylists!
Dye Your Hair a Different Color
This is my least favorite tip, though it may be necessary.
If you’re traveling for more than 4 months, don’t have the money for these products/treatments, and truly care for a fresh look, dying your hair color to it’s natural color might be the best bet.
When I studied abroad in Sweden, I dyed my hair back to my natural, mousy brown my hair decided to adopt during my teenage years.
While I missed being a blonde, it saved me a lot of trouble, time and drinking money school supplies money. It did eventually break (since I wasn’t taking care of it at all), but the dark color really postponed the process.
Hi Sebrin,
According to my opinion in traveling time, Bleach London has a pink shampoo which you can take with you but I get the dye as the bottle is smaller and I really like having pink hair so I use it even when my hair isn’t green. Any pink dye at all will do, just do not leave it on for the complete recommended amount or it will actually dye your hair. Just pop it in for a few minutes and rinse out to get your hair back to its regular color.