Slathering our bodies with sunscreen is second nature for most of us by now, but many people don’t know that our hair actually needs sun protection too — especially if you’re like me and are so pale that your scalp sometimes gets burned (ouch!!!). In fact, the same UV rays that damage skin can also penetrate the cuticle and oxidize hair color (ie blonde hair can become brassy, brown hair can become reddish…), and even if your hair isn’t colored exposing it to the sun without protection will cause it to loose some of its vibrancy and become frizzy and rough (basically putting to waste all the time and money invested in all those Kerastase products all year-round). To that end, Redken recently came-out with New Color Extend Sun Collection which consists of After-Sun Shampoo ($13 for 10.1oz), After-Sun Mask ($15 for 8.5oz), and Sparkling Shield ($16 for 5oz — this is a leave-in conditioner), all of which are formulated with Hydra-Shield Complex to give hair broad-spectrum protection against UV rays. They’re also formulated with a new patented UV filter, Soplexyl for UV protection, and Mango Oil to help prevent dryness. My only complaint about the collection (which has a wonderfully light, non-fruity, refreshing smell), is that I wish they had a regular conditioner. My routine as of now is that I use a mask once a week and the other times I use a smidgen of regular conditioner and a smidgen of leave-in conditioner (I cannot live without Kerastase Chroma Riche!). So I’ve been mixing and matching my Chroma Riche hair care products with the Color Extend Sun ones and so far so good — I just got my highlights done when I was in Madrid and I’m relieved that they will be protected from the sun!
