We don’t have a traditional swimmer’s shampoo, but our new Astral Amino does offer benefits if you’re a swimmer. Pools often have copper mixed into the chlorine to keep algae from turning the water green. The downside is that the copper can attach to your hair and leave it with a green patina, just like the Statue of Liberty.
Both our Astral Amino shampoo and conditioner contain a high percentage of chelators. These bind to metals like copper, magnesium, and calcium, helping to remove them from your hair. Chlorine also oxidizes the hair, and the antioxidants in Astral Amino help combat that damage, just like vitamin C shampoo your using.
The best hair medicine for you is prevention. Here’s a trick I used to share with guests when I worked behind the chair. A lot of them would apply conditioner and wear a cap before swimming, which does help, but conditioner does rinse out with water. So does wetting your hair with tap water first to reduce absorption, but the pool water will still absorb. But ideally, you want something non–water soluble. Jojoba oil is fantastic for this. I recommend wetting your hair, combing in jojoba oil, and then applying your swim cap. Oil and water don’t mix, so it creates a barrier to keep the chlorinated water out.
Other oils like coconut and avocado penetrate the hair, and after repeated use, they can weigh it down and cause styling issues. Jojoba, on the other hand, sits on the surface, it’s technically a liquid wax that mimics human sebum and is non-comedogenic. You’ll need to shampoo well afterward, but think of it as an Ayurvedic oil deep treatment while you swim. If you do find Jojoba is starting to weigh your hair down, you can switch to Grapeseed. Lighter but not as much protection, still great though.
If you really want to get serious about removing chlorine, look for a shampoo with sodium thiosulfate. It’s the only thing that truly neutralizes chlorine. It’s a bit too synthetic for our brand, but hopefully we’ve given you some other solutions.
And of course always use TONIK after bathing, this will really help with the higher pH water and is loaded with antioxidants.