Summer Hair Care for Black Hair [Complete Guide]

Summer brings real challenges for natural hair: moisture loss, scalp buildup, frizz, and UV damage that can quietly set back your progress. This guide covers everything you need for a solid summer hair care routine: scalp care, moisture strategies, the right products and tools, protective styling, and natural summer hairstyles that keep your strands thriving all season long.

Why Natural Hair Needs a Different Approach in Summer

Natural hair is special. And I say that with all the love and compassion of a naturalist myself.

Yet, our hair can be temperamental, and what better motive for acting out than the weather heating up? Here are some reasons you need to change up your hair care regimen for summer.

Your hair responds to the season it’s in. Natural hair reacts quickly to heat, humidity, and other environmental stressors. Without seasonal adjustments, breakage and dryness can occur. You know what I mean. The frizz that comes with increased humidity is no joke.

Moisture loss happens quicker. During the summer months, the sun is hot, you’re exposed to chlorine or salt water if you swim, and increased sweat. All of these can contribute to your hair losing moisture, and fast.

Your scalp needs attention as much as your hair. With increased sweating and buildup from products like sunscreen and edge control, your scalp can get clogged really fast. This leads to an itchy scalp and clogged pores, which can impact your hair growth.

Switch to simplicity to protect your hair. In the summer, you may be tempted to over-manipulate your strands. Yet, the hotter summer months are actually ideal for doing low maintenance and low manipulation hairstyles. You can enjoy outdoor activities and still look cute with a high puff.

Confidence in your hair routine frees you to enjoy the season. You will enjoy your summer fun when you don’t have to worry about your hair frizzing or drying out. Be free to focus on enjoying your summer, whether it’s at the pool or hanging at a BBQ.

Summer Scalp Care: Don’t Skip This Step

The scalp is often a neglected part of hair care. Considering the fact that your scalp is skin, it should also be part of your summer skin care routine. Everyone knows that to maintain healthy hair, you need a healthy scalp. That is where the hair grows from after all.

Daily Scalp Care

• Keep your scalp dry and clean, blotting away sweat with a dry, soft cloth
• Use a lightweight scalp mist or serum if your scalp feels dry or is itching
• Protect your scalp with a hat or scarf when spending extended time outdoors

Weekly Scalp Care

• Cleanse your scalp with a gentle, sulfate-free shampoo
• Massage your scalp 2 to 3 times weekly to stimulate blood circulation
• Use a lightweight oil or serum with peppermint or tea tree essential oil to refresh and balance your scalp. You can do this before massaging.

Monthly Scalp Care

• Exfoliate your scalp with a gentle store-bought or DIY scalp scrub to remove buildup and dead skin cells
• Use a moisture-balancing scalp mask if sun exposure has dried your scalp out

Solving Common Summer Scalp Problems

Problem: Sweating and dirt buildup Due to the crazy amount of sweating that can happen in the summer, you’ll want to make sure you keep your scalp free of dirt and oil buildup. The issue is you don’t want to wash your hair too often either.

Solution: Blot excess sweat from your scalp with a clean, dry cloth and use a scalp refresh spray containing rose water to keep it fresh. You can spray rose water on a cotton ball and dab your scalp as well. This works perfectly when your hair is in braids.

Problem: Sebum distribution For those of us with natural hair, we have some serious sebum production happening at the scalp. This is a wonderful natural moisturizer for our hair, but the issue is that sebum has difficulty making it down the hair shaft. So, we have to help it out a bit.

Solution: Keep your hair stretched and every few days, massage your scalp and gently smooth any oily substance down the hair strand.

Problem: Itching and irritation The summer heat can often bring with it a bit of scalp irritation, leading to itchiness. This can be caused by allowing certain hair products like gels and other stylers onto the scalp.

Solution: Create a mix of 5 drops of tea tree essential oil to 4 ounces of a lightweight carrier oil like jojoba oil (the closest oil to your natural sebum). Use the pads of your fingers to gently massage into your scalp to alleviate the irritation. Alternatively, you can use witch hazel on a cotton swab if you don’t want to use anything oil-based.

How to Keep Your Hair Moisturized All Summer

No matter where you are, hot temps are on the loom. Here are some summer natural hair tips to protect your hair and keep it moisturized by taking advantage of humidity.

Summer has always been coined “the growing season” for hair. However, it really depends on the climate you live in. While the humidity may do a number on a cute hairdo, it is also the catalyst for super moisturized hair that grows a bit faster for many ladies. That of course depends on how humid it actually is because too much humidity can actually cause your hair more harm than good.

Deep condition weekly. True lasting moisture penetrates the hair strand and moisturizes within. That can only be achieved with deep conditioning. That’s why you want to first continue deep conditioning your hair. Don’t skip out just because you may feel you don’t need it.

Balance moisture with protein. Depending on your hair’s needs, you may be able to do a protein treatment monthly. However, if your hair is super fine like mine, regular weekly doses of light protein will help with maintaining your protein-moisture balance. This is super important in the summer because humidity can cause too much moisture and cause your hair to have too much elasticity.

Add in at least one co-wash. While I’m not normally an advocate for regular cowashing and I certainly don’t think it should replace shampooing, it can give your hair a nice boost of moisture in the summer. The only caveat is that you use a cowash product, not just any old conditioner. You’ll want to use a cowash that is formulated to moisturize AND cleanse your hair.

Don’t skip moisturizing. Just because there’s moisture in your hair from the air, it won’t last forever. My preferred method for moisturizing in the summer is to add moisture on wash day via deep conditioning as well as a spritz and seal of moisture multiple times throughout the week. Even with humidity, the heat can cause your hair to dry out quickly. See:

• How to Moisturize and Seal High Porosity Hair
• How to Moisturize and Seal Low Porosity Hair

Don’t rely on humidity alone. We won’t even address other drying factors like swimming and laying out in the sun thinking your melanin’s got you covered but forgetting about your hair. I digress.

Sun Protection for Natural Hair

Protecting your hair from the sun is as important as protecting your skin. The UV rays that the sun emits can be very damaging to hair, causing it to dry out. With long exposure, your hair will not only be dehydrated, it will be more prone to breakage.

Different hair products can protect your hair from the sun. You can even use certain oils like carrot seed oil and red raspberry seed oil. However, the easiest and cheapest form of protection is to just wear a hat. Tuck your ends in and keep moving.

If you don’t like wearing hats and intend to spend lots of time outdoors, use lightweight hair products that contain some form of sunscreen.

See: Natural Sun Protection for Your Hair

Summer Hair Care Essentials: Tools and Products

Going with the theme of less is more, there are only a few hair care essentials I recommend you keep on hand to take good care of your hair in the summer.

Hair Care Tools

Think of these as your tools and accessories. You may want to use more, but this is my list (not minimalist but not maximalist either):

• RevAir reverse air hair dryer — dries natural hair in a stretched fashion quickly and gently A good hair dryer that has a diffuser attachment. I’m not partial to any particular brand, but this is the dryer I own.
• Puff Cuffs — I’ve been using these since their inception. Some say these are like banana clips, but I beg to differ. They are much more gentle and also don’t pop out of your head. You need these if you are doing wash ‘n go’s, twist outs, or braid outs and want to pull your hair up and out of your face.
• Mulberry silk hair ties and scrunchies. Yes, you can use satin also, but trust me on the silk. It’s so much better.
• Edge brush — not really mandatory, but essential if you like your edges to be polished Spray bottle and applicator bottle — these are needed to create any mixtures you may need for your scalp and hair
• Spray bottle
• A good detangling brush or comb
• Hair pins and bobby pins
• Satin or silk scrunchies (mulberry silk if possible, it’s so much better)
• A fast drying hair dryer that won’t strip moisture from your hair

Anything else you choose to use is extra, but certainly not needed to keep your hair freshly styled.

Summer Hair Products to Keep on Hand

The types of hair products you use to maintain your hair in the summer will definitely vary from what you use in the winter. Typically, summer hair products are lighter weight. Here are my recommendations:

Olaplex — especially No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo. I can’t say enough good things about the Olaplex brand. If you swim and your hair is exposed to chlorine a lot, this is one hair product you want to keep in your arsenal. For us curly girls, I also recommend using No. 0 and No. 3 as well, at the very least. And if you are using heat (minimally, I hope), No. 7 is a great heat protectant. Read my entire Guide to Using Olaplex for curly hair.

Creme of Nature Pure Honey Shrinkage Defense Curl Activator

With summer being wash and go season and all, you need a good curl cream to define curls. I’ve tried quite a few of them and while there are many that are great curl defining products, in my opinion, none of them provide your curls with the moisture AND super curlage-ness that this product does.

This is day 3 hair:

Naturals Choice LLC Flaxseed Gel

If you are more of a gel person to set your curls in the summer, I highly recommend this Etsy seller’s flaxseed gel. You can get it customized with dried Butterfly Pea flower or dried Hibiscus flower.

For educational purposes as provided by the handmaker:

• Butterfly pea flower combined with flaxseed gel benefits the hair by helping hair retain its natural color, restoring shine, promoting hair growth, and collagen restoration.
• Hibiscus combined with flaxseed gel benefits the hair by reducing hair loss, reducing premature graying, adding volume, conditioning, preventing frizz, preventing split ends, and adding moisture.

Ominira Naturals Grip and Grow Gelee

New on the scene, this has fast become my favorite flaxseed gel. Nice hold and hair doesn’t have that crunch. It’s moisturizing and adds shine too. Check out Ominira Naturals here.

For everything else, here are the product types that matter most in summer. Specific brands will depend on what works for your hair:

• Co-wash product for mid-week cowashing after a swim
• Sulfate-free shampoo alternate it with your co-wash product (use a good purple shampoo if you have lots of grays)
• Moisturizing leave-in conditioner to moisturize and protect against sun and heat
• Lightweight oil or serum seals in moisture without weighing hair down
• Curl refresher spray revives curls between wash days and adds moisture (you can DIY this)
• UV protection spray shields hair from sun damage and color fading

See:
Must-Have Summer Products for Fine Hair

Guide to Using Olaplex for Curly Hair (especially if you swim and your hair is exposed to chlorine)

Protective Styling in Summer

Too often, ladies think that protective styling is just for the winter time. On the contrary, protective styling your hair is a good practice to follow year round.

Hair can become a bit dehydrated in the summer. It’s also exposed to the beaming hot sun. So, engaging in protective styling a few days out of the week is beneficial. Much of your hair can be hidden away via braids, buns and wearing hats while still remaining stylish.

If length retention is your goal, you’ll still want to protect your ends and your strands in general from over-manipulation. Styling your hair in a manner that protects your ends can help. It also helps to lock in moisture.

See: Summer Protective Styling Series

Natural Summer Hairstyles to Try

In addition to summer hair care tips, here are some simple and cute summer natural hairstyles and ideas you can do with medium to long length hair.

Summer Updos for Medium to Long Natural Hair

When the weather starts heating up, there’s no way you want your hair hanging down on your neck. Styling your hair in an updo is a smart move in the summer since it gets your hair off of your neck. It’s also protective, so you don’t have to worry about your hair being snagged when you are engaging in sports or other activities.

• High buns and top knots (messy or sleek)
• High ponytails
• French twists and French rolls
• The pineapple
• Fishtail braids (worn loose or pinned into a bun)

Any of these styles can be done on straightened, curly, messy, or sleek, silky hair.

Styles for Shorter Natural Hair

If your hair is shorter, some hairstyles that work well for summer include:

• Finger coils
• Flat twists
• Cornrows
• Wash and go’s check out summer tips for maintaining your wash and go

BoHo Summer Hairstyles

One thing I love about summer is hairstyling. Boho styles are so cute and carefree. What’s great is that all you need to do to create them is to throw in a few twists or braids.

Here are a few styles for inspiration:

See: 25 Summer Hairstyles for Fine Natural Hair

A Sample Summer Hair Care Routine

There are many ways to establish your hair routines and they should definitely coincide with your lifestyle. For example, if you work nights, then your routine may look very different from mine. The routine below is just an example. Feel free to make adjustments.

Daily

• Drink the recommended amount of water throughout the day
• Consume 3 to 5 servings of hydrating fruits and veggies

Friday (Scalp Care Night)

• Nightly scalp massage with a lightweight oil blend of jojoba oil and tea tree oil
• Protect hair before bed

Saturday (Wash Day)

• Shampoo with a sulfate-free shampoo or alternate with co-wash
• Deep condition
• Apply leave-in and seal with a lightweight oil or serum
• Diffuse dry rather than air dry
• If doing a wash and go, apply curl cream or gel, define curls, and dry with a hair dryer using the diffuser attachment
• Secure curls with a silk scrunchie before bed in a high pineapple or low ponytail

Monday (Scalp Refresh)

• Refresh scalp with a light spritz of rose water
• Stretch hair and massage scalp, distributing sebum down the length of the hair
• If going outdoors, wear a hat or use a UV-protective hair oil

Wednesday (Mid-Week Refresh)

• Cowash hair if needed, useful if you have gone swimming or if your hair is feeling particularly dry
• Blow dry hair on warm and twist or braid into a protective style

One note on air drying: while it may be tempting to just let your hair air dry after washing it, professionals recommend against it. When you allow your hair to remain wet for a significant period of time, the strands are under stress from the weight of the water.

Also, when you air dry, your hair is more prone to drying out. Do your hair a favor and just use a cool-to-warm blow dryer. Especially when you are doing wash and go’s throughout the summer. Use the diffuser attachment and dry your hair. Drying your curls will make them appear less frizzy, more voluminous, and much healthier.

Understanding Your Hair This Summer and Beyond

Want to build a hair care routine that flexes with every season?

The Natural Haircare Handbook helps you understand your natural hair’s behavior so you can create a custom routine that adapts with confidence. It’s perfect if you’re ready to stop guessing and start thriving this summer and beyond.