A Sunny Proposition: The Effects of Sun on Hair via Cosmetics &Toiletries

With the dog days of summer now behind us, we have undoubtedly been reminded countless times of the benefits of wearing sunscreen and the potentially harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays. To this end, it is perhaps surprising that protecting hair against this insult has not become a bigger product proposition.

The sun’s interaction with our skin represents a very serious health risk—and any impact on hair appears trivial in comparison. But nonetheless there appears a well-entrenched general awareness that the sun’s rays also take a toll on the properties of hair.

Here Comes the Sun

Our sun emits an electrom­agnetic spectrum of radiation—much of which is harmful to life on our planet. Thankfully, the earth’s magnetic field deflects many of these rays, while others are adsorbed by our atmosphere. Table 1 shows wavelengths of light reaching our atmosphere, although the most harmful—UV-C and some portion of UV-B—radiation is filtered out by the ozone layer.

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