How to Have Beautiful Hair: How Often & Where To Wash & Dry Your Hair - and why wear a swimming cap in a swimming pool. Post 486

An American Woman's Hair Routine

 In the USA on a travel press trip, a glamorous lady who edited a travel magazine had long shining hair. 

We enviously asked her, "How do you get such lovely hair?"

She replied, "I wash it every day - in the shower, when I have my morning shower."

UK Hair Washing Habits

That was back in the nineteen eighties when in the UK most people had baths, and washed their hair once a week, on a Friday night, ready for the weekend, in a wash basin.

Now, living in Singapore, humid Singapore, where you shower at least once a day, in the morning, and if you are at home, often morning, lunch time, evening, even four times a day, in a cold shower to cool off, 

I often wash my hair in the shower. Having wet hair helps me stay cool at home at the desk or out on holiday In summer in the UK, Washington DC and the USA, beach holidays in Europe, out for the day driving around Cyprus, and Singapore all year.

In any case, since Covid, I have been swimming daily to help me with weight loss. I needed to lose weight. Covid strikes hardest at the elderly and overweight. I could not get any younger, but I could lose weight. So I swim in the condo swimming pool every morning. Wearing a swimming cap.

You are supposed to shower before entering the pool. To wash off any sun cream, as well as to be clean. And loose hair goes in the shower instead of clogging up the pool filters.

Many people like to swim with their hair loose. This is banned at swimming pools. You are supposed to wear a swimming cap. 

Why? Mainly for the health and cleanliness of the pool water. Dandruff? Head lice? Firstly grease, not from greasy hair, but hair oils used by men and hair sprays and conditioners used by women. Equally importantly, hair is sucked towards the filter.

If there is a Jacuzzi, or you swim underwater or dive, it is for your own safety. In the UK, in north west London, where I live, a girl lay her head back in a Jacuzzi and end of her long hair was sucked into the pump inlet. The lifeguard who was on duty gave her mouth to mouth resuscitation under water, for several minutes. He had to keep doing this for several minutes, whilst the security guard ran to the nearby office to find a pair of scissors. She survived.

I read about this in the  local paper. I wrote a reader's letter, saying, "The lifeguard should get a commendation in the newspaper's award at the end of the year to local heroes."

When I went to visit my local GP (UK wording for general practitioner, what Americans call personal physician), the doctor said to me, "I saw your letter to the local paper. I agree with you!"

So I shower before leaving home - I want to smell fresh. I might meet somebody in the lift.

I prefer to shower at home rather than in the shower beside the pool which sometimes has mould growing, or live or dead insects underfoot. Once the shower tray was already blocked by a long leaf fallen off from the nearby palm tree.

 After the swim, you are supposed to rinse off to remove the chemicals from your swimsuit. Why? To remove the chemicals which keep the pool water clean. The pool attendants should be checking the quality of the water every morning before anybody starts swimming, and keeping a record, for health and safety. The chemicals eat into the swimsuit fabric and shorten its life.

An Indian's Long Black Hair

This year, In Swanwick, Derbyshire, England, at Writers' Summer School, I sat beside an Indian woman who had waist length black hair. I asked her, "How long is your hair?"

She stood up to show me, smiling, "I often get asked!"

She was very proud of her hair.

I continued, "If you don't mind me asking, how often do you wash your hair - and how do you dry it?"

She replied, "I wash it every day. In the shower. Last thing at night. I don't bother drying it."

I gasped, open mouthed in astonishment, "But doesn't that make the pillow wet? You have wet hair on your face?" 

She continued, "No. I make a long plait, from the top of my head. I push it up over the pillow and out of my way. It dries overnight." 

There you have it. Now you know. One woman's solution.

Useful Websites

Friday Night Is Amami Night

https://interwarlondon.com/2021/01/27/4/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lenton_sands/16727785875

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