Every summer I take my extensions out and every summer someone asks me why. Aren’t you a hairstylist? Don’t you love extensions? Yes and yes. That’s exactly WHY I take them out. I know what summer does to hair and I’m not going to pretend my extensions are immune to it. Hey, I’m Meg Ann Lee, hairstylist, makeup artist, and co-owner of Moss Salon in Eau Claire. Every Sunday I write about beauty, hair, and real life right here on i94online.com. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about why your hair color fades so fast and the response on my Instagram was huge! I guess you guys DO want to learn how to take care of your hair?? Well, this is the summer-specific follow up to that post because the damage your hair takes between June and August is a whole different category and most of it is completely preventable.

Why I Remove My Extensions for Summer

I love extensions. I do them all the time at Moss and I watch my clients walk out of that chair like completely different people. The confidence that comes with having the hair you’ve always wanted is REAL and I will never downplay that. My clients feel amazing wearing them and I know that feeling because I wear them too. However.. every summer I need A BREAK and I take mine out. Extensions are an investment and they’re extra vulnerable to everything summer throws at your hair. Chlorine, salt water, sun, humidity, sweat. All of it degrades the bonds, dries out the hair, and shortens the lifespan of your extensions faster than any other season. For me personally, I would rather take them out, let my natural hair chill, and reinstall in the fall when conditions aren’t actively working against them. That’s not giving up on my look. That’s protecting my investment so they last longer when I put them back in. Because I will ALWAYS put them back in.

That doesn’t mean you have to do what I do. If you wear extensions year round and you love them, keep wearing them. Just know that summer requires extra care to keep them looking and feeling good. Talk to your stylist about what your maintenance should look like between June and August so you’re not cutting their lifespan short without realizing it.

Chlorine Isn’t Just Fading Your Color. It’s Changing It.

Chlorine is an oxidizer. It damages your cuticle and makes your hair more porous, which means color molecules escape faster. But here’s the part most people don’t know. Chlorine itself isn’t what turns blonde hair green. That’s copper. Pool water contains trace amounts of copper from pipes, equipment, and copper-based algaecides. Chlorine oxidizes that copper and those oxidized copper compounds bind to the proteins in your hair. That’s what creates the green tint. The more porous or color-treated your hair is, the worse it gets.

Lake Water Gets a Pass It Doesn’t Deserve

Living in Wisconsin, most of us are spending our summers on lakes, not oceans. Most people assume lake water is fine because it’s fresh water. It’s better than chlorine or salt water, sure, but lake water still carries minerals, algae, sediment, and bacteria that build up on your hair and scalp over time. That buildup dulls your color, weighs your hair down, and can leave your scalp feeling off. If you’re in the lake every weekend all summer, you’re getting cumulative buildup that a regular shampoo isn’t fully removing. A clarifying wash after lake days makes a real difference.

Salt Water Feels Natural. It’s Not Gentle.

Salt draws moisture out of your hair shaft through osmosis. It dehydrates from the inside out and the salt crystals physically rough up your cuticle, creating friction and lifting those protective layers. When your cuticle is raised, color molecules escape. That’s literally how fading works. The beachy waves look great for a day. The damage shows up for weeks.

The Sun Is Bleaching Your Hair and Not in a Good Way

UV radiation breaks down color molecules the same way it fades fabric. Color-treated hair is already more porous than virgin hair, which means it absorbs more UV and fades faster. Nobody puts sunscreen on their hair and then wonders why their color doesn’t hold up through August.

Bonfires and Fire Pits Are the One Nobody Thinks About

Summer means bonfires, campfires, fire pits in the backyard. Sitting close to a fire exposes your hair to dry heat, smoke, and ash particles that coat your strands and dehydrate them. If you’ve ever noticed your hair smelling like smoke for days after a bonfire, that’s because those particles are sitting in your cuticle. Combine that with a weekend of sun and lake water and your hair is taking hits from every direction.

What You Can Actually Do

• Wet your hair with clean water & a leave in conditioner before you get in a pool, lake, or the ocean. Hair is like a sponge. If it’s already saturated, it absorbs less of everything else.
• Rinse immediately after swimming. Don’t let chlorine, minerals, or salt water sit and dry in your hair.
• Use a clarifying shampoo once a week during the summer. Your regular shampoo isn’t removing mineral and chlorine buildup. A clarifying wash is.
• Wear a hat. UV protection for your hair is the same concept as UV protection for your skin.
• Use a leave-in conditioner or oil before sun exposure. A light layer acts as a barrier between your hair and the elements.
• Turn your heat tools down. Your hair is already stressed from everything else this summer. You do not need 450 degrees on top of it.
• Pull your hair up in a bun, tucked in a hat or braid it while around the bonfire. Keeping it contained and off your shoulders reduces how much smoke and dry heat it absorbs.

The Bottom Line

None of this is complicated and none of it is expensive. It’s just information nobody gives you when you leave the salon with fresh color in June. Then, you’re back in August wondering what happened. Now you know. And if you’re curious about what summer maintenance looks like for your extensions or your color, talk to your hairstylist. A few small changes can make a huge difference in how your hair holds up through the season <3