dyed hair and water

[Mermaid Luciana]

For the merfolk who have dyed hair, do you recommend any kind of hair product, prior to going in the water to help keep the dye minimally from coming off in the water?

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I use olive oil and let it soak in for couple of hours before going swimming. I wash it out after I've finished swimming.
I also use a shampoo and conditioner for colored hair. After shampooing, I leave the conditioner in for 10 - 15 mins then wash it out. No tangles. No crispy hair.

The olive oil I use is, 100% Pure Cold Pressed. Cold pressed is better for you as it has more good stuff in it than the refined one. Same with coconut oil, make sure you get cold pressed.

Others have used coconut oil with some success too.

[Winged Mermaid]

I dye my hair and have a few tips. Check out the "hair" section in the How to deal with chlorine's negative effects thread (http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?4402-How-to-deal-with-chlorine-s-negative-effects). I prefer the Ion swimmer's spray, since Ion is a hair dye company and make products usually specifically for dyed hair. Also there's a great tip in that thread on how to easily apply olive or coconut oil into your hair fast with the spray stuff. A lot faster and less messy to that way :)

My other tip would be to not swim for at least 1-2 weeks in chlorinated water after you dye your hair. I find that especially less than a week, if I swim pretty much all the color comes out and it FRIES my hair. So as much as I can I wait 1 or 2 weeks after to swim in a chlorinated pool.

[Miyu]

You could always use the old "gelatin" trick if you wanted to bun your hair and coat it all, LOL! :p

I am a chronic hair-dyer (You can pretty much tell what week it is in my old photos according to my hair). I personally like using coconut oil over a "liquid" oil, and here's why: I feel like, on my hair personally (don't know about others' experiences with this), that when I get my hair into the (usually cooler than body temp) water, the coconut oil "solidifies", since at certain temperatures it's a solid (especially with certain kids of coconut oil - less vs. more processed it seems). With my hair, this tends to keep more chlorine water out of my hair, basically making a protective "sheath" around the strands (as long as I liquify it and work it in REALLY WELL before I get in the pool). This usually even helps with the crazy, semi-permanent colours I use - Manic Panic tends to fade pretty fast on me, Splat! doesn't so much but it still helps when I use coconut oil.

After swimming, I also like to use something that will actually pull the chlorine out of your hair/skin/clothing... There are many pre-made products for it, but I personally like to use a homemade mixture of baking soda, french green clay, and kelp... though the ratio of clay may need to be tweaked or replaced depending on the colourfastness of the hair dye, because the clay might pull some of the colour it (it binds certain things to itself, such as chlorine). This mixture also really helps get the coconut oil out of my hair without drying it out like soap can.