Why Does Pool Water Turn Blonde Hair Green? (Hint: It's Not the Chlorine)
Hello Lovelies,
Nikay here, and we need to clear something up before summer really gets going: chlorine is not what turns your hair green in the pool.
I know, I know, everyone blames chlorine. It's the easy villain. But the real culprit is copper — it's used in a lot of pool algaecides, and it's sometimes present in the pipes feeding the pool too. Chlorine's actual role is oxidizing your hair's cuticle, the outer layer of each strand. Once that cuticle is roughed up, it opens the door for copper to grab on and settle in. On blonde or lightened hair especially, that shows up as a green or brassy tint that no amount of shampooing seems to fix.
So if you've ever heard "just use a clarifying shampoo instead of a chlorine one" — that's actually pointing you in the right direction, even if the reasoning behind it gets fuzzy. A proper clarifying or chelating shampoo is formulated to grab onto metal ions like copper and rinse them away, instead of just stripping oil and dirt like a regular shampoo does.
Here at altitude, this matters more than you'd think, because between pool season and everyday hard water, color-treated hair here is dealing with mineral exposure on two fronts, not just one.
My real advice, before you jump in the pool this summer:
- Wet your hair with clean water first. Hair that's already saturated absorbs less pool water.
A leave-in or oil on your lengths acts like a light barrier.
Rinse as soon as you can after you're out, and don't let chlorinated water just dry on your hair in the sun. - And if you're already seeing that dull greenish cast, don't panic and don't reach for tomato juice or baking soda (please don't do the baking soda thing). Come in for a clarifying treatment and we'll get you back to your actual color.
Bisous,
Nikay