Here’s why chlorine can turn your hair green

For some of us, temps are already soaring. That means we’re heading to the nearest pool. As much fun as it is, all that chlorine can turn your hair a major shade of green. And not the good kind of green either. The green hair phenomenon has been around since we were kids. Now we know exactly why chlorine effects our hair, especially if you’re blonde.

The effects have to do with chemical makeup of both chlorine and our hair. Since chlorine is a naturally occurring gas with a yellowish-green tint, it effects lighter colored more often. false

A beauty reporter at Bustle spoke with Lindsay Hebrank, Color Director at Antonio Prieto Salon about chlorine-hair. “With ‘pot holes’ in our hair due to lightening,” she says, “chlorine can grab onto our lovely locks and turn them an untrendy shade of ugly.”

Just like poor Ryan Lochte, all that time in the pool can turn our dye-job into a nightmare.

To protect your hair from the chlorine in the water, rinse it with tap water first. This creates a protective layer between your strands and the chemicals in the water. If you’re already suffering the effects of those leisurely pool days, it’s not too late to turn it around. Hebrank has some advice about how to get your hair back to (mostly) normal.

She says, “There are color remover systems that your salon professional can use to remove those unwanted chemical tones, however aspirin and tomatoes are also a tool as well.” If you’re more of a DIY-er, Hebank has some household remedies to help get your hair back in shape.

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She advises, “Aspirin can be crushed up with warm water and emulsified into the problem areas and it should help to remove the green tinge. Tomato juice can be applied like a shampoo to also help remove the chlorine hue.” She also warns people with aspirin allergies that tomatoes have some of the same chemical compounds, so you should always do a strand test before you go all in.

Now that you know the science behind the pool hair phenomenon, maybe you can save your locks from being tortured all season.

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