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Looking after your hair in Casablanca: water, salt, sun
Hard water, permanent Atlantic humidity, sun for a good part of the year and the occasional easterly wind: four local constraints, and the routine that answers them for each hair type.
Hair that behaves well in Rabat can misbehave in Casablanca, and that is not just an impression. Three local factors are at work all the time: the mains water, the humidity off the Atlantic and the sun. A fourth comes and goes — the easterly wind, hot and dry, which dries everything out in a matter of hours.
The water, first
You see the sign on the taps before you see it on your hair: the white deposit clinging to shower heads is limescale, and it settles on the hair shaft too. The result: hair that looks dull and weighed down right after shampooing, lather that will not build, colour that turns brassy faster than expected, and a filmy feeling that no treatment removes.
What works, and what Casablanca hairdressers routinely recommend:
- a <b>clarifying shampoo</b> once a month, no more often — it strips the treatments out as well
- a <b>final rinse in cold water</b>, which closes the cuticle and visibly changes the shine
- a <b>shower-head filter</b> for anyone who washes often
- on coloured hair, a sulphate-free shampoo to slow the drift to brassy tones
Humidity and salt
Casablanca is humid all year round. On wavy or curly hair, moisture in the air swells the hair shaft: that is frizz. You do not get rid of it, you manage it — with a product that keeps water inside the hair rather than letting it in from outside, which means a leave-in treatment applied while the hair is still wet, and then nothing else.
Salt on the corniche and chlorine in swimming pools have the opposite effect: they dry hair out. The useful habit is to wet your hair with clean water before you go in — hair that is already saturated absorbs less — and to rinse it straight away when you come out, before you even get dressed.
The sun
The Casablanca sun is there for a good part of the year, including behind the low cloud of May and June. It fades colour, balayage most of all, and weakens the ends. A hat does more than any product; failing that, an oil or a leave-in treatment on the ends before you go out limits the damage.
By hair type
<b>Fine and straight.</b> It copes badly with heavy products, which weigh it down. A mild shampoo, treatment on the ends only and never on the roots, and air drying whenever possible. Volume is won in the drying, not in the product.
<b>Thick and straight.</b> It tolerates more product and it asks for it. A weekly mask, oil on the ends, and having weight taken out at the salon rather than an ever-shorter cut.
<b>Wavy.</b> The worst-treated type, because people style it as though it were straight. Less dry brushing, detangling in the shower with the conditioner still on, and drying without rubbing — a microfibre towel or an old T-shirt rather than a terry towel.
<b>Curly and coily.</b> It needs a different routine and techniques of its own, from detangling to protective styles. It has its own article on this site, and that is no accident: most general hair advice does not suit it.
<b>Coloured or straightened.</b> Wash less often, in lukewarm water, with a sulphate-free shampoo, and keep it away from chlorine. Balayage and a swimming pool do not get along: on bleached hair, the copper present in some pool water can turn green.
The three habits that change the most
Sleeping on a satin or silk pillowcase, or with your hair tied up high and loose, clearly reduces breakage from friction. Spacing out the shampoos — a scalp washed every day produces more oil. And having the ends trimmed regularly: a split end travels up the hair, and no treatment glues it back together.
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