“I wish that someone had had some hair and skin care tips for me when I was coming up.”
So here, for the first time, she shows us what years of practice and experimentation have taught her can keep hair and skin healthy, however much time we spend in the pool.
Step 1: Sunscreen liberally
Despite some misconceptions to the contrary, Black skin requires protection from the sun’s rays, Johnson says. She relies on a zinc-based sunscreen for outdoor training and competition and a different version without zinc for most occasions on land, to better blend with her skin tone.
Step 2: Gently remove the sunscreen
After getting out of the pool, it’s time to remove all of that sunscreen, as gently as possible, Johnson says. Usually, she’ll do this in the shower with a cleansing oil that she rubs in deeply, to take off the sunscreen without drying her skin.
Step 3: Cleanse off the cleansing oil
Now it’s time for more cleansing, to remove the cleansing oil with a separate, light cleanser. After much experimentation, Johnson says she’s found a product that removes the oil without causing her skin to break out. (Johnson does not have endorsement deals with any of the products she mentions.)
Step 4: Moisturise, repeatedly
Because the sun, chlorine and pool water will wring moisture from a swimmer’s skin, Johnson says, it’s essential to moisturise, early and often, after swimming. “Everything for me is about moisture,” she says. Beginning with a hydrating spray serum (hers is Snail Mucin from Cosrx), she also layers on a moisturising cream and carries a night cream with her in her car and swim bag.
Step 5: Moisturise hair, too
The pool can also play havoc with your hair’s health, Johnson says.
Currently, her hair is styled in straight-back cornrows, which fit under her swim cap and protect the hair from damage and breakage. But it still needs moisturising, she says. She manages this with a daily spray-in conditioner, followed by rosemary oil, and, about once a week, a hair mask. She also masks her skin weekly, and - because her travel schedule is so busy - often uses the time on airplanes to apply the masks.
Step 6: Protect your eyes
Since water polo players aren’t allowed to wear goggles during matches, Johnson has begun using a new type of contact lens that’s designed to block UV rays. Orange-tinted, they ease glare and strain from the sun, she says, and as a side benefit during competitions, they give your gaze an intimidating, orangy glow.
Step 7: Experiment and play around
The final but perhaps most essential step in any swimmer’s hair- and skin-care routine, Johnson says, is to experiment and innovate, shedding those steps or products that don’t seem to work for you and finding others that do.
The broad outlines of her post-pool routine - i.e. moisture, moisture, moisture - are likely to be effective for almost all of us, she says. But don’t hesitate to play around with options and “see how your skin responds to it, how your hair responds to it. It’s a process. It’s a journey.”
And it’s a journey worth taking, she believes, if it encourages you or anyone else, young or old, of any race or ethnicity, to begin or keep swimming, especially if you otherwise worry pool chlorine might be too damaging or pool culture too unwelcoming.
“For any young, African American, Black girls who want to get into water polo,” she says, “I would say, dive in. If you don’t know how to swim, learn to swim, if you know how to swim, jump in, grab a ball.”
