Brrr… it is getting colder and at this time of the year you may have to adjust your hair care regime to reflect the weather. Here are some tips:
1. Protective Styles
This is very important because snow, sleet, heat and wind will damage your hair if you do not protect it properly. It is best to keep your vulnerable hair ends out of the way from the harsh weather even if you are inside, indoor heat can play havoc with your ends if you let it. If you absolutely have to let down your hair, do so infrequently and try not to do it in the snow or cold wind. Some protective styles to consider are: topknots, braids, buns, twists and French rolls.
2. Deep Condition
This is the time when deep conditioners with humectants are especially useful; these conditioners can trap moisture in hair and keep it moisturized for longer. This becomes especially important because heated spaces at home and work can be very drying to hair.
3. Wet Hair Care
Wet, damp hair in a freezing climate is asking for icicles on your hair. If you live in an area where the climate is freezing, your hair can freeze if water is on your strands. This will break your hair . This means that wash and go styles are not the styles to wear in this type of weather, ensuring that your hair is dried before leaving the house is the best option to avoid breakage.
4. Heat
This is the ideal time to give your flat irons, curling irons and blow dryers a break. If you absolutely have to use heat, see 3 Tips To Prevent Heat Damage To Black Hair, for some tips to mitigate heat damage. Why is heat an issue in winter? Because indoor heating and the harsh weather conditions suck moisture from the hair, making your strands even drier. Heat will exacerbate the dry hair problem at this time of the year.
5. Wash Hair With Cool or Lukewarm Water
After taking a bath in hot water do you realize how dry your skin feels until it is moisturized? If left on its own your skin feels dry and chapped. Well, it’s the same with your hair, use cool or lukewarm water to wash and cold water for a final rinse. Seal in moisture with a heavy carrier oil such as castor or coconut oil or get creative with your hair butters (shea and mango).
6. Scarves and Hats
Protecting your head in winter is quite necessary. The usual head wear material for cold climates is made of wool or other heavy material. They are effective to keep off the cold but may rub against your exposed hair and pull and break it. A very good solution for this is to wear your hair in a protective style, put a satin scarf over it and then pull on your wooly hat or scarf. If that’s too much bother, you can sew a satin cloth in the inside of your hats or scarves so that the inside material glides along the hair.
7. Treat Your Hair Like Its Dry and Damaged
Winter is harsh on hair if you incorporate some of the knowledge that you know about dry, damaged hair into your hair care routine it will serve your tresses well. Remember things like, use moisturizing shampoos without sulfates, use hair lotions instead of water based sprays at this time of the year, pay close attention to hair ends, do not dye your hair with synthetic dyes, avoid direct heat and stay far away from alcohol based hair products.
Take care of your hair this winter season, keep your vulnerable ends out of the way for most of the time and massage your scalp occasionally to let the blood circulate.