The winter season has its cruelties – it chills the air, dries your skin, and yes, dehydrates your hair and scalp. This renders your hair more prone to breakage. Coupled with harsh weather and chafing from hats, scarves, and outerwear, your hair can take a beating during the wintry months.
Thankfully, with a little TLC, you can spare your hair from the stress. To keep your hair strong and healthy this winter, incorporate these hair care tips into your routine.
Skip the (hot) showers. A hot shower feels sooooo good after a day battling the frigid elements. But there are several reasons experts recommend shorter showers. Because they zap moisture from your skin and hair, dermatologists suggest washing your face outside the shower to avoid stripping natural oils. Occasionally indulging in a hot shower or bath (especially with fun DIY scrubs like this one) is fine – just watch the temperature, your time spent soaking, and how often you’re steaming up.
Get to the root of it. Start with your scalp. A dry, flaky scalp is uncomfortable, likelier to itch, and stunts its ability to properly grow hair. Try a dry scalp treatment for extra relief from itching, dryness, and flaking, without leaving it oily. Longterm, using a special scalp treatment regularly will boost its ability to grow healthy hair. For a DIY option, massage your scalp with coconut oil before washing your hair.
Ditch the shampoo. Frequent hair washing is another habit that strips away the natural oils in your scalp and hair. Help your hair by waiting longer between washes. If you have an oilier scalp, use a dry shampoo to maintain volume and control oil until the next time you shampoo.
Lock in moisture. Floating, staticky hair, a common annoyance in wintertime, are telltale signs of dry hair. The natural oils in your hair and scalp are important, but for extra shine and health, sometimes your hair still needs some extra love. Restore and retain lost moisture (and lose the static) with an oil treatment, available for both damp hair post-shower, or for dry hair for daily use.
Love your conditioner. Yes, even while opting for fewer shampooings, don’t skip conditioner. If you work out, for instance, but still need another day or two to wait to shampoo, simply rinse your hair and still use conditioner. For extra moisture retention and shine, leave it on as long as you can (at least ten minutes, but longer is better). And once a week, you should really baby your hair: use a deep conditioner or hair mask for thirty minutes, then follow with leave-in conditioner to tame hair static.
Lose the heat styling tools. As fun as it is to curl it, or necessary as it might seem to straighten it, putting heat on your hair will dry it out even further than the cold air. If you must use heat, prep your hair with a heat protectant spray.
Try a humidifier. For a step beyond moisturizing products applied directly to your hair, adjust your environment to be more hair-friendly. A humidifier compensates for the lack of air moisture outdoors by improving air moisture inside. To maximize prolonged absorption time, leave a humidifier on at night while you sleep.
Keep it trim. Banish split ends by keeping your hair trimmed on a regular basis. How frequently you should be getting trimmed depends on your hair type and style; ask your stylist what’s best for yours. Generally, however, aim to visit the salon no less than every three months. Rather not brave the cold? Give yourself a haircut at home.
Beware of wet hair. While it’s wet, your hair is incredibly vulnerable to breakage, and even more so in the cold. Be gentle, avoid roughly drying it with towels, wait brush it when it’s dry, and never, ever go outside with wet hair. If your hair doesn’t dry fast enough after morning showers before you leave the house, consider showering in the evening.
Winter can be a harsh season, especially on your hair. But with a bit of prep and the right hair products, you can continue to keep it shiny and healthy in cold weather.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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