10 Top Winter Hair Care Tips For Healthy Locks
Sitting by the fire with a hot cup of cocoa and covered by a warm wooly blanket – there is nothing like winter. But while you may be having the best time of your life, your hair is not! With the right winter hair care tips, you can protect your hair from becoming fragile and breakage-prone.
The cold can make your scalp dry and flaky and your hair rough and brittle! Just like we protect our bodies from the cold, our hair also needs protection during the winter. So, keep your hair strong, smooth, and hydrated despite the chilling temperature. Scroll down to read our hair care tips that will keep your hair and scalp as joyful as you are this winter!
I. Hair Care Tips For Winter
The winter months are notorious for stealing your hair’s moisture. Meaning that heavier products like butter and creams will need to be drafted into your hair care regimen to lock moisture into your hair. However, there are also a few more processes that will keep your hair moisturized in this dry cold.
1. Winter Hair Care Tips: Moisturize Your Scalp With Hair Oil
Winter Hair Care Tips: Moisturize Your Scalp With Hair Oil
During winter, your scalp gets dry and itchy due to the lack of moisture in the air. This may lead to dandruff, scalp irritation, and flakiness, causing hair fall. A hot oil massage with nourishing hair oils like coconut and olive oils works wonders. These oils penetrate the hair shaft and keep the hair moisturized. Massage improves blood circulation to the scalp and nourishes the hair follicles, stimulating hair growth.
2. Avoid Frequent Hair Washes
Frequently washing your hair with shampoos strips off its natural oils, causing further dryness and irritation. Try to extend the time between your washes. Do not shampoo your hair more than twice a week. Always use a sulfate-free and mild shampoo to maintain the natural moisture balance.
3. Winter Hair Care Tips: Conditioning The Hair In Right Way
Never skip the conditioner during winter. Use a thick, creamy conditioner containing natural oils like coconut, olive, jojoba oils, and shea butter for deep hydration and nourishment.
4. Avoid Heat Styling Tools
Avoid Heat Styling Tools
Your hair is already delicate during winter, and using heat styling tools can make it brittle, causing hair breakage. Embrace your natural hair texture and air dry your tresses as much as possible. Avoid blow-drying as it draws moisture out of your hair.
5. Winter Hair Care Tips: Apply A Deep Conditioning Hair Mask Weekly
Weekly hair mask treatments are an excellent preventative measure to ensure your overall hair health. A hair mask with nourishing and moisturizing ingredients like egg and honey conditions the hair. These ingredients moisturize dry locks, enhance hair growth, add shine, and soften the hair. Egg yolk has water-soluble peptides that condition and stimulates hair growth. Honey is rich in amino acids and vitamins and has hair-conditioning effects. You can follow it up with hair oil or serum for overnight hydration.
6. Protect Hair From Static
Hair Static
Static hair is the most annoying thing in the winter. Lack of moisture, combined with the friction caused by sweaters, scarves, hoodies, and hair brushes, makes your hair frizzy and static. To handle this situation, use a vented hairbrush with a combination of boar and plastic bristles. Apply a leave-in conditioner to prevent static and keep the hair smooth. You can also carry an anti-static laundry dryer sheet or anti-frizz hair wipes with you.
7. Winter Hair Care Tips: Avoid Hot Showers
A hot water shower in freezing weather is always tempting. But hot water can remove the natural oils and moisture from your hair, making it dry. It may also make the scalp dry and cause flakiness. Always wash your hair with lukewarm water and blast with cold water at the ends to help seal the hair cuticles.
Avoid Hot Showers
8. Get Regular Trims
The dry and cold air in the winter causes hair breakage and split ends. Friction from hats and scarves puts additional strain on your hair. To prevent this, trim your hair every four to eight weeks. This keeps your hair looking fresh in the winter. Trim your hair half an inch off the bottom to remove dry, split ends.
9. Winter Hair Care Tips: Switch To Microfiber Towels
Avoid using cotton bath towels to dry your hair. Instead, use microfiber towels. They are gentle on your hair, have a high water-absorbing capacity, and help reduce friction and hair drying time. On the other hand, cotton or any other material can make your hair rough and create tangles, frizz, and flyaways.
10. Eat Healthy To Keep Your Hair Healthy
Foods rich in protein are beneficial for hair health. Increase your intake of all essential vitamin-rich foods like carrots, eggs, pumpkins, and berries. Follow a balanced diet that combines vegetables, leafy greens, dairy products, omega-3 fatty acids, and meat to keep your body and hair healthy.
II. How To Wash Your Hair In Winter?
1. Pre-shampoo
Normally, we ditch this step on our wash day during the summer months. However, in the winter pre-pooing can not only help your hair to retain more moisture, but it can also be one of the best detangling agents when you are taking down your protective style.
Pre-pooing involves you applying a moisturizer, penetrating oil that can go into the hair’s cuticle, or heavy conditioner to your dry hair at least 30 minutes before washing. Some may even sleep with the oil on overnight to ensure their hair sucks in as much moisture as possible. It enables your hair to improve elasticity and allows moisture to go directly into the strands.
2. Cleaning
Shampooing your hair is a must! Co-washing has turned into a fad amongst naturals and healthy hair enthusiasts, and it has its perks in the winter. Nevertheless, your hair will not grow out of a product-clogged scalp, and your product-coated hair will not retain moisture; this is why I recommend both co-washing and clarifying during the winter!
3. Deep Conditioning
If you are not a fan of deep conditioning consistently, it is okay! I get it; deep conditioning is a lot of work. However, in the winter months, a deep condition can give your hair the extra boost of moisture that it requires to flourish.
- Shampoo your hair and rinse it thoroughly.
- Apply the conditioner from the mid-length to the hair ends.
- Concentrate on the ends to prevent dryness and split ends.
- Leave the conditioner on for a few minutes and then wash with normal water.
4. Styling
Protective styling is the best way to keep your ends from splitting. Your ends are the most fragile part of your hair so a protective style like a weave or wig will not only protect your hair from the winter elements, but it will also keep the ends of your hair from rubbing on your sweater and other harsh fabrics that will cause them to split.