Winter-Proof Your Hair with These 6 Tips for Healthy Locks
Raise your hand if this sounds familiar. You wake up on one of the coldest winter mornings and get ready to start the day. You’re looking really good in your new Erin-approved Aqua cashmere sweater and L’Agence straight leg jeans. You throw on a warm hat before walking out the door, only to find electrified, static strands when you reach your destination. You’ve tried passing your portable GHD flat iron over your hair. But instead of smoothing everything down, your hair turns into a dry, fly-away mess. Welcome winter weather—you’re not the only one!
Get some common-sense skincare tips to help you through the colder months here.
Winter Hair Care Tips
You may associate summer’s sun and heat with hair damage however, winter can be just as bad. In many respects winter is much worse for your tresses. High winds, lack of moisture in the air, low temperatures, torrential downpours, central heating, and friction from hats and scarves all work against us throughout the cold season. Winter makes even the most low maintenance of us work harder to take care of our strands. Cold, dry air causes the cuticle layer of the hair to lift and going into a heated environment takes the moisture out of the hair, leaving it dry and frizzy. So, what’s a gal to do to protect her hair as the temperature drops? Winter-proof your hair with these 6 tips for healthy locks.
Do you have any tried-and-true winter hair care favorites? Please share in the comments below! Don’t forget you can sign up for the newsletter to take advantage of some amazing resources here including a PDF with 20+ beauty tips to look younger! Thanks for reading!
#1 | Use Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner
The best way to combat dry, frizzy winter hair is moisture and then more moisture. I recommend using a clarifying shampoo only once or twice a month, but a moisturizing or hydrating shampoo during the rest of the season. Olaplex No. 4 and 5 is my favorite, and great for all hair types including fine to wavy hair. Briogeo is another great option for those with thicker tresses. Best splurge shampoo and conditioner is Oribe Gold Lust Repair. It not only hydrates but strengthens the hair, it adds healing oils, balances the scalp, and repairs damage.
One perk of cooler winter temps is that your hair tends to be less greasy, which means you can wash it less often. In fact, frequently washing your hair strips off its natural oils, causing further dryness and irritation. Try to extend the time between your washes by shampooing only 2 times per week. If you need a little pick-me-up in the interim, a quality dry shampoo like Living Proof or Moroccanoil formulated for either light or dark tones, removes oil and odor without weighing your hair down.
If you’re working with some majorly dry or damaged strands, a weekly deep moisturizing mask is an excellent preventative measure to ensure your overall hair health. Briogeo’s deep conditioning mask is a great choice for all hair types (and pairs well with the moisturizing shampoo). Ouidad’s Curl Reboot Leave-in Mask is a lifesaver for those with thicker strands. If you have thin tresses, give Ouai Treatment Mask a try. It moisturizes fine strands without weighing them down.
During winter, your scalp can get dry and itchy due to the extreme lack of moisture. This tends to lead to dandruff, scalp irritation, flakiness, and in some cases—hair fall. A massage with nourishing hair oils improves blood circulation to the scalp and nourishes hair follicles, stimulating hair growth. Some of my favorite oils to penetrate the hair shaft and keep the hair moisturized are Kérastase Elixir Ultime, Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil and Vegamour GRO Hair Serum.
This may seem like an obvious one, but regularly applying high temperatures is never a good idea. Especially since your hair is already delicate during winter. Using heat styling tools draws moisture out of your hair and can make it more brittle. I’ve just treated myself to the new Shark FlexStyle Air Drying System, and let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. It has different interchangeable attachments including auto-rotating curlers, a styling concentrator nozzle, a paddle brush, and an oval brush. And the best part is that it’s fast drying while maintaining low heat. Shark literally minimizes heat exposure and it’s a fraction of the price of the Dyson Airwrap.
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 hairbrush with a combination of boar and plastic bristles. Remember to wear a hat at all times during the winter months too. Not only will it keep you warm, wearing a chenille or faux fur hat also minimizes frizz due to rain, snow and wind.
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2 thoughts on “Winter-Proof Your Hair with These 6 Tips for Healthy Locks”
I put coconut oil on the ends of my hair and leave it in overnight and wash my hair next day. I do this about once a month. It’s fantastic for dry hair and makes hair so shiny and healthy!
That’s a great tip, Lisa! I’m curious, does it stain your pillow case? Thanks, Amit
Get Our FREE Wardrobe Basics Checklists, Capsule Wardrobes & More!
Sign up and you instantly receive… FREE Wardrobe Basics Checklists, Closet Editing & Organizing Checklists, Zoom Call Tips, Capsule Wardrobe Shopping Suggestions and a Lookbook of outfit ideas! You can download and print all of these.
I put coconut oil on the ends of my hair and leave it in overnight and wash my hair next day. I do this about once a month. It’s fantastic for dry hair and makes hair so shiny and healthy!
That’s a great tip, Lisa! I’m curious, does it stain your pillow case? Thanks, Amit