Winter Hair Care




Winter is the most dangerous season for hair because it goes through many troubles and trials during the cold months, so special care is extremely required to keep the locks in good condition and improve their health.

As a rule people get static electricity in hair after wearing hats, experience split ends and dry frizz because the hair is not taken care of well enough or acquire so called “hat hair”. Summer season is challenging as well, but because of some unknown reason the majority of people give more attention and better care to hair at this time. Besides excessive sun, which is fierce in the mountains and ski resorts, the hair is damaged and snarled by strong winter wind, snow and rain. In addition, cold temperatures make hair brittle and dry, split the ends and slow down the blood flow in the scalp.

Winter weather is not the only factor that influences hair condition. Staying indoors is not always good either: most of the heaters have an effect of blow-driers on hair. So, indoors or outside the hair goes through hard times during winter season, but good news is that it can be fixed by intensive care which provides long-time protection and restores hair health and strength.

Many hair specialists say that the best winter protection can be done with the regular use of thick, rich moisturizing conditioner that has several important ingredients. The stylist, Marc Harris who has developed his own line of damage control hair products, thinks that the key ingredients for conditioners should be essential fatty acids and humectants which attract and seal moisture inside hair strands. This is why his winter products contain soy protein and panthenol.

Nick Chavez, another specialist in hair industry, recommends two types of hair products: people with thick African-American or Asian hair would do best with heavy conditioning hair pack, a deep treatment that should be left on hair for 30 minutes twice a week. The treatment should be applied beginning with the area two inches away from the scalp, because people with this type of hair have extra oily hair roots and the protection should be given to weaker and drier ends of the hair strands.

The owners of fine and thin hair should use regular hair conditioners, Chavez says. The conditioning pack is too heavy, but regular conditioner and light conditioning leave-in spray give good protection to fine hair in winter.

Vegetable oil is a natural way to protect hair from drying out. The options may vary: some specialists prefer olive oil; others think that safflower is better. There are also jojoba oil, rosemary oil, sage oil and others. Any of these oils should be applied in very little amounts and spread evenly on hair. This should be done after hair is washed and dried or any time between washings when hair looks or feels dry.

Besides dryness, static electricity is another big winter hair problem. The solution for it is very easy. A person could do the same as for clothes in a dryer: usual fabric softening dryer sheets work great on hair too. It should be gently rubbed on hair and static electricity will be removed.

Certain types of hairbrushes reduce static in hair. As a rule, specialists recommend using natural boar bristle hairbrush with wooden handle. There are several other anti-static brushes, but the main criterion is to stay away from plastic combs and brushes in order to avoid static.

Wearing hats in winter usually ruins hair style. This is usually called “hat hair”: after the hat is removed, hair sticks out in different directions and often cannot be fixed by simple brushing. There are several ways to fight this: choose the hair styles that work better with hats: high ponytails and braids with long hair and pushing it straight back right before putting the hat on for short hair. If appropriate hair style is very important, it is recommended to keep various hair-style products like sprays, creams and conditioners in the hand bag throughout the winter season.

Tracy Lewis

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Posted on January 5, 2010 
Filed Under Hair Care

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