Cold weather can damage your hair badly, so you need to take special care of your tresses in winter. The plummeting of the temperature in the winter months can put your hair and scalp under a lot of stress and lead to split ends and breakage.
“People tend to forget that the wintertime can be just as potentially damaging to the hair as the summertime”, says celebrity colorist Abby Haliti in a Fox News report.
Taking a few precautions can help you outwit the troublesome elements and help you maintain a healthy and fabulous mane all year long.
- Don’t go outdoors with damp hair: Avoid going outdoors with damp, wet hair. Anything that’s cold expands and the same happens with your wet hair in cold weather, increasing risk of breakage and making your color fade faster. The best solution is to wash your hair at night before going bed so that it’s dry by morning. If you use a blow dryer, dry the undermost layers first.
- Be attentive to indoor temperature: The combination of winter’s chill and dry central heating can be extremely dehydrating. Keep indoor temperature moderate, as high temperatures can cause dry, dull or brittle hair. As a HuffPost article points out, extreme temperatures, both cold and hot can rob your strands of moisture, causing hair to become dehydrated and leading to frizz, dullness and ultimately, breakage.
- Don’t wash your hair often and avoid hot showers: Hot showers can dry out hair and make it porous, and also damage the scalp. In winter, keep washing your hair to a minimum to prevent it from becoming too dry.
- Lock in extra moisture with an appropriate moisturizer: To protect against cold weather damage and add hydration back to your hair, use a good moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. Some experts recommend including a nourishing oil into your weekly haircare routine to help restore moisture.
- Avoid over-styling: Don’t use tools like hair dryers and curling irons in winter as the heat can dry out your hair and scalp, increasing the risk of damage.
- Cover Up: Cover your hair with a hat or head wrap to shield it from the harsh weather. Using a woolen or silk wrap will help avoid hair breakage. Make sure that it’s not too tight or else it will restrict the circulation in the scalp.
- Pay attention to your diet: To keep your hair and scalp looking and feeling healthy, eat healthy. Eat natural foods rich in oils, minerals and vitamins. Maintaining a healthy diet will help your hair healthier and also improve your general well-being in winter. Make sure your diet includes plenty of Vitamin C, A, E, as well as iron and selenium, which can be found in a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish, nuts and cereals. This will boost your immune system and help fix winter hair damage that may occur.
