Tips That Can Keep Your Hair Healthy During the Winter

Winter is a season of warmth, comfort, and coziness. It is time for endless conversations in front of the fireplace. But your hair can suffer significantly in the winter. Cold, dry air, severe weather, and everything that comes with it can dehydrate your hair and affect your locks' overall health. It can dry up your scalp and hair, reducing its ability to retain moisture. Overall, a cold climate or a long winter can cause split ends, frizzy hair, volume loss, and hair breakage.

In winter, you need a different hair care routine to keep your hair healthy. Due to our busy schedules, taking care of our hair becomes a problem for us during the winter months. As a result, we frequently opt for chemical-based hair care solutions on the market. Are they, however, genuinely effective? Chemically produced products can never have long-lasting and beneficial impacts.

Follow these winter hair care tips to keep your scalp and hair happy throughout the season and maintain it nourished and healthy.

1.   Guard Your Hair Against the Cold and Wind by Wearing A Hat

During the winter months, it's critical to protect your hair against moisture-depleting dry air, snow, wind, and rain. When your hair is subjected to the cold, keep your head and hair covered because it becomes stressed due to dry wind and snow. Wear a soft scarf or a warm hat.

Your hat should not be so tight that it prevents blood from flowing freely through your scalp. To avoid friction from the cotton and woolen fabrics, line your hat with silk or satin cloth.

2.   Don't Go Out with Your Hair Wet

Wet hair should not be worn outside the house. Cold air stretches the hair shafts, making them more prone to breakage and perhaps losing color. If you walk outside in the cold with a moist head, hair can freeze with a high risk of breakage, and it can take longer to dry. So, stay indoors till you've washed your hair and allow more time for your hair to air dry.

3.   Give Your Hair A Hot Oil Treatment

In the winter, the most critical hair care advice is to oil your hair. Due to the absence of moisture in the air, your scalp becomes dry and itchy throughout the winter. It can cause dandruff, inflammation, and flakiness on the scalp, as well as hair loss.

Giving hair a hot oil massage is like giving it a complete meal. It not only moisturizes the dry scalp but also nourishes hair and follicles from the inside out. To give your hair a boost of critical nutrients, you can opt for a single hot oil treatment or make a cocktail of multiple oils.¹

Olive oil is an excellent option for dry hair. Aside from olive oil, maize oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, almond oil, castor oil can be used successfully. All these oils are high in vitamin E and antioxidants, which assist in sealing moisture and repairing damage to the outside hair layer or cuticle. Massage your hair with these oils 1-2 times per week. Hot oil massage stimulates hair development by improving blood circulation to the scalp, nourishing the hair follicles, and promoting healthy hair.

4.   Before You Wash Your Hair Oil, Steam It

Before washing the hair oil, try to give it a little steam after the hot oil treatment because steam aids hair oil penetration and absorption into the scalp and hair. This gentle warmth encourages hair growth by improving blood circulation.

You can generally use a thermal cap to give steam. Plug it in, put it on, and turn on the steam for a few minutes. If you don't have a thermal cap, you can use a wet towel, or a napkin soaked in hot water.

5.   Avoid Hot Water to Wash Your Hair

A hot shower might be precisely what you need when it's below zero outside in the cold weather. In contrast, hot water can strip your hair of its natural oils and moisture, leaving it dry, making it brittle and prone to breakage. It may also cause flakiness and dryness on the scalp. Wash your hair with warm or lukewarm water and then blast it with cold water at the end to help close the hair follicles and lock in moisture.²

6.   Avoid Frequent Hair Washing

If you wash your hair daily, it's time to change things up. Shampoo removes impurities from your hair, but it also removes natural oils and moisturizers from your scalp. Natural oils act as a barrier between the scalp and the hair.

Hair gets stripped of natural oils that keep it nourished and preserved, creating more dryness and irritation if it is washed too frequently. It is particularly problematic during the winter when those oils are desperately needed. Extend the interval between washes as much as you can. Aim to wash your hair twice or thrice a week while taking a few precautions with the temperature of the water and the shampoo you use. To maintain the natural moisture balance, always use a sulfate-free, mild shampoo.³

7.   Use Hydrating Conditioner

During the winter, never forget to use the conditioner. After you've washed your hair, apply conditioner. Conditioners should be applied to the hair rather than the scalp. Conditioners keep your hair moisturized, shinier, and less prone to damage.

For deep hydration and nourishment, use a light, creamy conditioner with natural oils like coconut, olive, jojoba, and shea butter to make your hair soft and silky while also preventing it from damage.⁴

After shampooing your hair, you can also spray a few drops of beer on it and let it dry naturally. It will behave as a good conditioner without leaving any smell. Beer contains a protein that aids in hair cuticle repair, leaving hair silky and lustrous.

8.   Make Weekly Hair Mask A Priority

Weekly hair masks, like weekly face masks, can make a significant difference when it comes to dry, damaged hair. They can help you reverse the effects of dryness while also ensuring that your hair is well-protected all year. Hair masks have tons of hair-health benefits. Hair masks soften, hydrate, and add luster to the hair.

Applying an overnight hair mask to your strands will help replenish and restore moisture in your dry scalp, which can be lost by temperature variations such as dry heat indoors and cold air.

Here are some natural hair masks to keep your hair healthy during winter:

• Hair Mask Using Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is an excellent natural hair softener. Hair softening characteristics are organically integrated into it. It can transform your hair when used with nutritious hair oil.

• Hair Mask Using Bananas and Eggs

Bananas are beneficial not only to the stomach but also to the skin and hair. When combined with an egg, this fruit takes on a whole new meaning in hair care. It is a comprehensive organic food that softens and shines your hair.⁵

• Hair Mask Made of Eggs and Yogurt

The hair and follicles will benefit significantly from an egg yogurt hair pack. This mask nourishes and smooths your hair from the inside out with proteins and probiotics.⁶

• Hair Mask Using Milk and Honey

The natural softening qualities of milk and honey are well-known. Applying a mask containing these two components nourishes your hair from the inside out, giving it a natural sheen and smoothness.

• Hair Mask Using Honey with Onion Juice

Onion juice is an excellent hair treatment that can be done at home. It becomes a remarkable hair mask when combined with honey to decrease hair fall throughout the winter months.⁷

• Gelatin Hair Mask

Plain gelatin is a great source of protein for hair. It coats and hydrates the hair strands, making them smooth and lustrous.

9.   Try to Avoid Heat Styling Products

In the winter months, your hair is already fragile. Heat styling exacerbates the problem by sucking moisture from your strands. Hairstyling appliances like hair curling rods and hair pressing machines, and harsh chemicals used to keep hair styles intact for long periods cause hair to become brittle and damaged, resulting in hair breakage. Avoid or limit their use during the winter because the season dehydrates your hair and makes it weak.⁸

It is safest if you let your hair air dry. When you blow-dry your hair, it loses moisture, which increases the risk of breakage. Drying your hair without using heat keeps it lustrous and healthy. Try to shower in the evening to allow your hair to air dry naturally overnight. During the winter, you should avoid straightening or curling your hair. Explore new hairstyles like twists, braids, updos, and buns during this time.

10.        Use A Humidifier at Home

During the winter, the abrupt change in temperatures can dehydrate your hair. Heaters and radiators can give you warmth when the temperature drops, but they also dry the air, potentially harming your hair. Use a humidifier at home. It helps to keep the moisture levels in your house balanced and prevent dryness. It also restores essential moisture to the hair and scalp that has been lost due to exposure to cold weather. It prevents all the winter hair issues and keeps them healthy and vibrant.

11.        Keep Yourself Hydrated

The human body's lifeblood is water. There is no life without water. Water nourishes our body organs, the largest of which is our skin. The scalp can only be healthy if the circulatory system delivers adequate water to the hair follicles.

It will be more difficult to keep your hair hydrated if you aren't adequately hydrated. Hair is directly affected by dehydration, and not getting enough water can stifle hair development. Hydration guarantees that your hair receives water from the roots to the tips. Once the hair and scalp are hydrated, dryness, itching, and dandruff are no longer an issue.⁹

During the winter, drink 10 to 12 glasses of water every day to maintain your hair naturally hydrated. Carrying a refillable water bottle is a brilliant strategy to ensure that you drink enough water.

Our hair grows like a plant, and if we don't water it, it will dry out. Consider your hair in the same light. Hair roots draw water from the scalp to hydrate the hair shaft, which aids in growth. So, keep your body hydrated because attractive skin and hair require it.

12.        Eat Nutritious Foods, And Your Hair Will Flourish

To keep your body and hair healthy, eat a well-balanced diet that contains vegetables, leafy greens, citrus fruits, dairy products, omega-3 fatty acids, and meat. Vitamin C is abundant in citrus fruits and dark leafy greens. Vitamin C contains antioxidant characteristics that assist your hair stay healthy and voluminous by preventing free radical damage, split ends, and breakage.¹⁰

Omega-3 fatty acids help hair grow and keep it lustrous since the body can't make them on its own. To make sure you're receiving enough, include salmon, avocado, almonds, or sardines in your diet.

Avoid or limit your ingestion of alcohol and coffee. Smoking should be avoided. All these destructive behaviors wreak havoc on your hair.

13.        Use A Wide-Toothed Comb

For untangled hair, wide-toothed combs are the best alternative to regular combs. Always use a wide-tooth comb to untangle your hair first, then use a standard hair comb or brushes after that. Furthermore, while your hair is at its most vulnerable, it's a good idea to comb it slowly from the bottom to the top. This method allows you to work with less surface area, which reduces hair breakage.

14.        Regularly Trim Your Hair

We all know we should get our hair trimmed regularly, but it's easy to overlook it. Keep in mind, trimming your hair keeps it healthy and prevents broken ends. Split ends and hair breakage are caused by the dry and chilly winter air, and friction from caps and scarves adds stress to your hair. To avoid this issue, trim your hair regularly, say every four to eight weeks during winter. To get rid of dry, split ends, cut half an inch off the bottom of your hair. It is a fantastic strategy to keep your locks appearing fresh and maintain hair health.

Maintain your hairstyle by keeping it simple and low maintenance. The less you fuss with your hair during the day, even if it's just brushing your fingers through it or combing it, the more likely it is to break or develop split ends. Make your hair in such a way that you won't have to touch it again for the rest of the day.

The Bottom Line

Hair is a crucial component of your body that makes you appear great when in good condition. It necessitates the same level of attention that you provide to your skin. Winter can be tough on your hair, so taking extra precautions will help you maintain optimal hair health. These simple tips can help you avoid hair problems in the winter and keep your hair soft, lustrous, and healthy. To maintain the proper balance between hair growth and loss, both intrinsic and external elements work together.