How To Protect Your Hair From The Cold

Cold temperatures have the potential to ruin your hair from the inside out. Without a hair care regimen that accounts for frigid temperatures, you can’t hope to maintain your hair’s luster, manageability, or length. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of tips you can use to protect your hair from the cold. Let’s get into it! 

Don’t Overwash Your Hair 

One of the main consequences of cold weather is hair dryness. The cold, dry air depletes your hair of moisture, leaving you with dry, brittle strands. To combat dryness from the cold, you should make sure that you aren’t overwashing your hair. While you might wash your hair every couple of days in the summer, that’s rarely needed in the winter. In fact, oily hair is better able to tolerate cold temperatures than totally clean hair because the oil acts as a protective barrier against the moisture-zapping cold. 

Moisturize Your Hair More Often

Another thing you can do to protect your hair from the cold is moisturize it more often. If you moisturize your hair twice a week and notice that the winter air is drying out your hair, add another moisturizing session to your weekly hair routine. Your hair will thank you! 

Change Your Moisturizer

Your summer moisturizer may not be substantial enough to shield your hair from the harmful effects of dry winter air. If you’re finding that, no matter how many times you use your current moisturizer, your hair still feels dry and brittle, that’s a sign you need to try a new moisturizer. As a starting point, look for moisturizers with mid-to-heavyweight oils. Coconut oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil are all great oils to use in the winter. 

If you have textured hair, seal in the moisture with Jamaican black castor oil or shea butter.

Deep Condition Your Hair 

Rinse-out conditioners are good for keeping your hair healthy and moisturized in the summer, spring, and fall. But they are not usually enough to keep your hair hydrated in the wintertime. For near-freezing temps and harsh winds, you’ll need regular deep conditioning sessions. A deep conditioner is very much like a regular conditioner but much more intense. Deep conditioners are formulated to give your hair a more substantial conditioning session than you can get with a regular rinse-out conditioner. 

If you’ve never deep conditioned your hair, now is the time to start. Get yourself a moisturizing deep conditioner and use it whenever your hair needs a little pick me up. To use a deep conditioner, you’ll need to cleanse your hair, apply the deep conditioner generously (avoiding your roots), and then let it sit on your hair for 5 minutes or more before rinsing it out. 

Try a Leave-in Conditioner

Leave-in conditioners are fantastic daily moisturizers that often come in sprays and creams. Leave-in sprays are great for a daily moisture replenishment, and creams are great for a quick dose of moisture on your wash day. Whenever you’ll be going out in the cold, spray a leave-in conditioner on your hair a few minutes before walking out the door. 

Cover Your Hair Up

Lastly, you can protect your hair by covering it up whenever you’re out in the cold. Cover it up with a hood, a silk or satin scarf, or a hat. This is only a partial fix since the frigid air will eventually penetrate your head covering. But it works in a pinch. 

Now you no longer have to worry about how you’re going to keep your hair looking luscious and healthy in the cold. With our tips, you’re bound to have a bunch of good hair days this winter!

Author: Andrea Reyes

Andrea is a mother, wife, writer, and natural hair enthusiast of 15 years. Currently on her natural hair journey, she’s been trying countless products and techniques to understand and embrace her natural hair. She is the creator of NaturallyTextured.com, a new website featuring informative articles that share tips, tricks, and techniques aimed to help others learn to love their hair through proper hair care. She writes with the hope of making hair care easier to understand and implement.