Winter Hair Care. Things you need to know.

Got this wig from @mansero_hair

This other lady recently said something interesting about winter. She said, “I love winter because you can keep piling clothes on yourself until you feel warm and cozy. But in summer, there’s a limit on the number of  clothes you can take off to feel comfortable”. And that’s so true. Although I hate wearing my whole wardrobe,(sometimes it feels that way) cold moths do come with advantages as well. Like family time around a fireplace or a gas heater, hot chocolate every evening, like uumm, that’s my downfall. Hot chocolate is going to make me gain weight this winter. But when it comes to hair, the strain, damage from neglect, unsafe practices and cold windy weather can leave our natural hair dry, brittle and prone to breakage. And sometimes, we only see the damage caused soon after winter just like weight gain. But it does not have to be like that. There are ways of managing natural hair in winter that will help you still have beautiful hair in winter and when the cold and wind is gone. In winter, our natural hair really needs some tender loving care and that’s what it should get. Here are some tips on how to take care of your hair in winter.

• keep your regimen simple. If it’s simple enough, it will be easier to follow through even when you don’t have much time.
• Still make time to wash regularly even when protective styling. That will keep your hair moisturised and your scalp clean. A clean scalp grows healthier hair.
• Deep condition as much as possible. Every time you wash your hair at least. Deep conditioning helps your hair retain moisture for longer, strengthens it and gives it some elasticity so that it does not snap easily

Deep conditioning natural hair

• Protective styling will help you not to have your hands in your hair all the time. You can employ short term protective styling which can be buns, twists and braids and keep them in for a week or two. or even 3 days at a time in the case of a bun and then take it down to re-moisturise the hair and put it up in a bun again.
• Low manipulation hairstyles are great as well. If protective styling is not your cup of tea, then try styles that do not need a lot of pulling, brushing, combing and all that kind of stuff that can strain and stress the hair shaft.
• Hair extensions and wigs, when done well are great for winter I particularly love wigs because I can deep condition underneath and on very cold days, even when the heater is on and the air in my office is quite dry, my hair is protected under the wig.
• Make sure your protective style is not causing you any form of hair loss. So make sure it is done properly. No one needs to deal with hair loss when it can be prevented easily.
• If it’s a long term protective styling, don’t keep it in your hair for too long. 8 weeks should be the maximum if you don’t want to deal with stubborn knots and some maniac tangling of hair.
• When applying products on your hair. do what works for you. Some prefer to layer products and others apply the whole concoction at once. But in winter, heavier oils like castor oil and butters work best to offer more sealing and protection from the windy winter weather.
• Cover your head with satin or silk when you go to sleep.
• Avoid using heat to style your hair. It’s quite dry in South African winter months. Heat styling natural hair only adds to the damage. If you need to stretch your hair with heat, apply the lowest heat possible, use cold air on your blower or use heatless methods to stretch it like African threading.

African Threading to stretch natural hair

Most of the tips here are like so common but I included them anyway in case there are newbies and to remind those of us who have been natural for longer but need a plan to retain some hair in winter. Let’s make this winter a good winter for our natural hair.

Do you suffer from sever dandruff and you have tried almost everything but you still see the flakes? Comment below and ask any question about dandruff so that I can include it on a post I will be doing soon. Dandruff is like the enemy to long term protective styling and I want to share with you what has helped me so far. Now I am enjoying stretching my washes to 2 weeks when in a protective style when before I could not go for 3 days without having to wash my hair. It’s not products that I’m going to talk about. It’s more the approach to fighting dandruff that I’ve been missing all along. I know there are some people who are suffering like I did for years. And it’s those people I want to help. I’m not selling you any product as well and it will not be a sponsored post. Just me to you.

Smiles, laughs and hugs for the love of life. God bless you much and keep warm this winter.