5 Tips to Help Prevent Winter Hair Damage

The festivities of the winter season might bring joy to your heart and soul—but does it do the same for your hair? Not likely, assuming you’re like most people who experience brittle, dry, and damaged locks once the cold air drifts in. That frosty feeling can even mean an obnoxiously flaky scalp, and in severe cases, even hair loss!

Thankfully, we have plenty of tips and techniques to help keep your hair healthy, full, and luxurious no matter what the weather has in store this year.

1. Skip Hair Dryers, Straighteners, and Other Heat-Based Hair Tools

It’s the dry, frigid weather that causes the most hair damage during winter. Therefore, you should avoid anything that can deprive your ‘do of any lasting moisture. Unfortunately, for those who love creating elaborate hairstyles, this means skipping many favorite styling tools as they often introduce unnecessary heat.

From straighteners to hot curling irons to blow dryers, anything that adds heat to the scalp or hair can cause excessive damage. After all, your hair’s already dealing with nature trying to dry it out—how can it also compete with these powerful tools?

But don’t get discouraged by the thought of putting your favorite gadgets to the side. Instead, try getting creative with alternative products including mousse, gels, and hair sprays. And if you can find ones that boost moisture as well, count that as an extra bonus!

2. Keep Your Scalp (And Body) Healthy and Hydrated

Adding great, high-moisturizing products to your daily habit is a fantastic start to growing healthy, winter hair. However, it takes more than focusing on the head alone to ensure incredible locks that last until springtime.

Always drink plenty of water, because it’s not just your skin that dries up when the days get short—it’s also your hair. Though hydration is a smart habit no matter the season, drinking those eight glasses a day now becomes even more critical.

There are plenty of natural hair enhancing nutrients found in foods, oils, and supplements that’ll give your locks an extra boost. The most notable of these nutrients include vitamin B, vitamin A, vitamin E, omega-3s, and biotin. These can be ingested through foods like salmon, leafy greens, quinoa, avocado, nuts, and plenty more.

3. Don’t Forget to Trim Your Hair

More than any other time of year, make sure you’re treating your hair to a regular trim during the winter. With a trim, hair stylists can cut away those split ends and damaged strands, which minimizes the chance of further splitting and breakage.

Since hair’s naturally more prone to brittleness during the cold months, shearing away any problem areas will lead to a shinier, happier mane. It also helps the remaining hair stay healthy throughout the season.

4. Don’t Let Your Hair Freeze

Never allow your hair to freeze, even if it’s minimally. Frozen hair is one of the biggest culprits of nasty hair problems during the cold months. It only takes a tiny build-up of ice to cause severe damage.

Also, don’t only think about this icy predicament when jumping out of the shower and out the door. Sweat that accumulates during exercise, work, or any strenuous activity can also cause hair to freeze quickly.

Since applying heat to the head is discouraged, give yourself ample time to allow your hair to naturally air dry. Or, if you’re in a rush, cover your head with a winter hat or warm scarf. Then, ensure all of your hair is fully shielded beneath your winter wear.

5. Choose Nourishing, Moisturizing Shampoos & Conditioners

Aside from the chill trying to freeze your locks solid, dryness is the biggest problem for your hair in the winter. Without ample moisture for your locks to soak up, they quickly turn brittle, which leads to split ends and breakage.

To combat this snowy scourge, always use shampoos and conditioners that emphasize added moisture.  In addition, moisturizing products will enhance sleek, shiny hair so you can skip that wintertime dullness.

By adding deep conditioners, hydrating masks, and ultra-moisturizing leave-in conditioners to your winter hair care routine, you’ll give your locks a serious boost that can last far beyond the coldest months of the year.

Look for ingredients that can help protect and strengthen your hair. (hydrolyzed) keratin and wheat proteins, (hydrolyzed) Wheat proteins or silicone derivatives like Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone, and Trimethicone.

We know adding extra steps to your daily hair care routine can be a hassle. We already live busy lives, especially during the holidays. However, with how much we also love showing off those locks during this festive season—we think this little extra effort is more than worth it.

Are you noticing more hair loss than usual this winter? Don’t wait until it’s summer to get the hair of your dreams and connect with experts at Limmer HTC. Our team is committed to providing every client with a full, fantastic head of hair. Contact us at (210) 496-9992 or set up an appointment online today.