Winter-Proof Your Hair: 7 Winter Hair Care Tips for Healthy Locks

You wake up on one of the coldest winter mornings and get ready to start the day. You’re feeling good in your cozy Erin-approved Aqua cashmere sweater and L’Agence straight leg jeans. You throw on a hat before walking out the door, only to end up with electrified, static strands when you reach your destination. You’ve tried passing your portable GHD flat iron over your hair, but instead of smoothing everything down, your hair turns into a dry, fly-away mess. Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

Get some common-sense skincare tips to help you through the colder months here.

Winter Hair Care Tips

You may associate the summer sun and heat with hair damage, but winter can be just as bad. In many respects, winter is much worse for your tresses. High winds, lack of moisture in the air, low temperatures, torrential downpours, central heating, and friction from hats and scarves all work against healthy hair throughout the cold season.

When cold weather returns, even the lowest-maintenance among us find themselves working harder to prevent damaged hair and take proper care of our strands, but getting regular trims can only do so much. The culprit, cold, dry air, causes the cuticle layer of the hair to lift, while heat takes the moisture out of the hair, so going back and forth between the two throughout the winter season leaves hair dry and frizzy. So, what’s a gal to do to protect her hair as the temperature drops? Follow these 7 tips to winter-proof your hair.

#1 | Use Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner

To combat dry, frizzy winter hair, you need moisture. I recommend using a moisturizing or hydrating shampoo during the winter, and limiting your use of clarifying shampoo to no more than twice a month. Olaplex No. 4 and No. 5 are my favorite, and great for all hair types including fine to wavy hair. For those with thicker tresses, I recommend Briogeo, and for my splurge pick is Oribe Gold Lust Repair (conditioner here) It not only hydrates but strengthens the hair, add tons of oil, balances the scalp, and repairs damage.

#2 | Shampoo Less Often

The one good thing about cooler winter temps is that your hair tends to be less greasy, which means you can wash it less often. When you wash your hair too often, it can be stripped of its natural oils, leading to further dryness and irritation. Try to extend the time between your washes and aim to shampoo only 2 times per week. If you need a little pick-me-up in the interim, a quality dry shampoo like Living Proof or Moroccanoil formulated for either light or dark tones, removes oil and odor without weighing your hair down.

#3 | Use a Moisturizing Mask

For truly hydrated hair, I recommend a weekly deep moisturizing mask. A moisturizing hair mask is great for dry or damaged hair and helps to ensure your overall hair health. Briogeo’s deep conditioning mask is a great choice for any hair type (and pairs well with the moisturizing shampoo). Ouidad’s Curl Reboot Leave-in Mask is a lifesaver for those with thicker strands. If you have thin hair, give Ouai Treatment Mask a try. It moisturizes fine strands without weighing them down.

#4 | Moisturize Your Scalp

During winter, your scalp can get dry and itchy because of the extreme lack of moisture. This tends to lead to dandruff, scalp irritation, flakiness, and in some cases—hair fall. I encourage you to try a scalp massage with nourishing hair oils, as it improves blood circulation to the scalp and nourishes hair follicles, stimulating hair growth. Some of my favorite oils to penetrate the hair shaft and keep the hair moisturized are Kérastase Elixir Ultime, Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil, and Vegamour GRO Hair Serum.

#5 | Limit Heat Styling Tools

It’s no secret that regularly applying high temperatures to your hair is never a good idea. Especially since your hair is already delicate during winter. Heat styling tools draw moisture out of your hair and can make it more brittle. I treated myself to the Shark FlexStyle Air Drying System, and let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. It makes blow drying wet hair  fast and easy, even with low heat. Shark literally minimizes heat exposure and it’s a fraction of the price of the Dyson Airwrap.

#6 | Protect Hair from Static

Static hair is so annoying and super common in the winter. Lack of moisture, combined with the friction caused by sweaters, scarves, hoodies, and hair brushes, makes your hair frizzy and staticky. Use a boar bristle brush to prevent static and wear a hat anytime you’re outside during the winter months. Not only will it keep you warm, but it helps minimize frizz due to rain, snow and wind.

#7 | Lower Shower Temperature

Remember, extreme heat is your hair’s worst enemy. Avoid showering with hot water, especially after conditioning, as it can strip the conditioner, essential oils, and moisture from your hair, and leave you with a dry scalp and staticky hair. Prevent this by showering with lukewarm water or, if you can handle it, cool water to lock in moisture.

Do you have any tried-and-true winter hair care favorites? Please share in the comments below! Don’t forget you can sign up for the newsletter to take advantage of some amazing resources here including a PDF with 20+ beauty tips to look younger! Thanks for reading!