10 Commandments of Winter Natural Hair Care

Regardless of your hair texture, length, or ethnicity, we can all agree that the winter season is not favourable to all hair texture. Aside from the freezing temperature, the dry air (both indoor and outdoor) and the cotton and wool fabric that we wear during the cold season can all wreak havoc on our hair. And if extra care isn't taken, one may loose all the hair that was grown in the summer time and get discouraged by the whole natural hair journey thing. However if you'd like to keep the length you retained in the summer time and also keep the length that you'll grow during the winter season, you will need to keep the following 10 commandments when it comes to your haircare. 

10 Commandments of Natural Haircare in the Winter

1. Thou shall pre poo with coconut or olive hot oil treatment
We all know that shampoos have the tendency to dry out the hair, now think of its adverse effects in the winter time. So instead of advising against shampoos, I suggest choosing sulphate free shampoos such as Jason Shampoo or African Black Soap. And if you must use sulphate shampoos, you will be better off protecting your hair from the harshness of shampoos by doing a hot oil treatment prior to shampooing your hair.

2. Thou shall do a weekly moisturizing deep conditioning treatment
It's normal for the hair to dry out faster in the winter time due to the lack of moisture in the air. Since we have no control over this, we must try our best to restore moisture back into our hair on a daily basis by applying a moisturizer at night or in the morning. However, for maximum effects, it's best to remoisturize clean hair as its able to absorb more moisture than dirty hair which has already been layered with products.

3. Thou shall use heavy creams (shea moisture), butters (shea butter) and oils (castor oil) as a sealant
 Heavy creams will provide our hair with more than enough moisture while the heavy oils and butters will seal these moisture in for a longer period of time.

4. Thou shall keep your hair covered
Depending on where you live, it can get pretty windy in the wintertime. To protect your hair from the harsh wind, you can either wear a pin up style so your hairstyle isn't disturbed by the wind or you could loosely wrap your hair when outside and/or wear a winter hat on top of it

5. Thou shall always wear a satin cap or scarf under your winter hat
Most winter hats don't come with a satin lining, and so you would need to improvise by wearing a satin/ silk headwrap or bonnet under your winter hat. Doing this will protect your  hair from the wool in the hats which often gets tangled in one's hair. It also prevents the hat from sucking up the products applied in your hair that morning or the night before. This also prevents your hat from getting greasy and dirty faster.

6. Thou shall NOT wash n go
Keep any wet style for the summer time or when the weather warms up. You shouldn't walk out of the house with wet hair, because it will freeze and then break!

7. Thou shall not use coconut oil as a sealant
Coconut oil is solid at room temperature and extrememly hard in a cold temperature. So using coconut oil as a sealant will only make your hair hard when outside. And who wants hard hair?

8. Thou shall wear a protective style
Hair that is bounded is much stronger to withstand any environmental stress than free hair. It also allows the hair to stay moisturized for a longer period of time in comparison to loose hair which easily looses moisture to the atmosphere. If your priority is length retention during the winter, you'd be better off protecting your ends from the harsh environmental condition. Protective styles can be done with or without synthetic hair. hair. For styling ideas, check out the "mane styles" section of the blog.

9. Thou shall always wear a satin bonnet to sleep
This protects your style and hair while you sleep at night

10. Thou shall drink lots of water
Drinking water will help keep our hair hydrated during the dry season