The Winter Hair Care Routine to End Dry And Damaged Hair

What’s causing dry and damaged hair during winter?
● Dry air, coming from the cold outside and the heat inside, drains the natural moisture from your hair and lets it dry.
● Hot shower, has the same effect as dry air and can cause hair dehydration and breakage.
● Head accessories keep your scalp from breathing and cause friction leading to damaged hair.
● Brushing, straightening, or any use of heat on your hair can result in damage even if you use heat protection products.

Fortunately, there are many ways you can prevent dry and damaged hair during the winter months.

Hair Care Routine to keep your hair healthy and shiny hair during cold months

Pre-poo treatment
Pre-poo means pre-shampoo treatment. The goal of pre-poo treatment is to deeply moisturize strands and bring protection to your hair before the shampoo.

Apply a vegetable oil (almond, coconut, or poppy flower) or a conditioner from your scalp to your ends and massage your scalp with it so it can also benefit from the mask.
If you have greasy hair, apply the oil only from mid-lengths and skip the roots.

Let the mask rest for at least an hour. For in-depth hydration, let the mask work overnight by wrapping a towel around your hair. This concentrated treatment will revitalize and transform your hair.

Finally, wash the pre-poo off. You can renew the operation once or twice a week according to the needs of your hair.

Cleansing, with a gentle shampoo
Like the skin of our face, our hair and scalp accumulate dead skin, pollution, and sebum. To eliminate these, using a gentle shampoo is essential. Pick a shampoo suitable for your hair type.

When washing your hair, pay attention to washing your scalp well without damaging it. Don’t use too much shampoo and gently massage your scalp with your fingertips to spread the shampoo evenly and promote blood circulation.

Rinsing is an essential step you don’t want to neglect. Ideally, rinsing should last about 3 minutes, until the water coming out of your hair is clear.
For extra shiny hair, finish rinsing your shampoo with cold water to close your hair cuticles.

Beauty tip: before shampooing, brush your hair to untangle and eliminate residues and dead hair (if you have curly hair, wait until you have applied the conditioner for this step).

How often should you wash your hair?
Washing your hair too often will attack your hair scales and lead to dryness and breakage.

When you wash your hair often, the hair feels attacked and responds to this aggression by producing more sebum.
The result is that your hair will get greasy more quickly.

Experts advise you to space your shampoos as far as possible and only wash your hair when really necessary. Try to shampoo every 2 to 3 days.

Solid shampoo or liquid shampoo?
Solid shampoos are just as effective as liquid shampoos in gently washing your hair. There is a solid shampoo for every type of hair.

The main advantage of solid shampoos (even if there are many) is that they do not require packaging. Opting for this solid hair care is to make a green gesture for the planet and reduce your waste.
Another significant advantage is that it takes up less space than shampoo bottles, it will free up space in your bathroom.

Deep moisturizing with conditioner and mask
After rinsing the shampoo, apply a conditioner or a mask on wet hair. A hair mask is a super concentrated conditioner.
Hair masks are commonly made from extra nourishing oils such as almond, argan, or butter (cocoa) and bring shine and strength to your hair.

Hair masks will nourish, detangle and repair your hair. It is the perfect addition to a healthy hair routine to help solve dryness and damaged hair.

Apply for 5 to 30 minutes and rinse your hair. Use conditioner after every shampoo and mask once or twice a week.

If you have curly hair, apply the conditioner or the mask before untangling your hair. It will help prevent breakage.

Protecting your hair
Once the hair is washed, moisturized, and strengthened, don’t forget to protect it from external aggressors such as hair dryer, straightening iron, sun UV, or cold air.

A quality hair protectant will help seal in moisture and keep your hair looking healthy and shiny. So don't forget to apply it before you style your hair. Most hair styling products also prevent frizz and improve hair texture.

Everyone’s hair is different, so finding a hair care routine that works best for you may take some time and experimentation. Don’t be afraid to try out many combinations of products and techniques until you find the perfect personalized hair routine for healthy and shiny hair during the winter months!

BIO
Melanie Manard is the founder of The Conscious Insider, a digital platform for sustainable and ethical lifestyle. She is passionate about eco-friendly fashion and sustainable design. You can usually find her reading, cooking or riding her bike.