From fighting frizz to maintaining hair health, expert stylists from Hair Club have provided the following advice for cold-weather hair care and styling....just in time for winter!
The professional stylists of Hair Club® offer advice on how to keep your hair healthy, moisturized and frizz-free this winter:
• Choose a Sulfate-Free Shampoo: A common ingredient found in shampoos, sulfates help remove buildup and debris. But, especially in the winter, they can also irritate and dry the scalp, strip color and shine, cause split ends, and cause the hair cuticle to become rough and coarse. Sulfate-free shampoos help attract moisture back to hair.
• Use a Round Brush: We often hide under a hat to protect our head and ears from chilly temperatures, leading to unattractive hat hair. A round brush is a styling tool that helps to create lift, volume, and the appearance of fullness. Choose one that has soft bristles and holes in the barrel to help to circulate air and protect from intense heat.
• Take a Multi-Vitamin: An easy way to keep hair healthy from the inside out, selecting a multivitamin that contains these four essentials is vital for healthier, stronger hair.
◦ Biotin: The most important supplement you can take, Biotin is vital for hair growth and strengthening both hair and nails.
◦ Vitamin B: Helps to enhance fullness and the way hair looks by promoting blood circulation to the scalp, preventing premature grays and hair loss, and stimulating growth.
◦ Vitamin C: Influences how hair maintains its color and the right level of moisture.
◦ Vitamin D: Working hand in hand with calcium, Vitamin D helps to grow hair and protect it from drying and breaking.
• Go Easy on the Hair Care Products, and Use the Right Ones: Combating static, flyaways, and flatness makes it easy to load up on mousse and hair spray, but ultimately, the overuse of styling products has the reverse effect. Too much of a good thing can limit natural hair movement, clump the hair together, weigh it down, and make it look greasy, increasing the appearance of thinness or less hair. Stick to a dime-sized portion of product, avoiding contact with the scalp so as not to clog pores or cause flakes. Look to gloss drops to help reduce static.
• In Winter the Key is Moisture: Winter air outside is drier due to colder conditions as well as inside due to heating in buildings. When hair is wet it naturally stretches, and as it dries it will shrink. If hair becomes overly dry and lacks moisture it can snap and break during the drying process. For your healthiest winter hair, it is all about deep conditioning. Using conditioners with a lower molecular weight will allow for moisture to be delivered deeper into the hair, and won’t weigh hair down.
• Limit Artificial Heat: Many of us are guilty of blasting scorching, artificial heat on our locks each day with a favorite beauty tool. Not only can these tools actually burn your hair, but they also dry it out, leaving it susceptible to breakage and split ends. Winter air is generally drier due to cold conditions outside and heated indoor environments, making this season especially hard on hair. Make sure to only use a dryer once hair is damp (not dripping wet) and keep it at least six inches away, moving it continuously over different areas. With irons, never leave them on hair for more than 15-20 seconds. Heat protectors and/or a leave-in conditioner are always recommended to help protect your strands from the very beginning and increase volume, but if possible, skip the tools a couple days a week and go au natural.