Winterize Your Hair

January 13, 2009

Noticing an increase in breakage, shedding, split ends and static this time of the year? The culprit is the winter air, which effectively pulls out moisture and leads to several cases of hair damage. Here are a few solutions.

Case 1: Shedding.

Most women experience an increase in their hair’s shedding amount. This typically occurs between the start of autumn and generally lasts until spring. Shedding is recognized by the appearance of hair strands with a pinpoint sized white bulb on one of the ends. The average person sheds between 10-100 strands a day, which is considered normal. For most women, hair shedding can be an annoying problem that can be fixed or minimized in several ways.

Garlic is a very common and effective way to help during the time of excessive hair shedding. Taking garlic supplements is one way to help minimize shedding, or by using products such as Queen Helene’s Garlic shampoo and Alter Ego nourishing garlic conditioner, which incorporates garlic in their ingredients.

You can make your own garlic conditioner simply by blending several cloves of garlic in your conditioner of choice. Using this homemade garlic conditioner recipe, aids in minimizing hair shedding. You can also infuse garlic in olive oil and use it as a hot oil treatment which will also work to combat hair shedding.

Case 2: Dry Hair leading to breakage and split ends.

The winter air is a lot dryer than during the summer. This causes your hair to become more prone to split ends and breakage. Breakage is the unnatural breaking of the hair strand without the white bulb on the end. Breakage can result in small pieces or in longer mid strand pieces. Split ends are caused from worn down hair cuticles.

It is very important to look for moisturizing shampoos, leave-in conditioners and to deep condition frequently throughout the winter to supplement moisture into the hair strands. Setting a deep conditioning routine of once a week is desired. There are many products available that are used for deep conditioning. You can find these products under several brands such as: Elasta QP, Motions, Queen Helene, and many others found in your local hair supply store.

You can also make your own deep conditioner by using common household items such as eggs, yogurt, honey, and bananas.

The interesting part of making your own deep conditioner is that you do not have to add avocado or plain yogurt, you can substitute the avocado for a banana or the plain yogurt for coconut milk, because all of these have beneficial properties for the hair.

Dry hair and wearing wool coats, scarves and hats during the winter time can also result in breakage and split ends. It is better for your hair to do protective styles during the winter time. Protective styles such as buns or anything that prevents the hair from coming in contact with your winter accessories can help prevent unnecessary breakage and split ends. Purchasing hats containing a silk lining or wearing a satin cap underneath the hat can also protect your hair.

Lubricate the ends of your hair with oils, such as: Sweet almond, jojoba, or castor oil will help to prevent the results of friction to your hair.
Case 3: Static.

Static is an annoying problem caused by dry hair, and occurs more frequently during the winter. According to winter hair care tips by Jill Scott, writer for Capital News 9, “Celebrity hair stylist David Evangelista, says. “Static is a big problem in the winter and two ways to combat it is grab a dryer sheet and rub the dryer sheet on your hair. That will keep static down.” “Another way is to take some hair spray and spray it on a brush and you can brush it right through, and it will really coat the cuticle and keep the static down.�”

Here is an example of a natural deep conditioner that I use to prevent dryness caused by the atmosphere:
Ingredients:

1/3 cup of regular plain yogurt

1 avocado

2 teaspoons of honey

To strengthen hair you can add 1 egg or 1/3 cup of mayonnaise

Directions:
Peel avocado and remove pit. Chop up the avocado in small pieces and use a blender to blend the avocado until the texture is smooth without any lumps. Measure the amount of yogurt and pour that and the honey into the same bowl. Stir the mixture for several minutes.