Ways to Keep Your Hair Hydrated in the Winter

By Choya Randolph

As naturals, we spend a lot of time making sure our hair stays hydrated. Our natural hair oils struggle to coat our hair strands due to our coils.That’s why we don’t wash our hair everyday and use deep conditioners and leave-in conditioners. We put in a lot of work to keep our hair hydrated but then here comes winter, robbing us of our moisture with its cold temperatures, leaving us with ashy knuckles, and drying out our hair. We hate to see it. Here are ways we can combat winter’s theft of our hair hydration.

Steam Treatments

One of the ways we keep our hair hydrated as naturals is by using deep conditioners after shampooing. Deep conditioners penetrate our hair cuticles to condition our hair, giving us hydration, shine and nourishment. When winter makes your deep conditioner feel like it’s not slapping like it did during the summer, it’s time to take it up a notch by using steam treatments. 

Steam treatments incorporate heat when deep conditioning. The heat opens up the hair cuticles so the deep conditioner can penetrate the hair even further to give you more hydration. If you want to DIY your steam treatments instead of sitting under the dryer at the salon, you can buy a steam cap online. If you ain’t got time for alladat, you can simply put a shower cap on your head when deep conditioning. This won’t incorporate much heat but it’ll still help to add extra hydration to your hair.

Cowashing

As mentioned earlier, kinky hair is not meant to be washed everyday. Washing your hair more during the winter is going to have your hair PARCHED. When it starts getting cold, it may be time to start cowashing. 

Cowashing is when you use a cleansing conditioner to wash your hair instead of using a shampoo. It’s a shampoo alternative that cleanses the scalp while conditioning the hair instead of stripping the hair of its natural oils. During the winter, you may be using more products to maintain moisture. Cowashes will combat product build up and give you the midweek moisture boost your hair may need.

Oil Your Scalp

Having dry hair is bad but having a dry scalp? Do you even love yourself? Once you start busting out those winter coats, bust out your oil as well. Oiling your scalp has so many benefits. Not only does it combat a flaky scalp, it enhances blood circulation which can promote thicker hair and growth. You can simply massage any oil of your choice using your fingers or you can buy scalp massagers online. 

Oil is great at sealing moisture so it will protect your scalp and strengthen your natural hair oils. When oiling your scalp, be careful not to get it in your hair if your hair isn’t already moisturized. Because oil is a sealant, if your hair is dry, it will seal in that dryness making it harder for your leave-in conditioners and creams to moisturize your hair. So oil your scalp after doing your moisture regimen whether it’s LOC or LCO.

Winter is considered to be the most wonderful time of the year but it’s not the best time for our hair. So when you’re enjoying those cute sweaters and just the fun of the holidays, make sure your hair is also enjoying some hydration.