1. Conditioner is your BEST friend! While you should be conditioning year-round, it becomes especially important during the winter months. Cold weather and dry heat easily suck moisture from your already thirsty tresses. If you don’t keep a regular deep conditioning schedule, now is the time to start one.
2. Trim well and trim often. Since hair is dryer during the winter months it is more prone to damage and breakage. Regular trims become even more important to prevent split ends and breakage from moving even further up the hair shaft causing you to need to cut more later.
3. Avoid brushing hair too often and reach for a wide-toothed comb instead. Cold air + wind = dry brittle hair that tangles easily. If you know you are prone to tangles or will be amongst outdoor elements that will cause tangles, cover your hair from the cold wind with a loose cap or scarf and keep a wide-toothed comb in your purse to gently comb hair out from time to time, preventing massive tangles at the end of the day.
4. Shampoo less often even than you did during the warmer months. Your hair needs all the moisture it can get! Washing your hair every day during the cold months is equally as bad (if not worse) than a weekly head dunking in a chlorinated pool during the summer months. Remember, tap water contains a number of chemicals too!
5. Bring on the cold, not the heat. This may sound crazy, but it is for the best of your hair! When you do wash your hair, wash in lukewarm (not scalding) water and end with a cold water rinse. Super hot water steals even more moisture from your strands and super cold water seals moisture in. Additionally, avoid the blow dryer if you can but if you can’t, dry on a cooler heat setting. Your tresses will thank you!
**TIP** While following all five of these tips will help fight the dreaded static electricity, try spraying a small amount of finishing spray on your comb and run from root to tip to smooth those extra stubborn flyways.
