5 Tips for Protecting Your Hair This Winter

If the winter season brings cold weather where you live, then you'll want to prepare to give your hair a little extra TLC. Here are 5 steps to help you keep your strands healthy and growing through the winter months.

Deep Condition I'm not the best at this step, but it's important. You know how in the summer months you can get away with using a thin lotion to keep your skin moisturized and in the winter you need to switch over to a heavier, creamier moisturizer so your skin doesn't dry out? Well much like your skin moisturizer, deep conditioning gives your hair the extra boost of moisture that it needs. Let's face it - with the harsh, cold air, the winter months can wreak havoc on our curls, kinks and coils, making them dry and brittle. And what does dry, brittle hair lead to? Tangles and breakage. No thank you! Overwhelmed by all the products out there and not sure where to start? Check out my video on my easy, inexpensive deep conditioner. Also, if your hair has permanent color in it, then deep conditioning isn't optional for you at any time of the year - it's always a must.

Puuddy's tightly coiled hair

Moisturizer There's no way around it - having a good quality moisturizer in your product arsenal is imperative to the health of your hair. Now, the type of moisturizer will largely depend on your curl pattern. Moisturizers come in a range of formulas, because no two curl patterns are alike. The tighter the curls, the more difficult it is for the natural moisturizer our scalps make - sebum - to make its way down our strands. This type of curl pattern will benefit from a heavier, creamier moisturizer (I like SheaMoisture's Curl Enhancing Smoothie - beware: a little goes a loooong way). The looser the curls, the easier it is for sebum to moisturize the whole strand of hair, so this curl pattern only needs a light moisturizer, maybe one that comes in spray form. 

Seal Sealing is a step that is really important, especially for those of us with tighter, kinkier curls and coils. There are two ways you can seal: 1) with pH, and 2) with oils or butters. Back when I was setting my hair in a bijillion two-strand twists, I'd seal using the famous "Kimmaytube leave-in conditioner" (note that the original recipe calls for 2 tbsp of aloe vera leaf juice, not green tea). This conditioner acts as a sealant due to the pH of aloe vera leaf juice, one of its main ingredients. This juice is all natural and has a pH that is very close to the natural pH of the scalp and hair - between 4.5 and 5.5. Without getting too deep (let's face it, chemistry wasn't my best subject anyway) when a product falling into that pH range touches our hair, it closes the cuticles of the hair strand, locking in moisture and protecting the strand from tangling and mechanical (comb/brush) damage. So if you think about it, when you apply the Kimmaytube conditioner to your wet hair, you're sealing in the moisture from the water. The result? Soft, shiny, healthy and moisturized hair! The second way to seal is to use oil. Your curl pattern, moisture needs and personal preferences will dictate whether you use a light or heavy oil. My coils are looser than my oldest daughter's coils, so I can get away with using a lighter oil - such as jojoba - to seal. But her hair requires a heavier oil - such as extra virgin olive oil - to effectively lock in moisture, soften her hair and keep it tangle-free.

My curls in the front and back are
loose and wavy

Puuddy's hair with the yarn twist
extensions I installed this summer

Protective Styling This is a term that is talked about a lot in the natural hair community, but what does it actually mean? Protective styling is any style that requires as little manipulation as possible. Less manipulation = less opportunity to damage your strands. In my mind there are two categories of protective styles: with and without the addition of faux/human hair or yarn. But whether you're setting your hair in mini twists or Senegalese twists, you STILL need to SHAMPOO and MOISTURIZE regularly, especially if you're keeping the style in for weeks at a time. Protective styling doesn't mean set-it-and-forget-it. This is really important if you've added hair or yarn to your hair. If you don't keep your hair and scalp clean then lint and dirt will cause build-up that you'll be removing for DAYS maybe even WEEKS after you've taken down the style. Plus, dirt and product build-up on your scalp hinders growth. And if you don't moisturize, then the faux/human hair and yarn will draw all the moisture out of your hair, which can lead to breakage. 

Puuddy's hat that I lined two
winters ago

Lined Hats Lastly, if you're going to wear a hat then make sure it is lined with satin or a satin-like material such as a polyester blend. If your hat isn't lined then I wouldn't wear it at all. Seriously. You can find vendors on Etsy that sell handmade, good quality lined hats (if you need a hat for your baby then I'd recommend this Etsy shop). But it doesn't stop at hats. One winter I learned a hard lesson when I discovered that my wool coat and scarf were causing terrible tangles and matting at the nape of my neck. But should we really freeze for the sake of preserving a few strands? No worries - you don't have to choose. Here's what I do: I still wear my wool coat BUT I make sure I wear a silk/polyester scarf so that it acts as a buffer between my hair and coat. Voilà! You get to stay warm and protect your strands!



Work these tips into your regimen and wardrobe and you'll enjoy healthy, moisturized strands this winter!

~ How do you keep your hair healthy in the wintertime? ~

How I Moisturize & Seal

During the first cycle of my low-wash regimen I did something that I never practiced in the past...moisturizing and sealing my ends! 

I know, it might sound crazy that this hasn't been part of my regimen. I feel like I hear other naturals talking all the time about how they moisturize and seal on a regular basis. But when my hair began retaining length during my first growth challenge in 2011, I didn't feel the need to add this step to my regimen. 

So why am I doing it now? I felt that with the decreased washing and having my hair out and exposed to the elements half the time (instead of in twists) would make it more vulnerable to breakage. I didn't have a plan for how often I wanted to do it, although I was hoping to get to it at least once a week. My hair was fine the first week, so I left it alone. The second week I lightly detangled twice and moisturized and sealed three times. The third week I kept it bunned and didn't do anything to it.

To seal moisture into my ends, I spritzed my ends with water, applied a little SM Restorative Conditioner, then sealed with SM Reconstructive Finishing Elixir. The Elixir is a new product I received from SheaMoisture for my last event (LOVE that company!!). I love the Elixir's light and non-greasy formula.

Products I used to moisturize & seal. I also used them to set my
hair in braids for a "dry" braid-out after my first
finger detangling session during the second week.

Finger detangling. I braided it up afterwards to keep it 
separated and detangled then released the braids and pulled it up.

Gel Sealing

I actually used this pic in a recent post where I'd reset my hair in between
wash days. But I did use gel in this pic to set the style, so that's why I'm
including this pic here.

Tonight makes my fourth wash day with the protein conditioner added into my regimen. It's also the fourth wash day that I've used gel to seal. Previously I'd never been too interested in using gel to style because I thought it would leave my hair hard, crunchy and dry. But I researched gel as a sealing "tool" and, even though I didn't find much information to confirm this suspicion, I had this hunch that, when used properly, gel could act as an amazing sealant.


I was right!


The gel adds definition to my braid-outs, and it also appears to enhance the sheen of my hair. And - get this - my hair is SOFT when I take out the braids!! Yeah I know, who woulda thunk it?! LOL!


Here's the order of product application:


1. Apply coconut oil to each dampened section of hair.
2. Apply modified KT leave-in (only 1tsp of each oil + Vitamin E oil)
3. Rub a little bit of gel between my hands and run both hands down the section of hair.


I braid up each section as I go and then criss-cross them around my head to stretch them out (not too tight though) as seen in this post. After taking the braids out, I've been resetting my hair in braids a second time that week and taking them out again to wear a braid-out. I'm aware that by increasing the manipulation in my regimen I'm making my hair more vulnerable to breakage, but I'm comforted by the fact that I'm balancing this change with the protein I've incorporated into my regimen as well. I'm still seeing growth so that's encouraging. I still don't plan to straighten it until after my 5K in May. Maybe that will be my reward to myself for completing the 5K.... ;)


A word of caution: should you choose to use gel to seal, keep in mind that more products = more product build-up, and if left unchecked, product build-up can lead to breakage. Make sure you're washing your hair at least once a week with a moisturizing shampoo or a softened shampoo. 

Bobby Pin Sealing Results

I spritzed my ends with water then applied my New Natural Oil Blend.

As you can see, this technique is effective. My ends were shiny, soft
and most importantly, sealed.

Looks kinda funny with my braid-out, but I didn't care! It felt so good
rockin my hair out!

Bobby Pin End Sealing Technique

Whoa, that's a mouthful, isn't it? LOL! I have Shelli of Hairscapades to thank for this one. I read her post yesterday about Cipriana's sealing technique, and since I wanted to make sure my braided-out ends didn't frizz overnight, I decided to give it a whirl tonight. I carefully spritzed my ends that were still clumped together from the braids and squeezed the excess water from them. (I'm glad I purposefully decided not to separate the braided sections too much because I don't think I'd still have such great definition tonight and I most likely would've had to re-braid some of it.) Then I applied my new natural oil blend to seal. I'll post the results soon!

To get my "fuzzy halo" to lay down, I applied my new natural oil blend
down both sides of my center part, then followed up with gel.

All pineappled and ready for nite-nite! See you in the mornin', tendrils!