Hair Care Boot Camp: Cold Weather Hair Care

As the temperatures prepare to drop, it is time for us to kick our hair care routine into high gear. And taking extra special care of your hair is important whether you are natural or you’re relaxed like me, say it loud, I’M RELAXED & I'M PROUD (fist pump, explosion of confetti, queue the noise makers) Relax, I kid, I kid! I am so NOT into the whole relaxed or natural debate. Do what works for you because I will most certainly do what works for me.

Anyhoo, I have my hair relaxed every eight weeks because as I have shared many times on my blog, I am extremely lazy when it comes to doing my own hair. I’m good at basic home maintenance but elaborate styling, at home washing and conditioning? No. Not. Happening. I have a standing hair appointment every Saturday morning. Since the cold weather is surely on the way, my stylist and I will work together to keep my hair healthy, growing, and on my head this season like we do every winter.

Here are my cold weather hair care tips:

Protect Ya’ Neck – No this isn’t just a song by the Wu-Tang Clan which was my jam back in the day, but I digress… It is a way to prevent breakage at the nape of your neck. Acrylic and wool coat collars and scarves are the hair enemy! Head to your nearest TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or even Macys and find an assortment of affordable silk scarves to wrap around your neck as a barrier between your hair and collar. If you wear a hat, you can find a satin skull cap from your local beauty supply store. I bought one from Sally’s last year. It kept my hair style intact, my head stayed warm, and my acrylic knit hat never touched my hair.

Drink your water – Simple enough. We all know we should drink 3 liters a day but I suggest squeezing in an extra cup or two if you can. In areas that are really cold like Chicago, the dry air can be extremely cruel to African American hair.

Grapeseed Oil & Organic Coconut Oil – There are so many hair care companies that tout these two oils as the main ingredients in their products but when you look at the back of the package they are somewhere in the middle or end of the list. I say eliminate all the stuff you can’t pronounce and just purchase these two oils from your health food store. OCO is a great pre-shampoo treatment. I use it weekly before I go to the salon. GSO is a wonderful natural heat protectant and it strengthens the hair making it resistant to breakage.

Rosemary Oil – There are reports that RO is good for growth. I like it use it for an at home scalp massage once or twice a week. It tingles and really opens my scalp up. I can’t speak on the hair growth aspect because I take a lot of vitamins and supplements so I always have a lot of new growth. I don’t know if it’s the RO or the vitamins or everything working together.

Blowdrying...Just Say No - I know the blow dryer is fast but it can be more damaging during the winter months. Take the extra hour and sit under the dryer. Wraps and roller wraps are wonderful because your hair holds the shape which means less at home heat styling. All you have to do is add a few self holding rollers in your crown for height, wrap your hair at night then in the morning comb it or leave it wrapped and put your satin skull cap and winter hat on, then style your hair when you get to work.  Okay...was that NOT the most run on sentence? LOL! Who cares, I had to get my point across :P

How will you change your hair care routine this winter? Do you have any cold weather hair tips? Please share in the comments section!