It's a bit early for the Northern Hemisphere, but protecting hair during winter?

[seamstress]

Hi! I live in a very cold place where it's regularly way below freezing by Halloween and way below 0*F in the winter months. Last winter, I had some unpleasant dandruff because of the freezing cold winds. It's so windy here all the time! I want to plan now, how I will protect my hair during the winter. How do I manage an updo, often with sticks, with a hat? Is it even possible? I hate hats, but I'm willing to sacrifice that if it will save my poor scalp. I am up late and I just came up with the idea of a detachable hood to wear, like, tuck it under my coat collar. Has anyone had luck with protecting their hair with their hood? What has and hasn't worked for you in the bitter cold?

[Dragon Faery]

You could bun with spin pins during the winter, maybe. And crocheted or knitted hats are nice because you can stick a stick through them and it won't harm the hat. I use double-pointed aluminum knitting needles for my buns a lot, anyway. If you're at all crafty, or know someone who is, you could make a crocheted or knitted hat and line it with satin and put slits in the satin where your sticks usually enter and exit your buns, and then you could have a nice cosy hat that accommodates sticks.

I don't leave the house much, but last winter I ended up wrapping a thick scarf around my head a lot when I had to just run outside for a minute or two. it was easier than rearranging my hairstyle to accommodate a hat.

I don't like hats much either, but I'm realizing they're a necessary evil at times, so I'm still working through this problem somewhat myself. Where I live, it's very cold and windy in the winter, and super hot and dry in the summer. Which means in the summer everyone uses air conditioning, which means I'm too cold again, so ... I kind of need a summer hat, too. If I come up with anything better than I have so far, I'll let you know!

[Aderyn]

When it rains or is really cold here I typically just wear a hooded jacket or a hoodie under a coat and pull that up over my hair. Works fine for forks, ficcares, flexi 8s and most of the sticks I have. This is more applicable to rainy weather and wooden hairtoys than it is for super cold weather for the climate around here, but it's worked quite well for me even when it's freezing/below freezing. I typically choose some shorter sticks/forks or use a ficcare if I know I have to wear my hood for a decent amount of time. :)

In even colder environments, I just throw a beanie on underneath the hood since just a hood isn't enough to keep me warm (or like Dragon Faery said, use a thick scarf). If that's a regular thing for you, I think it'd be worthwhile to invest in a hat/beanie/thing that has a silk or satin lining to be gentler on the hair.

[Anje]

Ficcares and braids fit better under hats for me than sticks do. Last winter, I knit myself a more beret-shaped hat which has worked well. But I don't think hats are especially optional in sub-0°F blustery winter conditions.

[Arctic]

I knitted myself a very slouchy hat, that is lose enough for all updos, even if my hair would be much longer than it is. It was a free pattern from internet, called Wurm. Google it. It was easy to make too.

[lapushka]

I got a hat that accommodates buns off of Etsy... let me see if I can find which one it is... yep, there you go (oh, she's taking a break). But look at the sales section to see them. They're nice hats!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EmmasLittleCreations?ref=shopsection_shophome_left nav

[laceyfairy]

When I'm feeling up to it I'll wrap a silky scarf around my head or bun before the hat goes on. Mostly I focus on buns that are flat enough (ie vortex, oval, cinnamon bun) or pinned instead of held with sticks/forks to fit under most hats. Short sticks (four to five inches) generally don't disrupt a hat too much

[meteor]

Hi! I live in a very cold place where it's regularly way below freezing by Halloween and way below 0*F in the winter months. Last winter, I had some unpleasant dandruff because of the freezing cold winds. It's so windy here all the time! I want to plan now, how I will protect my hair during the winter. How do I manage an updo, often with sticks, with a hat? Is it even possible? I hate hats, but I'm willing to sacrifice that if it will save my poor scalp. I am up late and I just came up with the idea of a detachable hood to wear, like, tuck it under my coat collar. Has anyone had luck with protecting their hair with their hood? What has and hasn't worked for you in the bitter cold?

Yes, warm hoods ftw! :rockerdud:
My updos don't fit under a hat anyway, so hoods are a life-saver. The key is to make sure you wrap your hair with a silky smooth scarf or line your hats/hoods with silky materials to prevent tangling. If you are using a warm scarf, put a silky scarf under the warm scarf: hair needs to be in contact with only relatively smooth materials, to prevent pervasive tangling and lint sticking to it.

Also, be mindful of flannel/wool and other lint-inducing materials (especially bedding) around your hair in wintertime. And you might want to avoid coconut oil and other solid oils as leave-ins in wintertime, because when they solidify, they can make hair feel crunchy and even leave tiny white flakes behind if used in significant amounts.

[Nadine <3]

For winter I rarely use my sticks because they just don't fit under my hats. Instead I do a lot of dutch and french braids and then either tuck the ends (hair is getting to long for this though) or I make a low bun with the ends and secure it with spin pins. I use way more cones in the winter and I use the oil rinse method at every wash instead of just every other. My ends almost always have EVOO on them as well.

[endlessly]

I feel your pain. The past few winters, I've been covering my hair in a warm scarf because that way I can control how tight or loose it is to accommodate my hair style. As for how to protect while your hair is in your style of choice, I've found that using too much oil will solidify in my hair, so I have to use that very sparingly. Instead, I like to use rich creams since they tend not to freeze to my hair.

[Youngjae]

Hiya all!
Wow, thanks for all of the tips! I will definitely have to remember some of this for the end of the year when I go off to Germany in the winter months there. I live in Australia so yeah... it's never really that cold where I am (maybe out in the country it is)
Sorry to take over the thread a bit but would you think that double loose braids would help keep my ears warm??? Or would I need ear warmers or something over there.... I always have problems fitting buns and stuff under hoods and hats.. so would you all recommend having a high or low bun to make it fit better???
Thankyou so much!
-Youngjae