Winter is here..

[Spinder]

The dryness! AUUUGH! It's a never ending battle. Especially in Canada. :(

What are your tactics for combating the brutal and drying winter air? Should I perhaps try putting a vaporizer/humidifier in my room? Using different oils? (currently I use castor and avocado)

[Obsidian]

Humidifiers are always good in the winter and I've recently started use straight argan oil on the dry ends, its been fantastic.

[EdG]

The dryness is caused by running the heater. One can always trade-off warm+dry for cold+damp.
Ed

[Hairkay]

The dryness is caused by running the heater. One can always trade-off warm+dry for cold+damp.
Ed

Well winter isn't as severe where I am. I just leave my bedroom cool because I've discovered that paying more for heating doesn't make my bedroom feel warmer. It's naturally a cold room (Edwardian house). Too much heating also gives me headaches. If my bedroom does get too cold then I'll wear a hoodie and trade my usual barefootedness to slippered feet. Hair wise I use more olive oil than coconut oil in the winter.

[Robi-Bird]

Winter's hit here in BC too. Frost or rain depending on the day. I sure enjoy the humid, dry, humid, dry cycle's effect on my hair. I look like a lion. But less majestic.

[hennalonghair]

I second the humidifier idea if the air is too dry where you live. Just make sure not to make it too humid either or you could get mold problems.
I boost up my use of Shea butter , leave in's etc and try and keep it in a bun so the ends are protected.

Here's what we woke up to this morning

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/pollywoggle999/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsplbymio0.jpg.html

[goneJackal]

I can hardly call our winter winter, compared to yours (and, of course, we're almost on summer down here).
I do run a humidifier (with humidity sensor) and an air purifier 24/7 in my room because one of my cats has asthma.
That room is always most comfortable, and, now that you mentioned, maybe it is best for hair, too.

[cat11]

I really want to get a humidifier for this winter. Its starting to get very dry. My face feels like its pulled tight over my bones with nothing on it and my hair is acting up... I think I'll switch to doing more co wash than shampoo and using more oils.

[FallingDarkness]

Where can one find argan oil? And I normally use coconut oil, why are you using olive oil instead for the winter? I'm still a noob to LHC apparently :P

[cat11]

coconut oil becomes more rigid and less liquidy at colder temps. That may be why, its why alot of people dont use it in the winter, myself included. It starts to coat instead of sinking in.

And I would buy argan oil on amazon to get the best price for the amount. I think its over priced in every store Ive seen it in physically.

[Hairkay]

Where can one find argan oil? And I normally use coconut oil, why are you using olive oil instead for the winter? I'm still a noob to LHC apparently :P

Coconut oil goes solid in cold temperatures where as olive oil just gets cloudy. If I were to step out with coconut oil in my hair on a day less than 5 C my coated hair strands might become stiff and risk snapping off.

[Groovy Granny]

Humidifiers ~ mineral oil on my ends ~ rosewater and glycerin spritzs are what helps me with dry air issues.

*Be aware that ARGAN oil has the potential to stain light hair and cause brassiness in blondes (both reversible with clarifying)

[hennalonghair]

Coconut oil goes solid in cold temperatures where as olive oil just gets cloudy. If I were to step out with coconut oil in my hair on a day less than 5 C my coated hair strands might become stiff and risk snapping off.
Coconut oil can be mixed with other oils to prevent this problem .
Just sayin'

[Hairkay]

Coconut oil can be mixed with other oils to prevent this problem .
Just sayin'

I've tried mixing coconut with olive and almond oil but in the bottle eventually the coconut became little solid balls whilst the others were liquid.

[Echileruwen]

Well winter isn't as severe where I am. I just leave my bedroom cool because I've discovered that paying more for heating doesn't make my bedroom feel warmer. It's naturally a cold room (Edwardian house). Too much heating also gives me headaches. If my bedroom does get too cold then I'll wear a hoodie and trade my usual barefootedness to slippered feet. Hair wise I use more olive oil than coconut oil in the winter.

My radar is going off after reading this post. Hairkay, if your heater is giving you headaches and it's a gas heater, please have it checked for a leak.


My hair gets dry in spite of the fact that I use two whole house humidifiers all year long. I live in Arizona, so that's probably part of it.

[yogagirl]

Ick, yes, winter! I'm not a huge fan either. Definitely get a humidifier. Make sure you clean it daily, they really can be a breeding ground for mildew, and use vinegar regularly against the calcium buildup.

As for hair and skin, make sure you lock up moisture under your oils/moisturizers! For hair I damp bun and then apply leave-in or oil. For skin, I dampen the skin with spring water or even tap water, then apply lotions or moisturizers. Works SO much better than just lotion.

[Hairkay]

My radar is going off after reading this post. Hairkay, if your heater is giving you headaches and it's a gas heater, please have it checked for a leak.


My hair gets dry in spite of the fact that I use two whole house humidifiers all year long. I live in Arizona, so that's probably part of it.

I've had this happen in many buildings that are too hot, homes, offices, colleges, local council buildings, shopping centres, libraries etc. I have my central heating system checked annually and the engineer always says its fine. I've had headaches before they changed the heating system from individual heaters to the brand new one installed. I've had my check already for the year. I've been like this since I was a teen having to adapt to winters after living years in the tropics. The rest of my home can get too hot if the heating is turned up on full and set to be on at long intervals whilst the bedroom will always be cool- cold. I'm not sure why because the bedroom and the sitting room are the same size and the radiators in them the same size too. I get up from my toasty bed (two quilts/duvets in the winter), throw of the covers to the shock of a brisk cool room then move to the rest of the home that is warm. I can sleep in the sitting room since it has a sofa bed but because there's the headache risk and sore throat risk I stay put in the bedroom. I've turned down the individual radiators so the contrast from the bedroom won't be that big. Sudden temperature changes affects my skin.

[Anje]

Humidifiers are good. I wear a lot of updos in the winter which also seems to help by tucking the ends into a more protected and less dry environment. My hair likes humectants year round, so I use them if my hair is drying out, but many people don't have luck with that and do better adding more oils.


The dryness is caused by running the heater. One can always trade-off warm+dry for cold+damp.
Ed
True where you are, I'm sure. But when temperatures are well below freezing, the air simply does not hold much moisture. Bringing that air into the house and warming it up to anything liveable results in seriously low humidity; all the moisture stays outside coating the ground!

My new home has a humidifier attached to the furnace. I'm very curious to see what that's like over the winter!

[meteor]

Winters are brutal on my skin, nails and hair. Everything gets bone-dry. Even basic detangling becomes problematic (forget super-complicated styles!), because the hair acts like a coarse, grabby spiderweb :(

Humidifiers or even just placing bowls filled with water right next to heaters help a little bit.

My favorite solution is LOC: sealing in moisture with oil and cream. Every time water touches skin, nails and hair, I have to seal that with lotion/oil or else it will only get drier.

In wintertime, I stretch full washes, do scalp-only washes more, I go heavy on occlusives (over liquids): oils, silicone serums... and I go light on humectans and proteins. I also tend to use milder shampoos or conditioning (2-in-1) shampoos more, and clarifying ones and the ones "for oily hair" less.

I also have to be careful with hats, scarves, collars, bedding...: make sure anything rough or lint-inducing, like wool/flannel is lined with something silky smooth.



I second the humidifier idea if the air is too dry where you live. Just make sure not to make it too humid either or you could get mold problems.
I boost up my use of Shea butter , leave in's etc and try and keep it in a bun so the ends are protected.

Awesome! :thumbsup: Do you mix Shea butter with something in order to keep it from solidifying in hair? :) I really like Fox's shea conditioning cream recipe, but in winter time, I think I'll need to dilute shea and coconut with something that stays liquid: e.g. grapeseed or olive... :hmm:


Where can one find argan oil? And I normally use coconut oil, why are you using olive oil instead for the winter? I'm still a noob to LHC apparently :P

My favorite places to buy argan oil are Lebanese/Middle Eastern grocery stores. They tend to have pure argan oil in huge bottles at bargain prices in the cooking oils section. (They are also great places to pick up rosewater, sweet almond oil, mustard oil...)

About coconut oil vs. olive in wintertime... coconut solidifies at temperatures below ~76 degrees F (24 C). If you use it heavily and don't spread it out too well and it solidifies, you might notice tiny white "grainy" specks that look a bit like dust/lint/dandruff and can end up as a starting point for tangles, or your ends might feel crunchy. This tends to happen to me, so I use it only as a pre-poo treatment in winter.


I've had this happen in many buildings that are too hot, homes, offices, colleges, local council buildings, shopping centres, libraries etc. I have my central heating system checked annually and the engineer always says its fine. I've had headaches before they changed the heating system from individual heaters to the brand new one installed. I've had my check already for the year. I've been like this since I was a teen having to adapt to winters after living years in the tropics. The rest of my home can get too hot if the heating is turned up on full and set to be on at long intervals whilst the bedroom will always be cool- cold. I'm not sure why because the bedroom and the sitting room are the same size and the radiators in them the same size too. I get up from my toasty bed (two quilts/duvets in the winter), throw of the covers to the shock of a brisk cool room then move to the rest of the home that is warm. I can sleep in the sitting room since it has a sofa bed but because there's the headache risk and sore throat risk I stay put in the bedroom. I've turned down the individual radiators so the contrast from the bedroom won't be that big. Sudden temperature changes affects my skin.

Could it be that heaters dry out the air and contribute to dehydration? :hmm: I always get headaches when I'm very dehydrated but drinking a couple glasses of water helps. :)

[Hairkay]

Winters are brutal on my skin, nails and hair. Everything gets bone-dry. Even basic detangling becomes problematic (forget super-complicated styles!), because the hair acts like a coarse, grabby spiderweb :(

Humidifiers or even just placing bowls filled with water right next to heaters help a little bit.
I have some clothes airers that clip on to radiators so I get to dry my clothes safely near heat and help stop the heater making the air too dry at the same time. I'm used to creaming up as soon as I get out of a bath/shower. I also recream my hands every time I've washed and dried them. I have to use vaseline on my lips after a bath and sometimes top up during the day. Lip balms irritate my skin.


My favorite solution is LOC: sealing in moisture with oil and cream. Every time water touches skin, nails and hair, I have to seal that with lotion/oil or else it will only get drier.

I also have to be careful with hats, scarves, collars, bedding...: make sure anything rough or lint-inducing, like wool/flannel is lined with something silky smooth.

I can relate. I'm planning to line my hoods in my coats and my hats.


About coconut oil vs. olive in wintertime... coconut solidifies at temperatures below ~76 degrees F (24 C). If you use it heavily and don't spread it out too well and it solidifies, you might notice tiny white "grainy" specks that look a bit like dust/lint/dandruff and can end up as a starting point for tangles, or your ends might feel crunchy. This tends to happen to me, so I use it only as a pre-poo treatment in winter.
Could it be that heaters dry out the air and contribute to dehydration? :hmm: I always get headaches when I'm very dehydrated but drinking a couple glasses of water helps. :)

Yes, you may have something there with the dehydration. I have to take extra care to keep the liquids up since all I use is water and the food I eat to supply my water supply. I'm just not into tea, coffee, hot chocolate or fizzy drinks or juice drinks or drinking juice regularly.

I can use some solid coconut oil by simply melting a little in my palms using my body heat. That works fine except I avoid using it for the coldest days.

[Echileruwen]

I've had this happen in many buildings that are too hot, homes, offices, colleges, local council buildings, shopping centres, libraries etc. I have my central heating system checked annually and the engineer always says its fine. I've had headaches before they changed the heating system from individual heaters to the brand new one installed. I've had my check already for the year. I've been like this since I was a teen having to adapt to winters after living years in the tropics. The rest of my home can get too hot if the heating is turned up on full and set to be on at long intervals whilst the bedroom will always be cool- cold. I'm not sure why because the bedroom and the sitting room are the same size and the radiators in them the same size too. I get up from my toasty bed (two quilts/duvets in the winter), throw of the covers to the shock of a brisk cool room then move to the rest of the home that is warm. I can sleep in the sitting room since it has a sofa bed but because there's the headache risk and sore throat risk I stay put in the bedroom. I've turned down the individual radiators so the contrast from the bedroom won't be that big. Sudden temperature changes affects my skin.

Glad to hear your heater's safe. :)

[FallingDarkness]

Oh I don't really wanna have to deal with any brassiness or staining lol. I'll stay away from argan oil then :P Thanks for the heads up! I'll invest in olive oil this week though and see if I have any better luck with it :)

[EdG]

True where you are, I'm sure. But when temperatures are well below freezing, the air simply does not hold much moisture. Bringing that air into the house and warming it up to anything liveable results in seriously low humidity; all the moisture stays outside coating the ground!

My new home has a humidifier attached to the furnace. I'm very curious to see what that's like over the winter!I remember the static electricity in the winter when I was a kid in upstate New York. That doesn't happen in California. We have a different set of problems... ;)
Ed

[luvlonghair75]

I've heard alot of good things about humidifiers! I plan to buy a small one for on the dresser in the bedroom. Hubby grumbles about the sounds it may make but I know it will also benefit him with all the dryness he always feels. He will thank me yet! We also have a wood stove as a main source of heat on the main floor and although we have a kettle on there, I think another one will be handy. Also, plants also provide extra humidity although I'm not sure how many it would take to notice a difference.

[lapushka]

Well my skin is suffering a little (and I'm extremely dry as it is), not my hair, though. I keep it well moisturized and even up the LOC products a tiiiny bit vs. during spring/summer. It helps!

[goneJackal]

My humidifier and my air purifier:

http://i.imgur.com/VffbqAA.png

Then again, this is Brazil, and winters are not that wintery.
But São Paulo is quite dry.

[Obsidian]

This is a good place to get argan but watch the shipping, it could be high. They sell essential oils and a lot of other carrier oils too.
http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/candlemaking-soap-supplies/item/argan/-argan-oil.html

[HappyHair87]

Well I'm in Florida....so...yeah. Lol!

But it's starting to become our version of Winter...FINALLY...actually Fall just happened yesterday for us lololololololol!

Anyway...I think I'm going to switch to cowashing at nite, but I need a new diffuser. I'm also going to be using more buttercream type products along with oils to keep my hair moisturized. And continue to bun like I've been doing.

My routine of daily co washing will stay the same but just at a different time and with different products. :)

[cathair]

The dryness is caused by running the heater. One can always trade-off warm+dry for cold+damp.
Ed

^^^ This, really. Storage heaters make the air unbearably dry. I do warm clothes and hot water bottles.

I haven't really noticed any dryness from the cold. It's probably there, I'm just not paying attention. I will try and take more interest this year. I generally don't understand what my skin is doing or wants anyway :D

[Nadine <3]

Humidifiers for me, make a world of difference. We have two full sized ones and then I have a small one on my bedside table that diffuses oil and lights up pretty colors that I use just at night. I still amp up my oil usage, but the only thing that really suffers is the skin on my body...so. dry.

[RavenMane]

Yes winter is here! It was 0° F in my hometown today! I agree with everyone about humidifiers, they are a must. We all wake up with dry, stuffy noses if I don't turn it on. Sometimes in my bathwater I put 2-3 tblspoons of olive oil in. It helps to really moisturize my skin (I keep my hair out of the water for those baths). I've been putting whipped argan oil on my face when my skin is damp, and on the ends of my braid. Sometimes I'll put olive oil on the end of my braid before bed, or some leave-in conditioner. I keep forgetting that my hair needs to be damp before I oil it. I intend to start doing that. And I want to do a crown braid more often to protect my ends.

[allycat]

Winters are very cold and dry where I live and like Meteor said above, terrible on my skin and hair unless I seal everything when it gets wet.

I was just noticing that my ends were feeling dry and bristly which always reminds me to get the jojoba oil out. Now they feel all silky and soft. I've experimented with a few oils and jojoba is my favorite. Camellia oil is also good. But most other oils tend to build up too fast and I have to clarify more often.

i just love love love jojoba oil!

[Hairkay]

My heating broke down this weekend. I won't get time off until over a week for the engineer to have a look at it. I have a back up electric heater and it's still mild for winter here. I won't be able to cook unless I'm microwaving stuff. There goes my appetite. I'll have to boil the kettle to make up a warm bucket shower because I'm not about to shower in ice cold water.

[lapushka]

Not quite winter yet with temperatures ranging from 2°C to 15°C in Belgium, depends on the day, the night, etc. We did have "ground frost" last week, though. Still late fall, I guess.

[Hairkay]

Not quite winter yet with temperatures ranging from 2°C to 15°C in Belgium, depends on the day, the night, etc. We did have "ground frost" last week, though. Still late fall, I guess.

We've got similar temperatures. I just call it mild winter. We only get a few days around zero or less for the whole winter anyway.

[Kaya]

Ah, winter... :D 2nd winter in England and about as opposite as possible from the first one.

Humidifiers in the living room and in the bedroom, where I spend most of my time. They run about 8 hours at a time, close the blazing radiators. (The bedroom one has the added function of diffusing lavender oil!) We had a humidifier that produced warm steam, but the hard water here just about killed it, so it's been put away in favor of the current ones.

I'm also adamant about keeping my hair up and oiled as much as possible. EVOO and castor oil. I'm bound and determined to make up the length I lost last winter due to ignorance of the changes in my environment.

So far, my hair seems to be doing pretty well. Fingers crossed it will survive the rest of the winter!

[Saldana]

Winter is fairly damp here, but I still find my hair gets dry (maybe the forced air heating?). Anyway.....I keep my hair oiled and up, and I keep a homemade misting spray at work.....I often will take my hair down, mist it, and put it back up. It seems to help.

Oh, and my all-season oil of choice is jojoba. For everything! Although I will use olive oil for my body, because, well, I'm a larger woman, and jojoba oil is expensive. :)

[Mavi]

Question for anyone: I wear a lot of wool in the winter, should I be concerned about wool being damaging to my hair, especially say, a wool toque or scarf?

[lapushka]

Question for anyone: I wear a lot of wool in the winter, should I be concerned about wool being damaging to my hair, especially say, a wool toque or scarf?

I wouldn't worry about it. If your hair doesn't bunch up or get into tangles, you've got nothing to worry about it possibly being damaging. :)

[Neptune]

I've had good luck finding little bottles of Josie Maran argan oil (which I treat like gold) at Sephora. Using my VIB points they're free at the checkout, so I stock up whenever available! :)

[Shorty89]

Ugh static. I know the feeling. I'm in Canada too and my skin, especially right by my nails, is suffering. My hair is either dry or flat/a bit oily XD. I have a humidifier, but it's already pretty warm in my house and sometimes the humidifier makes it way too hot! I miss my cool water humidifier. Maybe do a moisture treatment? And try to wash your hair less. It does go flat, at least on me, but then it doesn't get dry and damaged.

[TrapperCreekD]

The temps dropped about a week and a half ago and my hands are not happy. For my hair, I usually step up the LOC and and light oiling - I usually pre-poo if it's really dry or I've been slacking. Shea butter FTW!

[Soullurre]

What to do when you have a buzz cut? I had tried Giovanni's Leave In Conditioner and it made what little hair I have super hard and even more dry and made my scalp super sore. So I washed it all out with dove bar soap. My sore scalp went away but now I'm back at square one with dry hair.

[lillielil]

Cool mist humidifier. My hair isn't too bad in winter as long as I oil the ends since it tends to be very oily anyway. My skin suffers, though. I have to be diligent about moisturizing. I have been using OCM for a while now and will probably adjust my mix a bit now that the snow is piling up.

We have not turned on the heat yet this year, and still have the windows open a crack. I imagine this will change when we move from a well-insulated apartment (where we are pretty much just using heat from our downstairs neighbor, plus instantly getting a 10-degree boost any time we turn on the oven or stove to cook) to an old and drafty house.

PS - has anyone seen my hat? I lost it and am super worried that I accidentally packed it.

[chen bao jun]

And I can't stop the breaking ends.
That may not be winter per se, though, it may be because I flat ironed back in September and the drier weather is just killing the ends now.
I've started to put a shea butter mixture on them two or three days ago and that is helping, hope it does since the next thing I'd have to try to try is a trim. I've done everything else, protein, clarify and I always have it up, but its ten to twenty broken off hairs in the sink every night when I braid it, not cool at all.

[astrid92]

To combat the winter dryness I use moisterizing shampoos and conditioners as well as coconut and argan oils. I also wear my hair up all the time.

[meteor]

Question for anyone: I wear a lot of wool in the winter, should I be concerned about wool being damaging to my hair, especially say, a wool toque or scarf?

From my experience: Yes! Wool causes a lot of static and some dryness and tangles for me.
I'd recommend lining hats with silk/satin, pretty much anything smooth and not static-inducing, really.
Since I need really warm scarves, I always first use a silky scarf (it will be in contact with my nape hair) and wear a warm scarf on top of that. I also always wear hair up and sometimes spray hair with water-based mist and then an oil on top (mini-LOC) right before bunning. But I live in pretty dry climate, so my hair benefits from a little extra care.

[lillielil]

From my experience: Yes! Wool causes a lot of static and some dryness and tangles for me.
I'd recommend lining hats with silk/satin, pretty much anything smooth and not static-inducing, really.
Since I need really warm scarves, I always first use a silky scarf (it will be in contact with my nape hair) and wear a warm scarf on top of that. I also always wear hair up and sometimes spray hair with water-based mist and then an oil on top (mini-LOC) right before bunning. But I live in pretty dry climate, so my hair benefits from a little extra care.

I've been thinking about lining my wool hat, both to reduce friction and to add a layer of warmth. Do you have any tips/tricks for DIY-ing it? I'm planning to look for a silk scarf at the 2nd hand store, and hand sew it, but don't want to subject myself to hours of cursing. I'm struggling with visualizing how I will match the curved shape of the hat (knit) with the flat (woven) fabric.

[meteor]

I've been thinking about lining my wool hat, both to reduce friction and to add a layer of warmth. Do you have any tips/tricks for DIY-ing it? I'm planning to look for a silk scarf at the 2nd hand store, and hand sew it, but don't want to subject myself to hours of cursing. I'm struggling with visualizing how I will match the curved shape of the hat (knit) with the flat (woven) fabric.

Sorry, lillielil, I'm not crafty, unfortunately :oops:, and I wear large hoods with scarves in wintertime (since they can fit big updos when hats can't), instead of hats, but I really hope other LHC-ers will jump in with specific advice on sewing. :D I know there are some YouTube tutorials on this (just search by: "how to line hats").

Personally, I'd probably just push the piece of silk fabric into the hat, cut it to size, once it is all pushed in. Then just hem the edges and sew it into the hat? I think just a few well placed stitches is enough and it doesn't have to be perfect since it's on the inside, where no one can see it. Just make sure the edge of the silk fabric isn't hanging out. ;) But I'm probably missing some important points there, so I'd recommend researching it a bit. ;)
Here are a couple tutorials that seem pretty good:
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.ca/2011/12/lining-winter-hats.html
https://www.judithm.com/how-make-hat-linings