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Dante
June 7th, 2019, 02:12 AM
Okay, hit me up with your best tips for looking after your hair in a cold climate please! I've always lived in hot, humid places, and am soon to move to a place that gets down to below zero Celsius (it's is also pretty dry). What (if anything) should I change about my hair care routine? Is there anything you'd recommend to ease the transition? Will my hair get drier or more fragile? Does wet hair freeze? Seriously, nothing is too basic, I have experienced such cold temperatures only a few times (on holidays), and on those occasions, just dealt with it by wearing hats and not washing my hair til I got home :)

Crystawni
June 7th, 2019, 03:27 AM
I'm here as a fellow traveller from the hots to bbbbbrrrrrrs in a few weeks, and I brought :popcorn:!! Maybe I should've added marshmallows to toast, too? :hmm: I grew up in South Australia, so do kinda remember the cold stuff, but it's been 17 odd years and a heck of a lot of hair growth since I was there, so am eager to see what others advise here! I know the lower dew point will make a difference (the frizz will be fritzed), and am thinking we may be needing to moisturise our hair (I haven't needed to much as the tropics keeps everything moist..!).

As a side topic of silliness, I'm in shoe training in readiness for the chill. :lol: My feet aren't used to being enclosed, and I've already had a foot full of blisters after my first dry run with some canvas shoes, so now I've got some stockinettes with pads on the heels and toes that will wick away moisture and add another barrier between my skin, socks and then shoes. Oh, the joy. :p Along with new shoes and boots, and socks, and slippers, I've also had to buy an entire winter wardrobe as I just don't have anything long-sleeved or long-legged with me at the moment. The shops must love me!

CuteCrow
June 7th, 2019, 03:48 AM
Here someone who moved from a tropical island to the land of the forever cloudy skies (UK). If your hair is anything like mine your hair is going to be crying for moisture. My main tips are:

- Beanies, beanies everywhere. Satin lined preferably. I used to tuck my whole hair inside (BSL, not that long) that way you protect it from the cold and wind
- Of course wearing your hair up, protective styles
- A good moisturising conditioner and mask. I moved to a super hard water area too and it made my hair tangle like crazy, I seriously never had my hair so matted. I can't really recommend any because it depends on what your hair likes. For me it was trial and error. I started using the mask three times a week, now I'm down to once a week again.
- Oiling my ends helped to keep them healthy but don't use coconut oil as it will solidify on your hair and can damage it.
- I stopped using shampoo with sulphates and it helped a lot too.
- Also check your vitamin D! You'll be surprised how fast you can develop a deficiency and it greatly affects hair grow.

Then answering your questions, I would do a deep moisturising routine on your hair (and skin!) the day before moving (if you are traveling by plane it also helps with the super dry air on planes). My hair did get drier and more brittle but only for a while, when I finally figured out a new routine I actually had the best hair on my life. Also take in mind that I didn't prepare at all so my hair probably suffered some kind of shock :lol:

And yes, wet hair does freeze, never go outside with wet hair in the winter it'll destroy it. It can actually break off and fall off your scalp!

Obsidian
June 7th, 2019, 04:53 AM
Yep, frozen hair is a thing. I've never experienced hair breaking but I also don't have long hair.
You don't have to be a shut in on wash day, just don't take a casual stroll around town.

I usually don't bother covering my head unless I'm spending significant time outside, like shoveling snow. If its just a dash to the car, my hair is naked.

I like beanies when I do have to cover up. My satin lined is nice but I don't like how it always slips down over my eyes. It would probably work great if I had a big bun to hold it up.

You'll need a heavy duty conditioner. I especially like hello hydration or aussie miracle moist. Don't forget about your skin, it will dry out too. So will your sinuses

A cool mist humidifier will help tons. Get two, one for the living room and one for your bedroom. Nothing like waking up with dried out, painful sinuses and a sticky mouth. The humidity is good for your hair too.

-Fern
June 7th, 2019, 05:27 AM
I like covering my head with a pashmina (either as a tichel or a looser wrap that transitions into a scarf... Will try to find a pic). Most body heat is lost through the head, and my neck and ears tend to get the coldest the fastest. It just so happens to protect my hair, too. :grin: Hats are also fine, I just have a pashmina addiction.

As for a daily routine, I live in Colorado, which is incredibly dry, so I use aloe gel to add moisture with a biweekly deep treatment (SMT) and almost daily to style my damp hair. I also use 3-4 drops of oil to seal in the moisture. (Oil goes onto palm, rub palms together to warm it a bit and distribute across both palms, then smooth palms over sections of hair from the ears down.) Nightblooming oils are my favorite! CuteCrow's comment made me laugh, because I have also experienced coconut oil solidifying on my hair.

erebus
June 7th, 2019, 06:30 AM
Regarding wet hair, yes it does indeed freeze, but you don't want to go out with wet hair anyway since it can really cool down your head. If it's really cold your hair can freeze even if you go out with dry hair (happens with eyebrows and eyelashes a lot). If you break a frozen strand, it doesn't necessarily break, just the ice around it does. It needs to be a lot colder for the actual hair to be solid. That said, it's hardly good for your hair.

Rowdy
June 7th, 2019, 07:25 AM
I recommend a humidifier. I run it in my bedroom during the winter months. We don't have a humidifier on our furnace so the heat cooks the moisture out of the house. I find the ambient humidity of my environment makes the biggest impact on my hair.

lapushka
June 7th, 2019, 08:53 AM
Lots of moisture. And a good serum or a little bit of oil (don't overdo it, a few drops = enough) for the ends of the hair!

I do the same routine, year round (all in signature), but I find I benefit the most from it during fall & winter times.

LittleHealthy
June 7th, 2019, 08:57 AM
Greetings! I am a Tasmanian, living in Tasmania! All the cold, all the dry, chilly wind, frost etc.
when I worked on the council (for 7yrs before I had children) I was exposed to the lot. My hair was past waist back then, too. My main advice is just to keep your ends tucked away. My ends would become so dry if I didn’t have them inside a bun. I also had a large beanie for cold mornings which is stretch over the top of a low bun when I was outdoors. Even back then I was putting serum/oil in my ends too, if I was going to have them exposed to the elements or wear my hair ‘down’ when it was possibly going to be windy. And I’d just bring a scrunchie on my wrist just in case.
As far as being indoors and having the fire going, I don’t have any issue providing I oil my damp hair post-wash to seal in moisture. I wash every 3rd or 4th day though so I guess that’s not long enough for the hair to dry out.
My hair only gets super dry if I’m exposing the ends to the wind outside anyway.
I’m up feeding Bebe and it’s like 1am so I hope this makes sense *slaps forehead*

Cg
June 7th, 2019, 09:58 AM
I've lived in very cold climates and go out with damp hair sometimes. I have never had any break off.

Moisture/moisturizers are good, also the usual advice of bunning, sleep cap or silk pillowcase. And avoid letting wool contact your hair unless you like the dandelion look.

milosmomma
June 7th, 2019, 10:40 AM
Great tips so far! I just want to emphasis NO COCONUT! :lol: My hair dislikes it to begin with but like already mentioned, in colder months it will resolidify and thats just no good. Moisture moisture moisture! I would even say just replace conditioner with a deep treatment/condish for every wash. Roo as well will help you keep in that precious moisture. Hats and head coverings are great as well. All that said, I think my hair prefers winter months, I have a lot less frizz, almost zero, and for some reason less tangles. You might find hair care is easier. If you run into the hard water problem mentioned upthread, try a vinegar rinse. I have terribly hard water and found out the hard way when I stopped using a rinse just how much it was helping. Happy growing and good luck! :)

catoala
June 7th, 2019, 12:06 PM
I don't change anything. My routine is always the same.. I think it's quite useless to change it up: dry hair will get better, oily also will, and so on... Nothing weird. Natural. :hmm:

Ylva
June 7th, 2019, 01:33 PM
My hair care routine doesn't change depending on the season (60C temperature difference). Actually, summer is a bit harder on my hair, I think, and my scalp/roots get oily faster than they do during cold times.

Like others have said, wet hair does freeze, yes. Don't go out with wet hair, or if you have to, make sure to cover it with warm clothes.

Dante
June 7th, 2019, 03:14 PM
Thank you all, this is so helpful! So many things hear that I'd never thought of, like coconut oil solidifying, and the need for a more heavy duty moisturising conditioner/treatment. I do hope I get the benefit of reduced frizz, that would be a win!

Chromis
June 7th, 2019, 04:25 PM
I just moved away from a cold climate, but I had lived in a mild maritime climate before moving somewhere cold so I can relate.

First things first - This is not hair advice but my most important to say to people moving to a cold place for the first time - footwear. They make these things that are like shoechains to give you more traction in ice. Mine are by YakTrax and they have saved me many, many, many times. In Ontario is is common to see post office workers use them and bus drivers. You probably do not have whatever magic levitation power that people who grew up magically staying upright on ice do, also your shoe soles might behave unexpectedly. Things that look like they have good tread (like my combat boots, ahem) sometimes just freeze and then you find yourself flat on your back wondering what exactly just happened. If there is snow, I recommend snow boots. Baffin are my fav. Buy them when you get there, don't worry about it beforehand unless your dollar is crazy stronger and you have some kind of generous moving allowance. Same goes for jackets. You will want what feels like a crazy massive coat compared to everyone else. Go knee-length and waterproof, with a good warmth rating. If it doesn't have one, it's probably just for fashion and should not be trusted no matter what you see the locals in. They have antifreeze for blood and will attempt to tell you it is not that cold and that you will get used to it. In my experience this is utterly false, I just got better dressing for it. Also all the layers ever won't help if they are too thin or the wind goes right through them.

Hair things! I love my wool tams. I don't put any kind of liner in them and have no issues. I think people might overthink this a bit. I also recommend your warm coats have a deep hood. Try it on over top your hat and hair if possible. There is at least one or two threads about winterhats you might do a search for and I have done a few example posts in them.

You can go out with wet hair if you have a warm hat and hood on. I likewise love coconut oil and don't have trouble with that freezing either. Again, I always wear a hat outside when it is cold! Hair aside, I find the cold gives me a massive headache if I don't have my forehead all covered.

Random consideration - Not all hairtoys work to fit under a hat and hood. I don't get to wear my cool hairforks and sticks in the winter and pretty much live in a log roll with a Ficcare. Some of my sticks can technically fit under a hat, but I don't want to ruin my knitting and they never fit well under my hood then.

I like to oil my hair more in the winter since it gets more dry. This will depend on what sort of climate you are moving to and what form of heat they use though.

Lady Stardust
June 7th, 2019, 04:45 PM
Following on from what Chromis said - I find that forks with headcurve fit better under hats than straight sticks.

A tip for walking in the snow - stamp the compacted snow off the bottom of your boots as soon as you get to snow-free ground, for example when you go indoors or walk through a thawed patch. Otherwise you’ll have a portable ice rink under your feet.

Crystawni
June 7th, 2019, 06:28 PM
Another random clothes thing for the cooler climes is thermals. You'll need 'em (but buy them once you're there) as you kiss those mild Indian Summer breezes goodbye. :p The wind factor that's been mentioned is what will chill you to the bone, so many of the locals where I'm headed mentioned thermals to my hubby (who's there acclimatising already). Loose weaves will be pretty useless unless they're thick and bulky--think bullet proof. :wink:

As for everything else, I'm nodding away. Things won't change much, but our hair will sleek out a bit more, and may also change texture (may be more defined, or lose definition...). I'm already using and loving hair masks as my leave in, have some lovely serums and sunflower and grapeseed oils that need using, and use Tresemme Botanique Restore and Shine as my conditioner. I'll just be a little more heavy handed if need be. And I have beanies, a knitted visor (great for sun glare, warm ears and high buns), calorimetries (https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBAU825AU825&q=calorimetry+hair&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyjpmlxtjiAhXPTX0KHYhNDokQsAR6BAgAEAE&biw=1668&bih=924) (great with buns and other updos, and for keeping your ears warm, and can be worn under hats or with scarves) and snoods that have a decent bun pocket, aka sneeds--the snood you need--that were made by AspenSong that have been dusted off, ready for wear!

I'll be driving down the 3000km, so hitting the cooler and colder and freezing stuff as I head further south, which is why I've got a basic winter wardrobe at the ready (that I've had to buy online and have posted up as we don't have anything heavy-winter stocked up here--ever). I even found when living in Brisbane three years ago in winter (around the halfway point when looking at my upcoming move) that it was waaaaay colder and seasonal than here in ever-warm Cairns, but still mild with those warmed up afternoons compared to the ever-cold, not warming up stuff that you're headed to. And be prepared to giggle at the rainfall--or lack thereof. What we Queenslanders get in a few hours may be all they get in an entire year, but it's more dismal, drizzly stuff coupled with grey bleak, and flooding happens thanks to their lack of runoff infrastructure, clay soils that hold the wet, and cold temps that inhibit evaporation. Things stay wet. Which means hair can take heaps longer to dry, too, compared to what we're used to. Frosts and fogs can also be a daily thing, which is more cold, snappy moisture to be aware of. Oooh, snappy reminds me of static. Our hair is probably going to get static, so I guess that will replace the frizz! :wethree:

I'm not looking forward to that dry, itchy, tight skin feeling, and snaggy cracks on feet and hands. Thus protection and rich moisture (aloe vera, honey, sorbolene and glycerine, vitamin E, butters, balms/Vaseline or similar for lips), and hand and foot coverings will be key, which will be the same for our hair. Hubs has had horribly dry, cracked, bleeding hands as he works with drying concrete and timber in the cold, and has been using Palmer's Coconut Oil hand cream (with Monoi and sweet almond oils), and has found it works well, and Rosken Skin Repair cream, although now he has suitable work gloves for that added protection. :cloud9: Oh, and trapping moisture in helps, in the way of lightly oiling your dripping wet skin (face too) before towelling off after a shower, just like with your hair if it can take it.

Siv
June 8th, 2019, 04:23 AM
[...] You probably do not have whatever magic levitation power that people who grew up magically staying upright on ice do, also your shoe soles might behave unexpectedly. [...]

[...] They have antifreeze for blood and will attempt to tell you it is not that cold and that you will get used to it. In my experience this is utterly false, I just got better dressing for it. [...]

Hah! As a native in a cold climate, when the transplants slip around on ice and freeze despite proper clothing it always surprises me. I guess 'cause I just don't find walking on ice difficult and if my legs or face get really cold, they just get numb anyway and I don't feel it (lol!). I take it for given. I suppose it might be something you'll have to grow up with to really get used to...

Also, seconding that hoods are great for longhairs (plus keeping the wind from getting into the gap between your hat and scarf) and that I've never had issues with coconut oil in cold weather. I keep my hair tucked under my coat and/or hood anyway, the oil might solidify a bit if it's very cold (I'm thinking below -15 celsius or +5 fahrenheit) but it's still bendy, and goes liquid once I go inside again. Once it's all soaked into the hair, I don't notice any solidifying at all.

I, too, go with the same haircare routine year-round. Mostly products for dry hair, and use some oil in the lengths. My hair is definitely dryer during the winter, so I apply oil more frequently as needed.

SleepyTangles
June 8th, 2019, 05:13 AM
Italy is very humid and on the hot side, so the first thing I´ve noticed by travelling in Northern Europe (Denmark and such) is:
+ how beautifully frizzless my hair is
+ how long my hair stays clean (I found Copenhagen air very nice and pollution-free, so maybe that was the reason, not the climate)
- how darn dry and flakey my scalp get
- how ddifficult is to detangle
I start with a very sensitive scalp, so this may not be your case. I switched to a very delicate, almost unlathering shampoo. I stretched washes to accommodate the new rate with which my hair was getting dirty. I kept it always braided to avoid wind tangling it beyond any hope, and found a detangling spray to help me with the still unavoidable knots here and there.
When I realized I was still pulling, I bought some avocado oil and it helped the spray a lot.
If you can find a hat/bonnet to keep your hair a bit more protected and your head warm, I´d consider it.

I didn´t experience any breakage from temperature/weather alone, it was not so extreme.

zashin66
June 9th, 2019, 08:27 AM
Following on from what Chromis said - I find that forks with headcurve fit better under hats than straight sticks.

A tip for walking in the snow - stamp the compacted snow off the bottom of your boots as soon as you get to snow-free ground, for example when you go indoors or walk through a thawed patch. Otherwise you’ll have a portable ice rink under your feet.

Interesting side bar item - I had bought a horse in August one year and the person I bought the horse from had said that the mare needed shoes kept on her hooves. Was my first horse, so I dutifully kept her shoed. After the first good stick-to-the-ground snow, she was limping horribly. I was aghast!!! ( Don't use that word often). Then I found out that the snow was all balled up inside the hoof and shoe. I got the farrier to take off the horseshoes and had no more problems. The mare's hooves readjusted after about six months.

Dante
June 9th, 2019, 04:14 PM
I'm taking in all the great advice here - thank you all so much! - but also getting a little nervous about how cold it's going to be! I'm already stocked up with thermals, a big, long puffy jacket and snow boots in preparation for going to the Arctic circle this Christmas (all the shops here had snow gear sales recently, so we stocked up) but it's still very much a theoretical cold to me rather than something I truly understand. I'm going to be driving down over a couple of days, so hopefully I'll ease into it a tiny bit!

Crystawni
June 9th, 2019, 05:46 PM
Ooooh, your new gear sounds good, Dante, as does your trip to the Arctic circle! Driving down will take me around four days of 10-12 hours on the road per day (around two days to get through Qld going the inland route, one to get partway into NSW--mayhaps as far as Dubbo, and another to actually make it to Vic), so I'm there with you! All the learnerating in this thread has been enlightening to say the least, with some side-giggling at Chromis' post (I've shared the pearlers from it, like antifreeze blood, with the hubster who wholeheartedly agreed)!

I'm also thinking the hoodies I've got will also work as hair pockets if I want my hair down to keep my neck warm, but not "loose". I actually bought my first gilet yesterday (sleeveless puffer jacket), that's popular down south for keeping the torso toasty without having the non-pushupable puffer sleeves in the way. The biggest issue was choosing hooded or not, and I went with not as the hood was fur-lined and a little stiff/bulky, so an area of possible hair friction for hood-down indoor-outdoor wear. Oh, and I bought lovely, soft gloves (comfort of the non-itchy/scratchy variety is important) that work with mobile phone screens (from Target) so I don't have to remove them and freeze my fingers off when using the phone (although they need to come off for fingerprint recognition :rolleyes:).

And yeah, I'm hearing you with the theoretical part. I'm still here with fans on every day, and a/c going some afternoons. Cold? What is this cold people speak of? My brain just can't compute. Hubs has suggested going to the fridge section of the supermarket and hang there for a bit. Or just open the fridge at home and step on in for a few hours (sounds sooooo refreshing!!!), although neither are as cold as he's been copping lately.

enting
June 12th, 2019, 03:49 AM
Hair can freeze, but like with anything, YMMV. Depending on exactly how cold it gets, how hot your head is, how long your hair is, and how you wear it, you may not have to worry about it freezing. I don't recall ever having my hair freeze in my life and I was never very particular about not going out with wet hair. Then again, most places I've lived got cold enough to snow and sometimes ice, but not severely much colder than that.

Layers are good, especially close-fitting layers next to the skin and looser layers farther out. Silk and wool are going to be warmer, plant fibers are going to be quite cool. When going outside, layer up and close all layers (jackets, scarves, etc) while still indoors. That will trap the heat from indoors inside your layers. If you go out with your coat still open or your hood off and try to zip up or close it up outside, you've just lost a layer of warmth.

I completely agree with the mention of applying moisturizer/oil/conditioner on wet skin and hair to seal in moisture. My hands get really dry and chapped in dry air and I find that moisturizer doesn't work too well unless I put it on right after showering or washing my hands well.

(An aside about gloves and phones, I've seen patterns for gloves that have turn-down fingertips for fingertip recognition! I don't know if they sell them ready-made, but it seems to me they ought to.)

Make sure you have good warm socks, gloves, and hoods or hats. If you can keep your extremities warm, that will help a whole lot.

Something else I didn't experience or realize until I started wearing my hair up in protective styles is that my neck and behind my ears get cold! They weren't used to being bared to cold air. When it's cold and I don't want to wear my hair down, I make sure to have neckwarmers or scarves or turtleneck shirts around to wear. I've also played with a fake lob updo that I learned from Andrea of http://691superlonghair.blogspot.com/ . It lets my hair cover part of my neck or all of it without my hair being fully down.

Chromis
June 12th, 2019, 09:09 AM
They do make gloves with fliptops and also gloves with toiuchsreen friendly material for the fingertips, but these are good if it is only a little cold. If it is truly cold and you want to use your phone a lot, I would recommend mittens and a stylus. Also putting your phone in a bag. I ziplock works in a pinch but I have a small drybag that works even better.

And I agree to avoid cotton! Even polyester/nylon will be warmer than cotton if you can't afford wool thermals. And scarves do make such a difference. I like cowls best for ease of wear and not getting stuck in my zipper, but scarves are probably the most versatile. The nice thing about being a weinie in a cold climate means my head is always covered outside, which is quite protective :D

enting
June 12th, 2019, 04:25 PM
Good to know that they sell them.
Styluses! Stylii? DH just bought a bunch of them for himself, I should have remembered that they exist. I remember asking him why more people don't use them.

Cotton is also going to be freezing for things like bedsheets, too. I grew up thinking that polyester was sweaty and to be avoided at all costs, but I have brushed polyester sheets now and they're so much warmer than crisp cotton sheets.

I still do wear cotton undershirts even in colder weather (I don't live where it's frigid). As long as I warm them up first in some fashion they're fine for layering. (Read: snuggle under the blankets with it before getting dressed.) If it were truly freezing conditions outside I would probably try to obtain some other fiber. My polyester shirts are warmer, but polyester and my body chemistry interact with odors I don't like...

Cowls are good. I keep looking at the sort that button up that one can wear snug and tall on the neck or more loosely and spread like a collar on the shoulders. I don't have one myself, but that style looks very versatile. Buttons aren't all that hair friendly if hair is down, but they should be all right if hair is worn up.

Oh yes! I haven't read the whole thread so maybe I'm repeating a suggestion, but a warm sleep cap! People often lower the heat overnight, and even if you wear a sleep cap of some sort already, you may want to get something a little warmer.

Crystawni
June 12th, 2019, 05:21 PM
I hated wearing my polyester bowling shirt as I ended up in a stinky sweatfest every time, and felt that rush of heat as soon as I put the thing on, so totally get why those kind of materials/plastics work in cooler climates. Basically, it's the opposite of the whats and whys of stuff we use in the tropics. I have my own random intermittent internal heater thanks to pre-menopausal sweats, though, so will be mixing things up a bit. :lol:

I've definitely been on a scarf binge, too, in my quest to keep nothing exposed to the chills. I actually happened upon a really awesome checked neutral one with grey, black, beige, blush pink and baby blue that will suit just about anything, so am rapt/wrapped. I prefer their versatility, too, as well as not having to mess up a hairdo by pulling them on as you do infinity cowls and the like. If your buns and less-restrained updos hit your neck in any way like mine do (or you have nape hairs of the long and coily kind), beware of buttons, zips, hooks and other fastenings on neck-high things. And yeah, we lose so much heat from our heads, so keeping that under wraps is key. I've slept in beanies before when tent camping in the below zeros while breathing through a scarf. :p I'm guessing my sleep caps may actually get some use, now. :cool: As for gloves, I actually got mine for driving as well as outdoors wear, as I remember my hands used to get awfully cold sitting kinda still and exposed on the steering wheel. And now I'm thinking about cold cars--iced and foggy windows, warming the car up, actually using the demister... and the heater! My poor car is going to go into shock as much as I am!

Gah, and yeah, I forgot about having to dress in bed to heat things up..! And then there's the issue of losing your pocket of bed heat if you dare to move during the night, or have to get up for a bathroom break. :wethree:

Dante
June 13th, 2019, 03:33 AM
I'm now sewing some turtlenecks and leggings to have some additional warm layers, and looking for a pattern for a beanie that I can line with silk. I have a beautiful silk scarf that I love but absolutely never wear, and am happy to sacrifice it for the cause. I've been a woolie scarf addict for a while, despite rarely getting to wear them where I currently live, so I'm looking forward to finally getting some use out of my collection!

Oh and getting dressed in bed is a great idea!

lapushka
June 13th, 2019, 09:11 AM
I'm taking in all the great advice here - thank you all so much! - but also getting a little nervous about how cold it's going to be! I'm already stocked up with thermals, a big, long puffy jacket and snow boots in preparation for going to the Arctic circle this Christmas (all the shops here had snow gear sales recently, so we stocked up) but it's still very much a theoretical cold to me rather than something I truly understand. I'm going to be driving down over a couple of days, so hopefully I'll ease into it a tiny bit!

OMG, that's *really* cold. All bets are off. Apart from keeping it well-moisturized, don't use coconut oil on your hair, for sure. It will freeze off, I think. And use serums instead of oils (far better for the cold).

Ylva
June 13th, 2019, 09:18 AM
Depending on where exactly it is on the Arctic circle at the end of December, it might not be that cold at all. Continental MIGHT be, but coastal areas, in particular, are rather mild at that point and there's a good chance the temperature won't even fall below freezing. Of course, this is my native point of view - I've never lived in a "warm" climate.

MusicalSpoons
June 13th, 2019, 09:28 AM
One thing I don't recall seeing mentioned is drying your hair - whatever method you use, be prepared for it to take longer!

I airdry overnight mainly for practicality, but it's also useful in spring/autumn/winter because if I airdried in the daytime my hair would most likely be rubbing on fleecy or knitted material :lol: (actually even a large part of summer too!) If that's how you usually dry and your heating goes down too low overnight to fully dry your hair, you'll need to either live with it (which my own scalp did not like) or find ways around it, e.g. washing earlier, leaving it in the towel longer, or using a blowdryer to finish it off in the morning.

In non-hair matters, hot water bottles, fleecy bedsocks and fleecy pyjamas are awesome for chilly nights. (Also fleecy dressing gown is great.) My hot water bottle holds enough heat through until morning that I can wrap my underlayers around it before getting dressed, and it takes the chill off. Even better if you can refill it with hot water from the tap before you get dressed, e.g. if you go to the bathroom first.
Also if you need to get up in the night, put the duvet straight back down on your bed to keep as much heat in as possible. This is another area in which hot water bottles excel! You can either leave it to keep your bed warm, or you can take it with you so you don't freeze while in the bathroom / attending to the cat / whatever woke you up. Or you can have 2 HWBs, to do both - leave one in your bed and take one with you :D (Can you tell I feel the cold easily?! :p)

lapushka
June 13th, 2019, 10:22 AM
In non-hair matters, hot water bottles, fleecy bedsocks and fleecy pyjamas are awesome for chilly nights. (Also fleecy dressing gown is great.) My hot water bottle holds enough heat through until morning that I can wrap my underlayers around it before getting dressed, and it takes the chill off. Even better if you can refill it with hot water from the tap before you get dressed, e.g. if you go to the bathroom first.
Also if you need to get up in the night, put the duvet straight back down on your bed to keep as much heat in as possible. This is another area in which hot water bottles excel! You can either leave it to keep your bed warm, or you can take it with you so you don't freeze while in the bathroom / attending to the cat / whatever woke you up. Or you can have 2 HWBs, to do both - leave one in your bed and take one with you :D (Can you tell I feel the cold easily?! :p)

Even in summer, guess what I'm wearing to bed. Yep, you guessed it, fluffy socks (it is hard to get my legs & feet warm though).

MusicalSpoons
June 13th, 2019, 10:48 AM
Even in summer, guess what I'm wearing to bed. Yep, you guessed it, fluffy socks (it is hard to get my legs & feet warm though).

Hehe! Me too - not every night, but I've recently been wearing them again on the chillier nights :grin: (apparently June didn't get the memo that it's supposed to be, erm, warm by now ... :rolleyes:)

lapushka
June 13th, 2019, 11:41 AM
Hehe! Me too - not every night, but I've recently been wearing them again on the chillier nights :grin: (apparently June didn't get the memo that it's supposed to be, erm, warm by now ... :rolleyes:)

LOL! Yeah, it's not summer... juuust yet.

Ylva
June 13th, 2019, 12:08 PM
Even in summer, guess what I'm wearing to bed. Yep, you guessed it, fluffy socks (it is hard to get my legs & feet warm though).

I'm the polar opposite. I feel that socks cut off my freedom and prefer to never wear socks. Occasionally I will, if the shoes demand it, but in the winter I'll probably just wear wool socks with nothing else underneath. I could NEVER in a million years imagine sleeping with socks on, that's nightmare fuel for me haha.

MusicalSpoons
June 13th, 2019, 12:14 PM
I'm the polar opposite. I feel that socks cut off my freedom and prefer to never wear socks. Occasionally I will, if the shoes demand it, but in the winter I'll probably just wear wool socks with nothing else underneath. I could NEVER in a million years imagine sleeping with socks on, that's nightmare fuel for me haha.

Mine are fairly loose with just a small string of elastic at the top to hold them together, not like normal socks. I do understand where you're coming from, but for me even with a hot water bottle at my feet they won't warm up enough not to feel like ice blocks wherever isn't touching the bottle, so it can sometimes be impossible to sleep without the socks. With the socks they do often still feel cold to touch, so the socks are more a layer of protection for any other patch of skin my feet might rest against :lol:

Edit: I know many people who can't stand wearing tights or leggings, so will only wear them if absolutely necessary, whereas I'll wear 2 pairs of thick tights under a skirt most of the year, maybe 1 pair once it's reasonably warm, and you know it's *really* summer when I wear an ordinary pair of tights instead of thick cotton ones :laugh: only at the very height of a heatwave can I go bare-legged! If I'm wearing trousers, I'll usually have at least a pair of leggings underneath, plus tights in winter, and it's summer when I can wear trousers by themselves. Shorts are again reserved for the very height of a heatwave. [I think I was designed to live somewhere warmer, but not too hot otherwise I can't function either :confused:]

Kalamazoo
June 13th, 2019, 12:23 PM
A George Michael tip for longhairs wearing hair down under a winter coat: split your hair in the middle in back, then cross the two halves in back of your head & bring each half to the front over the opposite shoulder, so the hair winds up being in front, so you aren't sitting on it. It seems to me like this would work best if the coat had a satin lining.

Personally, when I was growing up (in Iowa, where the real temperature goes down to -40°F., & the wind chill goes down to -100°F.), I always had asthma problems if I inhaled air below freezing (32°F.), so always keeping my nose & mouth covered with a wool scarf when going outside in the winter was a necessity. This was good because it meant tying that scarf around my head outside of the hood, which held the hood up.

Growing up, my full winter gear for venturing outdoors included:

A shoebag to hold my indoor shoes
A pair of snow boots (worn outdoors in place of shoes, preferably knee-high, for going through snowdrifts)
2 or 3 pairs of socks
Underpants
Tights or panty hose
Bra
Leotard
Slacks or snowpants
Skirt
Slip
Blouse
2 Sweaters
1 VERY THICK winter coat, midi length, with a hood
1 pair of gloves under 1 pair of small mittens under a 2nd pair of large mittens
Silk scarf over my hair
Winter hat over silk scarf
The coat's hood over the winter hat
Heavy woolen scarf tied outside the hood, over mouth & nose


Yes, I always had trouble with my glasses fogging up! It's better if you don't have to wear glasses outdoors!

And then, in Iowa, in the summertime, I've seen the thermometer read 105°F., with high humidity. So yes, this means an annual 200°F. temperature range.

I live in Texas now. I miss the beautiful fairytale scenery, looking out the window while sitting in my rocking chair, knitting, in front of the fireplace. (That sounds like such a grandma thing to do! That was me in high school!)

P.S. I always used to watch the thermometer & never allowed myself to wear my winter coat until the temperature went below 0°F., using my raincoat until then. That was to keep from getting used to the heavy winter coat too soon, so that I wouldn't feel too cold when it got really cold!

Hairkay
June 13th, 2019, 02:41 PM
I'm the polar opposite. I feel that socks cut off my freedom and prefer to never wear socks. Occasionally I will, if the shoes demand it, but in the winter I'll probably just wear wool socks with nothing else underneath. I could NEVER in a million years imagine sleeping with socks on, that's nightmare fuel for me haha.

I'm with you in staying sock free in bed. I attempted it a few times and after an hour or so I'd start trying to kick or pull those socks off. I'd rather add an extra blanket on the bed than wear socks. I have bought bed socks sometimes but I use them as slippers to be discarded once I am in bed. Oh and it would have to be hitting zero outdoors for me to consider wearing slippers/socks indoors. I prefer bare feet on wooden floors. I also hate carpet so I don't have any.

I moved from the Caribbean to the UK as a teen. I kept my daily hair rinsing and air drying habit. I just switched to doing that in the evenings when it's cold in autumn/winter. I did have to get myself used to wearing hats or a hoodie when going out on cold mornings and nights as soon as I get indoors the hat/hood comes off. It was more of an issue getting used to the water here and how drying indoor winter heating can be on my skin and throat. It did take me years to wonder what to do about my hair getting too dry when I couldn't use conventional conditioners. It took for my skin getting worse for me to start going the DIY route. I already had some knowledge over the years that I hadn't put to much use. That was my start.

You don't need to do anything drastic. Find things that will be effective and feel similar to your old routine that way you are likely to stick with the new regimen comfortably.

enting
June 13th, 2019, 03:51 PM
Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.

Regarding socks, I'm somewhere in the middle. I'll often go to sleep with socks and kick them off in the night so that my feet can breathe. A pretty good sleep alternative for my cold feet and ankles but the need for feet to breathe is legwarmers. If I'm very cold I can pull them down a bit so they're over my heels as well. That keeps me warm but not suffocated/constricted.

Ylva
June 13th, 2019, 04:06 PM
A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.

Custom made hats. I don't really utilise hoods. But then again, I wear my hair more in a braid than in a bun these days anyway.

Kalamazoo
June 13th, 2019, 04:13 PM
Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.

If you wear your hair down under your coat, you get 2 benefits:
1. There's no bun making your head larger so that the hood won't fit over it.
2. Your hair acts as a sweater under your coat, keeping you a little warmer, so perhaps you can get by with wearing one less sweater.

It might be a good idea to wear a satin jacket under the coat instead of a sweater, so that the hair would have both the satin jacket under it & the satin lining of the topcoat over it, protecting it from friction.

enting
June 13th, 2019, 04:48 PM
Ylva, I've been considering those. I've been spending a lot of time looking at knit or crochet patterns for long pointed fantasy hoods, too.....

Kalamazoo, the truth is that most hoods are barely large enough for my head, even without the hair... but I am afraid to think what my hair might be like if I wore it down under my coats. How does yours not end up matting? Mine tangles just by being in contact with itself.

Kalamazoo
June 13th, 2019, 06:06 PM
I have a small head. Most hats are too big for me.

I explained my combing technique over here:

https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=149376&page=3

I don't think my hair tangles much. It might have to do with the products I'm putting on it. There was one shampoo (I think it was Alaffia or something like that?) that tangled my hair just horribly, which I threw away after one use, but everybody's hair chemistry is unique. Back when I lived in Iowa, all I did for my hair was wash it with usually the cheapest shampoo out there (Suave, strawberry scented) - no conditioner, no other products, comb with a wide-tooth plastic comb, and either braid it ir leave it down. That was 30 years ago, though. I feel the need for a much more elaborate routine now.

Chromis
June 13th, 2019, 07:06 PM
Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.

Regarding socks, I'm somewhere in the middle. I'll often go to sleep with socks and kick them off in the night so that my feet can breathe. A pretty good sleep alternative for my cold feet and ankles but the need for feet to breathe is legwarmers. If I'm very cold I can pull them down a bit so they're over my heels as well. That keeps me warm but not suffocated/constricted.

Land's End makes jackets with large enough hoods as does Arc'teryx. Basically companies that started off as outdoor/sporting companies are more likely to have a reasonable sized hood. I do have to be careful what updo I use, which is why I wear a logrool so much in winter. Disc buns work too.

Dante
June 14th, 2019, 02:18 AM
I know many people who can't stand wearing tights or leggings, so will only wear them if absolutely necessary, whereas I'll wear 2 pairs of thick tights under a skirt most of the year, maybe 1 pair once it's reasonably warm, and you know it's *really* summer when I wear an ordinary pair of tights instead of thick cotton ones :laugh: only at the very height of a heatwave can I go bare-legged! If I'm wearing trousers, I'll usually have at least a pair of leggings underneath, plus tights in winter, and it's summer when I can wear trousers by themselves. Shorts are again reserved for the very height of a heatwave.

I don't know how cold it gets where you live but wearing this many layers just boggled my mind! Currently winter for me equals wearing a pair of stockings under my summer dresses, a cardigan and maybe a light jacket if it's windy! Wow!!


Personally, when I was growing up (in Iowa, where the real temperature goes down to -40°F., & the wind chill goes down to -100°F.), I always had asthma problems if I inhaled air below freezing (32°F.), so [I]always keeping my nose & mouth covered with a wool scarf when going outside in the winter was a necessity. This was good because it meant tying that scarf around my head outside of the hood, which held the hood up.

Growing up, my full winter gear for venturing outdoors included:

A shoebag to hold my indoor shoes
A pair of snow boots (worn outdoors in place of shoes, preferably knee-high, for going through snowdrifts)
2 or 3 pairs of socks
Underpants
Tights or panty hose
Bra
Leotard
Slacks or snowpants
Skirt
Slip
Blouse
2 Sweaters
1 VERY THICK winter coat, midi length, with a hood
1 pair of gloves under 1 pair of small mittens under a 2nd pair of large mittens
Silk scarf over my hair
Winter hat over silk scarf
The coat's hood over the winter hat
Heavy woolen scarf tied outside the hood, over mouth & nose


This is so helpful, not just for the list of clothing, but for the reminder around asthma and the cold! I've had so little experience with very cold weather that is completely forgotten it can trigger my asthma too. Will try your tip about wearing a scarf over the noise and mouth when is very cold and hopefully that'll help. Thanks!


Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

I'm just going to the Arctic circle for a holiday at the end of the year, the place I'm moving to is nowhere near as cold!! Sorry I wasn't clear!


If you wear your hair down under your coat, you get 2 benefits:
1. There's no bun making your head larger so that the hood won't fit over it.
2. Your hair acts as a sweater under your coat, keeping you a little warmer, so perhaps you can get by with wearing one less sweater.

It might be a good idea to wear a satin jacket under the coat instead of a sweater, so that the hair would have both the satin jacket under it & the satin lining of the topcoat over it, protecting it from friction.

I wear buns 95% of the time but may have to consider wearing my hair down occasionally based on this. I don't know if I have anything in a satin fabric to reduce friction but worth looking into. Thanks for the suggestion!

And thanks everyone else for your great ideas. Much appreciated!

Crystawni
June 14th, 2019, 06:34 AM
Heck, I haven't tried to wear socks to bed in so long... They never lasted the night with me (that restricted feeling meant I'd toe them off, plus I'm a restless sleeper so if I fell asleep with them on, they'd end up loose somewhere under the foot-end covers). And of course, there's always the fun bit of seeing the hubster fly to the ceiling when my icy toes would venture into his territory...

And I'm also thankful for the asthma warning! It's the very reason my asthmatic great grandfather and his family sailed away from soddy Nottingham, England to sunny Perth, Australia, as his doctor said he wouldn't last another winter if he stayed there (after generations in the area). He lived on for many more years down here, thankfully. :grin:

And yeah, longer hair drying time... yay. My hair already takes around a day to dry. :rolleyes: I did have a taste of it when in Dante's neck of the woods a few years back during winter--even in Brisbane and Ipswich, the colder weather (compared to Cairns) meant I had a hip-length coat of drippy coldness on me for waaaaaaay too long. Yuck. I just hope the quick-drying microfiber travelling towels I now use will help, as I'm not keen on a thigh-length drape of drizzleness.


Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.

Regarding socks, I'm somewhere in the middle. I'll often go to sleep with socks and kick them off in the night so that my feet can breathe. A pretty good sleep alternative for my cold feet and ankles but the need for feet to breathe is legwarmers. If I'm very cold I can pull them down a bit so they're over my heels as well. That keeps me warm but not suffocated/constricted.

When all this convo was going on today, I was actually out buying a hooded coat that does the trick nicely. What are the odds? :p When choosing I went all nostalgic, going back to my teen years of the 80s and snagged a duffle coat, although this one (https://www.target.com.au/p/paddington-duffle-coat/62211826) has a fancy, soft and removable fur trim and isn't the moody, punk black most of us highschoolers used to wear. Duffle coats normally have roomy bucket-like hoods that handle a fair bit of underlayering, and since trying it out at home in the chill of the aircon (I was melting in Target :sun:), I found it has heaps of room, even with a pom-pommed chenille beanie and scarf under the hood. To give another idea of room, at the front it drapes like a cloak hood. Oooooh, moving to the brrrrrzone also means one day I can haz the floor length cloak of mah dreamz. :cloud9:

Anyway, here's THE WORST rear-view, mirror-in-the-changerooms crop shot of my new duffle coat with my bunned hair to give you an idea:

https://i.imgur.com/NTPcOtv.jpg

Dante, years ago when travelling by car through the outback from SA to Qld via NSW, the temps dropped horribly at night, so I found myself layered with stockings, then leggings, then jeans, and finally loose trackies, with legwarmers over that and two pairs of socks (thick bedsocks covering thinner socks) underneath in uggies. The top layering was a tankie, then t-shirt, then long-sleeved t, a druggy shirt, windcheater, fleecy jacket and then overcoat. By the time we (hubster and two of our toddler kids before no. 3 was a twinkling) arrived on the Sunny Coast, I was still in the jeans (and etc. below that) and t-shirt, and absolutely boiled, even though it was mid-winter and freezing down south only a few days earlier. We all stripped down the layers quick smart (in the Big Top car park, with our well-travelled cats lazily staring out at passers by). It was so balmy warm, the kids were happily romping around in just their nappies, and swimming in the caravan park pool for the first few weeks. The extremes can be incredible.

Genne
June 14th, 2019, 06:38 AM
Okay, hit me up with your best tips for looking after your hair in a cold climate please! I've always lived in hot, humid places, and am soon to move to a place that gets down to below zero Celsius (it's is also pretty dry). What (if anything) should I change about my hair care routine? Is there anything you'd recommend to ease the transition? Will my hair get drier or more fragile? Does wet hair freeze? Seriously, nothing is too basic, I have experienced such cold temperatures only a few times (on holidays), and on those occasions, just dealt with it by wearing hats and not washing my hair til I got home :)

Hello,
I lived in Fairbanks Alaska for a few years and highly recommend not pulling hats on and off but using a smooth cap or scarf to leave on so your hat won't pull off or rip your hair every time you take it off.

I used satin/silk pillowcases after I moved there because I realized my hair was suddenly having a very hard time. When it is that cold, your body will have a hard time if you let anything be exposed to air for more than 9 minutes you'll risk frost bite so, covering up is an understatement.

Not much more advice from me here but, enjoy it!
Jen
p.s. Arctic circle, will be so, very, very dry when it is cold but, it can be beautiful. Although there really were just two seasons where I lived, winter and fire season, (light and dark.) I also learned that the term "march madness" had an entirely NEW meaning. All the rapid gains in daylight hours from March until Mid June when it finally stops gaining dramatically, sort of sets people's inner clocks to go oddly and can cause aggression, confusion or silliness.

MusicalSpoons
June 14th, 2019, 06:51 AM
I don't know how cold it gets where you live but wearing this many layers just boggled my mind! Currently winter for me equals wearing a pair of stockings under my summer dresses, a cardigan and maybe a light jacket if it's windy! Wow!!

Ah, well, that's the thing - it doesn't get particularly cold apart from when we have the odd polar vortex (such as the Beast from the East) and I'm not even in the North of England; East England native here :shrug: it does go below freezing in winter, for a few days here and there, weeks of 3-5℃ in the daytime, but I can still be wearing my thick coat with my moderate amount of layers in 15℃ and still feel cold :rolleyes:

(It did make me laugh when colleagues at work would complain they were cold inside, wearing a pair of trousers, a thin top and a thin cardigan. I'd regularly be wearing 5 layers on top and still feel chilly so I'm afraid I had very little sympathy!)

Kalamazoo
June 14th, 2019, 07:27 AM
It's a pleasure to be of service!

About humidifiers: If you don't have one, you can use either a stovetop or a crockpot to simmer water. If using a stove burner, put your largest pot on it, filled with water (or snow or ice!), and turn the burner on low. Experiment with the lid to find the best position (On? Off? Tilted?) Some people use a tea kettle this way. Or a pot of water could be brought to a boil, and then carried to the bedroom & set in a safe location where nobody will trip over it. When using a crockpot, I had it set on the floor on its lowest setting. I found that I needed to buy bottled spring water, because the local city water stinks if used this way. I also like putting one drop each of E.O.s in the simmering water. My choices were clove, peppermint, & tea tree. Those 3 E.O.s together in the steam make me feel considerably healthier!

Be sure to check the pot periodically, to keep from boiling it dry!

To my surprise, my kitty-cat (who totally adores catnip, peppermint, & anything from the mint family) enjoys sipping water out of the crockpot!

If my eyes are dry, or my nose stuffed-up, it helps me to moisten my eyes with the best water available. One way to do that is to dampen a washcloth & lay it over my eyes. Another way is to fill a small spray bottle with spring water, CLOSE my eyes!!!!!!! & spray the water onto my CLOSED eyelids. This results in the water getting into my sinuses. It makes me need to blow my nose, or even sneeze. But it cleans out my sinuses, & then I don't feel like I have a cold.

And yes, my hair loves the humidity.

In Iowa, in the wintertime, it was always a struggle to get the humidity up to 20%. In the summertime, however, we always kept a dehumidifier running, aiming to bring the relative humidity down to someplace between 40 & 60%. If you can connect a garden hose to it & send the water down a drain, then you don't have to remember to empty the bucket.

ETA: Maybe 2 braids might have been my go-to hairstyle in Iowa? Either down or pinned up, milkmaid-style. My hair reached WL by age 22, before I cut it. (I'm really happy about its being even longer now, 40 years later!)

ETA #2: Any pot used for simmering water should be washed daily, to keep the deposits from building up.

Cg
June 14th, 2019, 01:29 PM
Oh my goodness I totally missed that you're going to be in the Arctic circle! I've never been anywhere that cold.

A question for those who bundle up their head and hair and also wear hoods: Where do you find coats with hoods that are large enough to fit over everything? I think I own one coat with a hood large enough for me, my hair, and a hat.


If you are tall and not well endowed, as I am, men's coats are an option. Their hoods are always much larger than women's plus the sleeves are good and long. In very cold climates, nobody makes an outdoors fashion statement.

I have made both coats and hats that function as hoods. If you aren't a seamstress, you can hire someone to create something that meets exactly your needs.

Dante
June 16th, 2019, 01:40 PM
Dante, years ago when travelling by car through the outback from SA to Qld via NSW, the temps dropped horribly at night, so I found myself layered with stockings, then leggings, then jeans, and finally loose trackies, with legwarmers over that and two pairs of socks (thick bedsocks covering thinner socks) underneath in uggies. The top layering was a tankie, then t-shirt, then long-sleeved t, a druggy shirt, windcheater, fleecy jacket and then overcoat. By the time we (hubster and two of our toddler kids before no. 3 was a twinkling) arrived on the Sunny Coast, I was still in the jeans (and etc. below that) and t-shirt, and absolutely boiled, even though it was mid-winter and freezing down south only a few days earlier. We all stripped down the layers quick smart (in the Big Top car park, with our well-travelled cats lazily staring out at passers by). It was so balmy warm, the kids were happily romping around in just their nappies, and swimming in the caravan park pool for the first few weeks. The extremes can be incredible.

Oh that's hilarious, I can only imagine walking around in so many layers and then the frantic race to get them all off!

enting
June 16th, 2019, 05:21 PM
If you are tall and not well endowed, as I am, men's coats are an option. Their hoods are always much larger than women's plus the sleeves are good and long. In very cold climates, nobody makes an outdoors fashion statement.

I have made both coats and hats that function as hoods. If you aren't a seamstress, you can hire someone to create something that meets exactly your needs.

Not only that, men's coats have room for thicker necks (like mine). Ladies shirts, jackets, and coats can easily strangle me. I keep thinking about making one but it just feels like so much effort for something that I should be able to have.

Crystawni that looks and sounds like a great find!

My winter coat is a full length down puffy coat from... Land's End! The hood has detachable fur around the opening. Without the fur attached, the hood is TINY. With the fur on it's all right. The neck is also really small. Ah well. I usually wear a hat under the hood to protect the area that the hood doesn't cover.

Chromis
June 16th, 2019, 05:46 PM
Not only that, men's coats have room for thicker necks (like mine). Ladies shirts, jackets, and coats can easily strangle me. I keep thinking about making one but it just feels like so much effort for something that I should be able to have.

Crystawni that looks and sounds like a great find!

My winter coat is a full length down puffy coat from... Land's End! The hood has detachable fur around the opening. Without the fur attached, the hood is TINY. With the fur on it's all right. The neck is also really small. Ah well. I usually wear a hat under the hood to protect the area that the hood doesn't cover.

Interesting! I have their Stadium Squall coat and it has a massive hood! I will admit the neck is tiny though like yours. I never ever wear them zipped up all the way anyhow, can't fit a scarf under and I feel like I am being strangled.

Scyphozoa
June 17th, 2019, 11:05 AM
For keeping warm at night heated mattress pads are fantastic. I imagine it would even help your hair dry a bit quicker, if you air dry overnight. Definitely not hot enough to cause heat damage though. I have one. Ignore the fact that I live in a subtropical area :p