What do you do with your hair in winter??

[littlemiss]

ok, having not spent a winter at TLHC and winter is almost a knocking on our door here, What do people do with there hair in winter?? its cold and wet?? how do you dry?? how often do you wash?? tell me all your secrets!!!!:D

[Riot Crrl]

I don't think this is going to be in line with most of the responses, but I get my hair wet just about every day. I thus have two options:

1. Blow dry. I know. But it's on low and only for 5 minutes. I actually don't think this has been as damaging as a lot of stuff I used to do before.

2. Damp updo. But I use the term "updo" loosely. I try to put some sort of one at the nape, so that I can put a hat over the damp scalp hair.

[MyFireElf]

I've got a trick for you - because I don't turn on the heat in winter it takes forever for my hair to dry. After the initial towel blotting I found it helps to curl up with a blanket over your head like a hood - it creates a little pocket of body warmth and is gentler than blow drying.

[trolleypup]

No particular difference in routine between winter (mild) and summer ("the coldest winter I spent was a summer in San Francisco"). Wash every 4 days, turban in microfiber towel, air dry, detangle and preen.

[Katze]

When it's really cold - as it was last week, we had SNOW - I do end up blowdrying my hair more, but only on low and at a distance from my head, and when my hair is mostly dry anyway. I also focus on drying my ears, as they ache when they get cold and wet, and on my scalp and not my ends.

One thing I like is to "plop" my hair - twist it up in a towel, headscarf, or Buff - and let it dry in the air - I even put my hoodie hood over it (I mostly sleep in hoodies) and bundle up in a blanket while reading, working, drinking tea, etc. and let my hair dry like this.

I wash nights, as I like to go to bed clean, and this helps my head stay warmer when my hair is damp.

It is really almost never warm here, even in "summer", so walking around with wet hair just isn't going to happen. This helps me in washing my hair less, too. I am hoping once more that we get a summer where I can sit on the balcony and dry my hair in the sun, or put it into bun/braids and go out like that, but we shall see.

hth!

edited to add: I also wore it up more this last winter, and am wearing it up more, just because when it's cold, I'm wearing hoods, hats, etc. it is hard to deal with hair. Putting it all up into a hat, sort of scrunched on my head, on a day when I am wearing it down encourages wave and body, and if I'm biking, the sweat is good for it, too.

[littlemiss]

No particular difference in routine between winter (mild) and summer ("the coldest winter I spent was a summer in San Francisco"). Wash every 4 days, turban in microfiber towel, air dry, detangle and preen.

trolleypup
What is preen???

[Silver & Gold]

trolleypup
What is preen???

Preening is another way of saying primping or fixing or arranging. A bird preens his feathers.

[Curlsgirl]

I found the routine I had been using stopped working as well when winter hit. However, I really only ended up adjusting amounts of the products and CWCd less often because my hair really does not like the blow dryer and causes frizz. I started using more of my moisturizing leave-in and a little more coconut oil on damp hair. I wore mine down a lot this winter except when out in the wind. It helped me stay warm! :D

[ChloeDharma]

My 2 main priorities in winter are protection and conditioning. I'm obsessed with oiling anyway, but in winter i especially prioritise it and most of the time my hair is bunned with the length heavily oiled and the scalp at least lightly oiled.
I try to mist my hair more in the winter too, but my hair dries fast and i wouldn't do it just before leaving home or anything.
I step up the DT's.....yogurt treatments, honey use (in winter i don't have that paranoia that i'll get chased by wasps when i use honey ;))
But yes, those are my main winter priorities....not really that much different from my summer ones lol

ETA....i forgot to mention, protective styles, braids or ideally buns.....this exposes less of your hair to the temperature and air moisture extreemes, and also prevents the wind whipping your hair about.....think what happens to a bandana after you flick it lots.....the tip that cracks frays.

[brok3nwings]

I usually dont have problems with winter...in Madeira Island it doesnt go cold and at Lisbon just a bit cold, but i must confess going to America well...my hair was really really a mess! It seamed that it didnt dry at all and it was always dry (the mean word) at the same time

[brok3nwings]

Ah! My skin went terrible too! Really terrible...i had to put moisture every day into my skin and even so it made me a lot of pain, like if someone have given me a wild cat. When i came back it just stoped instantly , the itches and everything, so i dont know about other places but in Boston and NY the weather is dry dry dry and cold cold cold

[Lamb]

Winter is finally! giving way to spring here in Ontario. One thing I wish I had done more often during the last months is: covering my head. No amount of conditioner (or sebum or oil for that matter) is going to protect your hair from frosty gusts of wind. I know, I should have known better. I have had cap-phobia since I was little. So, my number 1 advice: get a cap/hat/shawl and wear it!

[lora410]

I take mine off and store it in a dry warm place..j/k :D It doesn't get freezing cold or snow in the part of FL i'm at, and the lowest it gets is low 30's (hides from the pitchforks). On those days I keep it in an up do. I doubt we will get anymore cold weather since it's been in the 80's here the last week or so.

[harpgal]

I live in a very dry and cold place. I protect my hair as much as I can by:

1. oiling with coconut oil
2. wearing braids that are made into updos
3. misting the braid tassel before it is wrapped up for the day
4. always covering it with a scarf while I'm outside
5. washing at night (every 5 days) and sleeping with it loose in a silk sleep cap

and

6. longing to be in Hawaii :D

[Islandgrrl]

My routine doesn't much change with the seasons. My hair gets wet when it gets wet and it never, ever gets blowfried. If it's cold out and I have to be outdoors with wet hair, I'll wrap a cotton scarf over my head and then put a watch-cap over top. I wear my hair up most of the time anyway, but especially in winter. It just stays up all the time to minimize the effects of coldness - most specifically when it's freezing out.

[ole gray mare]

I wash every few days (at night) and braid it for bed. (Any time of year.) By morning, it's only damp, not wet. I would have a really hard time going around with wet hair throughout the day because I'd be way too cold. So the nighttime solution works really well for me.

[Patrycja]

Since I don't sweat during the winter months,my washing gets cut down big time.I continue with keeping my hair up because its at that length where it just bothers me when its down.Gets all in my way.I oil a little bit more than in the summer since winter's here are so dry.

[atlantaz3]

Even here is Georgia we gets days in the teens and actually had snow a few times this season. I let my hair go longer between washes and "gasp" blow dry. My house just isn't warm enough for me to sit around in wet hair. I do the turbie towel for at least 20 minutes and then dry the rest which usually only takes about five minutes. (I remember the days of 30 minute straightening sessions with my blow dryer!)
This is my first summer I am trying to give up the blow dryer. We only get about 2.5 months of really cold weather - so during those months I will be trying to smt with every shampoo and make the wash days at least five days apart! I might even try the scalp wash technique again then.

[Anje]

I'm just coming out of winter... (FYI: Winter here means snow, rain, and temperatures below freezing more than they are above. It seemed strange and warm to me, though, because in my Wisconsin winters, the snow didn't melt away before we got more.)

I often make more of a point of washing my hair in the evenings, so I'm not walking outside much with it wet or damp. If my hair is down, I keep it under my coat. I usually wear a hat, too, and that gets pulled over buns and the like; therefore, I rarely wear hairsticks in the winter.

[daeana]

i don't really have a different program for the seasons either. if i'm cold, i just wrap myself in a giant blanket. :silly:

[1nuitblanche]

The main difference for me is that I sometimes wear a hat or keep my hair tucked under my jacket when I go outside in winter. Because it's usually windy, I tend to put it up when I go outside, no matter what season it is.

[AJoifulNoise]

Having just come through my first TLHC winter, this is what I did:

I washed my hair just as often as I did in the summer. I tried stretching it out, but that didn't work. I did CO.

I still air dryed often, but usually not completely.

Updos. Slightly dampened updos. I think they saved my hair. They protected it from cold winds and dry indoor heat. Not so wet that the hair would freeze... But, just damp enough to keep it moist. Whenever I took my hair down it was as soft as bunny fur.

Also, deep treatments every so often. But, I do that in the summer too, so it's not just a winter thing.

[Lilla My]

It's really cold, windy and wet here and I'm out in the weather every day so I wear a woolly hat!
Everything else stays the same though - no change in routine at all. :)

[Medvssa]

I wear it down a lot more since it warms my ears and neck :D I usually put my hair up when I'm too warm, which was most of the time back in Spain. And here in Belgium, in my office they put the heating way too high in winter (it's often 22°C in winter and I have to go around in short sleeves) so I have to put it up too. I cannot stand to be too warm.

Since my hair is curly, I cannot wash it before going to bed, or put it up when it is still damp, or keep it wrapped in the towel for long, because it dries in the shape it was put. I only get a decnt curl letting it air dry when down. Yeah I could just keep it in an updo afterwards, but I really like to have it down (with hat on top) to go outside in winter, since it is quite cold here. If I have to go out when my hair is wet, and its a little bit too cold, I put a hat over it (but let the ends hang loose)

On the bright side, wind doesn't tangle my hair, and it is never static. I really don't feel any adverse effect from the winter in my hair. Perhaps because the weather is humid. I prefer cold weather than warm weather, but I cannot survive in dry weather of any sort, I feel I cannot breathe. I've never been in a dry place for long, so I don't know the effect this has in my hair. When it is very, very humid, it tends to get more frizzy.
Our house is never too dry from heating since we are very careful to open the windows, no matter how cold it is, and air the house well every morning.

[squiggyflop]

i switched to washing my hair at night during the winter so that i wouldnt have to go outside while my hair was wet... i am the queen of hats in the winter... my head gets cold so i wear hats... well not hats exactly its really just one hat that i wear almost every day... and if you are wearing a hat no one can tell how greasy the hair is... lol

[thunderlilies]

When winter comes around I tend to have my hair up up up up! Even when it's in a braid it's full of static! And lately I just haven't been much into conditioning (honey's my favourite)... so, up it is - oftentimes in a snood or hat and scarf when outdoors to keep warm. Also I don't wash it any more often in the winter then summer.

[Pierre]

I wear a Polar Buff, and if it's really cold, I put another Buff on top of it (usually the reflector, since I often walk at night).

[jojo]

my hair likes shampoo in winter more than summer, i wash in the evenings and I put it up more, also i wear a hat more to protect, oh and i oil my ends daily!

[Angela_Rose]

i wrap it around my neck to keep me warm!

[Cricket]

I tend to be much more faithful to my weekend deep conditioning treatments in the winter. My ends get oiled a little bit more to help deal with the changes between the cold outdoors and the hot, dry indoors.

I also do the hats and scarves. If its not windy, I use a really long scarf over my head and wrapped around my head. I generally have to pin it to my hair at the temples to keep it in place. I'm pretty much right on the Atlantic ocean, so its usually windy enough for me to ditch the pins and put a hat over the scarf to keep it in place (and for extra warmth).

My best advice is to keep your hair tied up and the ends tucked in. If you don't have time to tie it up, tuck it into your jacket.

[Blueglass]

In winter, if my hair is wet, and I have to go out, I make sure I tuck it in my coat, so it doesn't freeze.