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Tutti_Frutti
December 24th, 2010, 10:45 AM
I was wondering, does long hair really make a difference in cold weahter? Since my hair isn't that long (almost BSL), I can't really say.

What about you? Does it feel like a warm hairblanket or is it still as cold as always? :)

luxepiggy
December 24th, 2010, 10:48 AM
Oh yes!! I refuse to wear updos in the winter, because my neck gets cold (^(oo)^)

California doesn't allow smoking indoors, so I often use my hair to keep warm when I go outside to smoke at clubs too.

Quixii
December 24th, 2010, 10:48 AM
I feel like it does make me warmer. It's more like, if I take it away, I'm colder, so therefore, it must help my warmth. Like I'll never wear it in a bun during the winter, because the absence of my hair down my back makes my back and neck feel colder. In the summer I'll rarely wear my hair down because it's so warm, it feels like a sweater. Maybe it's all in my head, but I do think my hair contributes heat.

Igor
December 24th, 2010, 10:52 AM
No. As a matter of fact I protect my hair from the cold, I don’t use the hair to warm me.

Tutti_Frutti
December 24th, 2010, 10:53 AM
I feel like it does make me warmer. It's more like, if I take it away, I'm colder, so therefore, it must help my warmth.

Same here! :)

Honestwitness
December 24th, 2010, 10:53 AM
I am DEFINITELY warmer with long hair. I wore a pixie for may years and didn't know what I was missing. Now that I'm BSL, I LOVE the warmth. I can hardly stand to put my hair in an updo, because it feels like someone opened a window and let the cold air come whooshing into the room.

I've been searching for warm updos that protect my hair and keep my ears warm at the same time, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding anything that covers the ears and neck enough to keep me warm. So, it's down most of the time and just gathers static from the dry air.

I made up a spray to use on in yesterday that seems to really help keep down the static. It's distilled water, aloe vera gel, and sweet orange essential oil. I didn't measure, just started adding ingredients to the spray bottle. It's about 6 to 8 oz. water, with about 6 squirts of aloe vera gel and maybe 6 drops of sweet orange essential oil.

It worked pretty well yesterday. I'll have to try it again today and see how it works on day 3 hair (third day from S/C).

bumblebums
December 24th, 2010, 10:54 AM
I wear it up all the time, so I don't get any benefit. It's actually a pain in the ass sometimes because hats and scarves limit your choice of accessories and styles.

naushin83
December 24th, 2010, 11:03 AM
warm for me !! :)

Madora
December 24th, 2010, 11:06 AM
I don't want to cope with tangles/snarls, so wear my hair up in winter. I have Reynaud's Disease so feel the cold more acutely when the temperature drops past 60. I wear a scarf on my head, or around my neck to ward off the cold.

enfys
December 24th, 2010, 11:10 AM
I always keep my hair up through winter, or well covered with my scarf and hat. With drying times I'd say that long hair is more of a burden than a joy.

DH doesn't believe me when I say my hair doesn't keep me warm, but I really don't think it makes a lot of difference except at the back of my head!

I've not had short hair to compare to though...

Speckla
December 24th, 2010, 11:15 AM
It helps to keep my neck warm. I don't like things around my neck so I won't wear a scarf but hair tucked under a hood adds a lot of warmth.

pepperminttea
December 24th, 2010, 11:19 AM
No. As a matter of fact I protect my hair from the cold, I don’t use the hair to warm me.

Same. I'd rather wear a scarf than deal with tangles from grabby winter clothing and weather. But I do love air-drying my hair in the summer, since the cool dampness keeps me from overheating. :)

cataphract
December 24th, 2010, 11:21 AM
Definitely. I have pretty thick hair, though. Every summer I have an epic internal battle over cutting my hair or not because of how hot it makes me. Feels like I'm wearing a wool hat. It's nice in the winter, but in the summer sometimes I braid ice cubes into my hair on hot days.

ravenreed
December 24th, 2010, 11:25 AM
I am having trouble with updo's and headwarmers, so no. My more sticking out hair toys don't play well with knitted or crocheted things so I actually have to think ahead on what I am wearing for the whole day when I put my hair up. Plus, if my hair is up but my hood musses my hair and makes it look fuzzy, I have to take the whole thing down to comb it. I never had this problem when my hair was shorter and I wore my hair down all the time.

Carolyn
December 24th, 2010, 12:12 PM
I don't find much difference. I don't wear it down all that often, winter or summer. I'd rather wear it up and wear one of my hand knit scarves to keep my neck warm. If it was in the mid back range I might wear it down more.

Juneii
December 24th, 2010, 12:17 PM
It keeps my scalp warm. But other than that, I stay bundled up so my hair doesn't make a different.
In the summer though... BLEGH. My hair is dark and relatively thick so it retains the heat like crazy.

09robiha
December 24th, 2010, 12:23 PM
For me, yes! Lots of curly hair + scarf + coat keeps the top half of my warm. i was actually amazed by hair much. Its really stops the cold getting at my ears!!....make me consider the need for a mustache to warm my face :cheese:

CaityBear
December 24th, 2010, 12:59 PM
I don't wear it down often, but when I do I don't want to put it up because my neck gets cold. lol

WaitingSoLong
December 24th, 2010, 02:04 PM
Definitely warmer for me. I have even wrapped my hair around my neck like a scarf. I drape it across my back and it really does make me warmer. BUT...

I rarely wear it down in winter either for the same reasons mentioned above.

I wear my ear-pops to keep me warm and scarves. I LOVE scarves. Warm necks are awesome and turtlenecks SU¢K. lol.

Kallenie
December 24th, 2010, 02:20 PM
If I leave it down it gets tangled up in zippers and my mouth whenever there's a breeze. So usually I have it braided or in a low pony so I can fit a toque on and then I tuck the pony down my jacket. I'm sure it would be a lot cooler though if I didn't have all this hair acting like a blanket on my head!

PrincessTieflin
December 24th, 2010, 02:26 PM
To me its the same as any other season. I put it up to keep it safe from the weather/kids/pets what have you ... so to me its just the same, just a colder neck.. so I invested in scarves

IcarusBride
December 24th, 2010, 03:40 PM
I'm not sure waist length hair keeps me any warmer than APL or BSL did... But my brother just shaved his head bald, told me all he wants for christmas is to sprout a few inches of hair to keep his head warm! Haha. I got him a fluffy hat instead.

McFearless
December 24th, 2010, 05:26 PM
Its one of those things you never knew made you warm until it was gone. When I shaved half my head years ago winter was BRUTAL.

MissManda
December 24th, 2010, 06:10 PM
Yes, my hair does keep my neck and shoulders warm during the wintertime. I t gives me a good excuse to wear my hair down more often because in the summertime I feel like I have a silk-cashmere blanket attached to my head.

But then again, the winters here are very mild where I live so I don't worry too much about protecting my hair from the cold. I'm originally from Northern California and the temperature there frequently drops below freezing (and often below 0 degrees F) plus it gets lots and lots of snow, so I imagine if I still lived there I'd wear my hair up more to prevent the cold from harming it.

faeflame
December 27th, 2010, 06:10 PM
I love having long hair in winter, it is my own personal blankie!!!:D I hate cold ears and couldn't survive without my hair covering them in the winter.

LovelyL
December 27th, 2010, 07:44 PM
I've tried using my hair like a scarf but I just found it itchy :undecided:

And while yes it does feel too hot in summer, have you considered that on a *windy* winter's day hair provides almost no warmth at all when worn down. Maybe a Princess Leia type hairstyle could help keep ears warm even with a breeze, but then the scalp would get cold...

For me, it's all about wearing hats with my hair down then quickly putting it up again when I get back indoors.

torrilin
December 28th, 2010, 06:04 AM
I am having trouble with updo's and headwarmers, so no. My more sticking out hair toys don't play well with knitted or crocheted things so I actually have to think ahead on what I am wearing for the whole day when I put my hair up. Plus, if my hair is up but my hood musses my hair and makes it look fuzzy, I have to take the whole thing down to comb it. I never had this problem when my hair was shorter and I wore my hair down all the time.

Learn to use hair pins. Our grandmothers were not stupid, and did not like being cold any more than we do. Only a lot of the time, they didn't have central heat.

Also, think about knitting yourself a tam or beret, so there's space in the hat for your hair. A lot of the hat styles we see as normal are ones that traditionally were for men only... because they had short hair. There are a lot of other hat styles that aren't so close brimmed, and they work nicely with long hair.

I wouldn't *buy* a beret tho, since a lot of them have no brim at all, and then my ears get cold.

Jemoiselle
December 28th, 2010, 06:19 AM
Ha! Before I chopped my TB hair, I used to use it as a scarf LOL. What fun! I think there is a huge benefit in the Winter with long hair indeed! GREAT QUESTION!

ruffian
December 28th, 2010, 09:05 AM
Definitely. It doesn't matter if you wear your hair up; having a lot of hair piled on your head absolutely helps insulate, keeping in the heat you're losing through your scalp. Take it from somebody who works outside seven days a week, 365 days a year. I'm very grateful for my hair during the winter.

My boyfriend grows his beard out in the wintertime for the same reason.

It's like somebody above said, you don't realize it's making a difference til it's not there. :cool:

rosek
December 28th, 2010, 02:19 PM
I usually keep my hair up if I'm at work, or out and about. But if I'm sitting on the couch or in bed reading, I'll take it out and spread it over my arms. Its kinda like a snuggie :p Keeps me really really warm, without having to wear longsleeves indoors.

Also, I live in Australia. We don't have indoor heating.

DARKMARTIAN
December 28th, 2010, 02:34 PM
This is not something I would think that anyone would want to have to experience......but in a worse case scenario.....if you were to get stranded out somewhere in a life and death situation in a winter type environment and needed fire, then its good to now that hair actually makes some of the best kindling for starting a fire. And the longer it is, obviously the more someone would have to use if that situation did in fact occur...and the less noticeable it would look to have to remove some.....

lajsa
December 28th, 2010, 03:31 PM
I live in northern Sweden so it's pretty cold here. I've learned two things:

If I keep my hair tucked INSIDE my coat when I go out, it can act sort of like a warm scarf or something. :D

But if I keep it OUTSIDE the coat, it'll be not-very-nice when I get inside: once I get out of the coat my hair feels like a cold blanket thrown over my shoulders, which isn't very nice when you just got inside from -15 degrees Celsius outside... :p

meowmeow
December 28th, 2010, 03:34 PM
I find that my hair sheilds my neck from the cold air.

Mírien
December 29th, 2010, 02:03 AM
I try everything to hide my hair from the cold. Most of the time I have it in buns because having it down under my coat causes extra tangles. So I cover the bun with my hood. When I go for jogging or hiking in the forest I put it into a relatively tight braid and hide it under my coat or jacket.

FrozenPrincess
December 29th, 2010, 05:00 AM
My hair keeps me warmer when it is down, plus i can use it as a scarf.

owlathena
December 29th, 2010, 05:26 AM
When I put my hair up I get chilly until my body adjusts to having a bare neck. I wear a scarf outside if I put it up.

Someone mentioned having Raynauds, I have it too(and rheumatoid arthritis...at 20). Its so uncomfortable. I keep the heat up really high in my house (my friends always complain and turn it off/open windows when they come over). I think the dry heat is really damaging to my hair.

Pierre
December 29th, 2010, 06:49 AM
I turned my hair into braided earmuffs! :)

Tutti_Frutti
December 30th, 2010, 12:09 PM
I think the dry heat is really damaging to my hair.

True! But, my hair really hates humid air. It gets frizzy and dry like a poodle (my waves suddenly appear). :(