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View Full Version : Winter hair rants



WaitingSoLong
December 27th, 2011, 09:37 AM
I am back to hating my hair right now.

I think this happens every few months but winter is worst. I get sick of wearing buns but braids or my multi-fastened ponytails get frizzed out. Winter clothes suck. I just need to tough out the winter hair blahs. I am trying to do different buns, which helps, but I am a bit irritated by the stage of my roots, being about 7", and giving the effect I pasted a light blonde bun onto my dark blonde roots.

I cut my (13)dd's hair from almost hip back to just above BSL at her begging and insisting. She loves it and it looks REALLY good.
It is very tempting.
It is amazing what it did for the life of her hair. It was about a foot I cut and it thoroughly removed all damage. The thing is, it didn't seem like there was more than 4" of damage until then.

I think my hair is decently healthy for TBL. I had my typical fall shed and stall, now it seems to be growing normally again. I will probably be back to Classic by late spring. I just have some frizz issues.

Having long hair in winter just sucks for me. I have been dreaming about my hair...that I cut it to BSL (and love it) or that my ends resemble a 20 year old well-used broom. I think I depend on my hair for my self image and winter just piles on less beautiful qualities. Pasty skin, dry skin, extra pounds no matter what I do. My hair just seems much thinner after my fall shed.

I miss sloppy buns. I miss pig tails and pony tails. Yet I love having extra-ordinary long hair (at least in my part of the world).

I think it is the health of my hair I am unhappy with and winter just makes it more obvious. I just know that when my virgin hair reaches waist, I will cut the rest off. And I will probably maintain at Classic until then because I don't think I could stand to cut from knee back to waist. However, it will take probably 3 years for that to happen.

I just needed to vent!

longhairedlady
December 27th, 2011, 10:01 AM
I also having some winter hair blues. Mine is super dry no matter what I do. I took an updated pic on Christmas day and hate it. My hair is just as frizzy and dry as it can get right now. I love your avatar pic! I just wanted you to know that you arent alone, and hopefully our hair will start behaving soon!

heidi w.
December 27th, 2011, 10:30 AM
WaitingsoLong, this is just part of the drill of longer tresses. I used to live in California, and didn't have these weather related problems, but now that I live in Illinois, I have come to appreciate the problem.

I mean, it takes a full day in winter for my hair to air dry from a full hair wash.

Us uber long tresses just put our hair up and forget about it. It's just about the only thing you can really do. I used to do braids and whatnot, and now I don't do any such thing. Up, up, and another day of up, a-gain! Boring, but my hair is in great shape for all this benign neglect.

heidi w.

heidi w.
December 27th, 2011, 10:31 AM
I also having some winter hair blues. Mine is super dry no matter what I do. I took an updated pic on Christmas day and hate it. My hair is just as frizzy and dry as it can get right now. I love your avatar pic! I just wanted you to know that you arent alone, and hopefully our hair will start behaving soon!

Consider the idea of using a humidifier inside your house, such as in your bedroom, and maybe a second one elsewhere in the house, such as the kitchen.

That's what I do, and it does help. It doesn't solve everything but it makes it all a bit more tolerable. And no flakey skin and no bloody noses.

heidi w.

heidi w.
December 27th, 2011, 10:39 AM
WaitingSoLong, maybe during winter because of the dryness of indoor house air, you might benefit from a humidifier too, or maybe you could consider upping your conditioner. I use Biolage's Conditioning Balm. They have a fairly decent generic version at Sally's Beauty Supply, and it's certainly a lot cheaper. But I buy the vat of 38 fl. oz from the beauty salon inside a Walmart (about $40). I swear by this conditioner, and use it year round, but it might help you a bit during winter, perhaps.

Also, when applying conditioner in winter, I have found that the product is really cold and that I need to up the temperature of the water in the shower so that the conditioner really gets absorbed by the hair and it doesn't stand on top of the hair too much. I actually also expand my hair flatter when applying conditioner. I do this very gently so as not to pull my hair. I find that wet hair tends to clump and the inner strands don't become as wet and also do not receive conditioner a whole lot, so the expanding idea solves this problem. I also put my hair under the hot water and warm the product under the shower water before applying it to my hair so it spreads more easily, and is less viscous.

heidi w.

spidermom
December 27th, 2011, 10:40 AM
My hair is getting to me, too. I have renewed my workout commitment, and I really wish that my hair were more wash and wear easy.

Hana212
December 27th, 2011, 11:07 AM
I've just moved to Banff, Alberta, Canada after spending a few months in South East Asia (extreme humidity and heat) and living all my life in Australia (sunny Christmases) and now Banff is the coldest, driest place I've ever been to in my life!
Waking up with blood noses, hair splitting, breaking, TERRIBLE dandruff to the point where it's itchy and I'm scratching sores onto my scalp, ingrown hairs, pimples, weight gain. Dry skin everywhere, hair is limp and frizzy and none of my 'go to' shampoo/conditioner brands are sold here and I'm stuck with a terrible coney, sls, supermarket brand.
And I've run out of coconut oil! :mad:

There's my rant
Phew, I feel better now :)

xxx

A. Correira
December 27th, 2011, 11:17 AM
Winter is a very stressful time for health and beauty it seems. I am actually the opposite with my hair because it is very healthy and last week I noticed that my hair is growing rather crazy. For me, the problem is my skin! UGH! I keep breaking out and I have no clue what the cause of it is. I guess it could be hormones or the dry, cold air, but it is taking a huge toll on my self esteem!

So I think that everyone is going through one thing or another because of this brutal winter air and weather! Bring on the Spring already! We just gotta vent and do what we can to get through it!

Oh, and you aren't the only one who is having dreams about your hair. Almost every night, I have a dream about my hair. Last night I dreamt the shoulder length hair that I have now grew to hip in a matter of weeks.

Mina17
December 27th, 2011, 11:41 AM
Winter is tough (and not just on hair!) It was freezing last week and I ran outside with wet hair to start my truck to let it warm up. I was only out there for 30 seconds and a chunk of hair froze to my coat. Yes, I'm seeing some breakage there :(. I learned my lesson.

gogirlanime
December 27th, 2011, 12:00 PM
For me I just have to wash my hair at room temp because it gets way to cold doing ice cold washes I instantly start shivering and I can't afford to blast up the heater in my house full blast to compensate. I figure semi-cold or room temp isn't damaging my hair just as long as I don't do warm or hot.

It's putting on a hat and hoodie when I walk to work in 35 degree weather that becomes hard but I don't blow dry it I just let it dry on it's own and my hat and hoodie keeps my head warm.

allnight avenue
December 27th, 2011, 12:04 PM
Winter hair is the worst. I can't believe the amount of oil I'm putting into my ends only to have them feel dry again a few hours later. I trimmed only a month ago and now my ends look just as bad as they did before...Ugh. It doesn't make me want to cut my hair but it feels u-g-l-y.

gogirlanime
December 27th, 2011, 12:11 PM
Winter hair is the worst. I can't believe the amount of oil I'm putting into my ends only to have them feel dry again a few hours later. I trimmed only a month ago and now my ends look just as bad as they did before...Ugh. It doesn't make me want to cut my hair but it feels u-g-l-y.

I know what you mean my ends are super dry in the morning even though I almost completely saturate them in oil the night before. I still do it because it's way better than not doing it.

heidi w.
December 27th, 2011, 12:12 PM
For me I just have to wash my hair at room temp because it gets way to cold doing ice cold washes I instantly start shivering and I can't afford to blast up the heater in my house full blast to compensate. I figure semi-cold or room temp isn't damaging my hair just as long as I don't do warm or hot.

It's putting on a hat and hoodie when I walk to work in 35 degree weather that becomes hard but I don't blow dry it I just let it dry on it's own and my hat and hoodie keeps my head warm.

Personally, I don't receive good rinses on applied product if I wash in overly cool water, whether ice cold or just the temp turned down. Especially conditioner. Room temp for the rinse or slightly cooler than hair wash temp is sufficient, I find. In actuality, I don't use cooler washdown rinses at all anymore. And my hair hasn't become worse for it. It's doing just fine with benign neglect.

heidi w.

Mayflower
December 27th, 2011, 12:28 PM
Luckily, I have 'study-vacation' (don't know exactly how to translate it to English) from the end of december to mid-january, and 4 exams up 'till the beginning of february, so I'm barely outside now. Just studying inside all day. Which is good, 'cause I'm missing out on the ****ty weather and my hair doesn't tend to get as dry.
When I do go outside, I lightly coconut oil the lenght and ends of my hair, make a simple side braid and put on a beanie. It's a bit boring but still looks cute, and sometimes I tuck the braid under my scarf so it's protected.

What I do hate though, is my suuuperdry elbows and feet, and my stupid nose that turns red the second I go outside!! Looks like I'm drunk all the time.

McFearless
December 27th, 2011, 12:43 PM
It seems like you've been wanting to cut shorter for a while now. If you need a decent trim to freshen things up your hair would still be ultra long.

jacqueline101
December 27th, 2011, 01:08 PM
I also hate winter. My hair was shedding off splits and I got that stopped. I'm with you I simply hate the cold weather and how it makes me feel. I don't like giving up my cute hair dos like pony tails but I might.

Amber_Maiden
December 27th, 2011, 01:11 PM
I hear you. I can't wait till my virgin hair reaches a point where it's still long and I can cut the damaged dyed ends off.

WaitingSoLong
December 27th, 2011, 01:14 PM
It seems like you've been wanting to cut shorter for a while now. If you need a decent trim to freshen things up your hair would still be ultra long.

I already did this. I cut 3-4" back in October. ;)