FRIFF-FREE CURLS IN WINTER

Our curls deserve extra love in the winter. It is colder and the air is drier than in the summer. This can cause extremely dry and frizzy curls. What can be done about this? Pay particular attention to ingredients in your CG products. Your hair may need something different in the winter than in the summer, be extra nice to your hair in the cold months!

These are general things you can apply / take into account:

• Use a hair mask once every 2 weeks.
• Try an apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse.
• Try a pre-poo before washing your curls.
• Be careful with turtlenecks, scarves or hats, as they cause static and frizzy hair.
• Gently brush your hair out of the tangles, preferably with conditioner in the shower.
• It is better not to go outside with wet hair when it is freezing. Protect your (wet) hair with a hat or hood.

MASKS

Because your hair is drier, I recommend a hair mask. Do this at least Once every 2 weeks. Choose a mask that brings moisture into the hair, this can be read from the ingredients list on the back of a product. Moisturizing ingredients are: aqua, shea butter, glycerine, avocado, natural oils such as coconut, olive and argan oil.

PRE-POO WITH OIL

A pre-poo stands for pre-(sh)poo and you apply it before you wash your hair. You use an oil for this. You massage the oil into the scalp and then leave it on for an hour.  I would advise against sleeping with oil in your hair. Wash the oil out after 60 minutes with a shampoo and then continue with your wash day routine.

You can also make your own mix with moisturizing oils, such as coconut oil and/or olive oil (high porosity) or sunflower oil or avocado oil (low porosity).

AVOID HUMECTANTS (GLYCERIN, GLYCOL ETC.)

Humectants (wetting agent) are found in many curl products precisely because they help to introduce moisture.  A humectant attracts moisture from the environment.  Only using humectants in winter can lead to dry hair, because a humectant attracts moisture, resulting in dry/frizzy curls.

You can recognize humectants by terms like glycerin, glycol, sorbitol, panthenol, honey, etc. Glycerin is so strong,  that some curlies (especially low and medium porosity) can experience extra frizz in extreme weather conditions (dry weather or extremely wet weather). Therefore, try to avoid humectants in your routine during the winter. This won't work for every curly head, but it's definitely worth a try.

Don't want to buy a bunch of new products without glycerin? You can also follow your normal routine with CG products and finish with a product without glycerin.

LOG METHOD

You can use this method to style your curls. L stands for liquid, or leave-in conditioner. The O stands for oil and the G for gel. You can retain moisture in your hair by sealing it with an oil. After washing your hair and doing your styling routine, first apply a leave-in conditioner. As a second step, take some oil between your palms and distribute it through the ends. Finally, apply a gel. By sealing your hair, the moisture in your curls will last longer. Oils that you can use for this are, for example, Jojoba oil, Castor oil or almond oil.

Discover our new Super Sealing Oil that retains moisture so that you can get through the winter with beautiful curls.

By: Merel Mulderij