Our curls deserve extra love in winter. It is colder and the air is drier than in summer. This can cause extremely dry and frizzy curls. What can be done about that? Pay special attention to ingredients in your CG products. Your hair may need something different in winter than in summer, but be extra kind to your hair in the cold months!
These are general things you can apply/take into account:
- Do 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 these cause static and frizzy hair.
- Gently brush your hair out of the knot, 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 provides moisture to the hair, this can be read from the ingredients list on the back of a product. Moisturizing ingredients are: aqua, shea butter, glycerin, avocado, natural oils such as coconut, olive and argan oil.
PRE-POO WITH OIL
A pre-poo stands for pre-(sham)poo and you apply it before you wash your hair. You use an oil for this. Massage the oil into the scalp and then let it sit for an hour. I would advise against sleeping with oil in your hair. Wash the oil off after 60 minutes with a shampoo and then continue your wash day routine.
You can also make a mix yourself 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 (humectant) are included in many curl products precisely because it helps to provide 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/fluffy curls.
You can recognize humectants by terms such as glycerin, glycol, sorbitol, panthenol, honey and so on. Glycerin is so strong, that some curlies (particularly 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 winter routine. This doesn't work for every curly head, but it's definitely worth a try.
Don't you want to buy all kinds 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 maintain moisture in your hair by sealing it with an oil. Once you've washed your hair and are 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 points. Finally, apply a gel. Sealing your hair retains moisture in your curls for longer. Oils that you can use for this are, for example, Jojoba oil, Castor oil or almond oil.
By: Merel Mulderij