Keep your hair soft and manageable even in harsh winter
No two ways about it, winters are bad news for hair. Cold temperatures, icy winds, room heaters, hair dryers, even sunning on sunlit days – all help worsen hair woes like flaky-itchy scalp, limp hair, frizz, split ends, and breakage.
However, with a little care backed by quality hair care products, you can tackle winter hair issues and enjoy soft, bouncy and healthy tresses throughout.
Here are six highly useful tips to help your hair look great no matter how harsh the winter.
1. Wash hair less often. And when you do; always with a sulphate-free shampoo
Do you know that shampooing too often leaches away your scalp’s own natural healthy oils that otherwise help keep hair soft and smooth. Shampoo no more than twice a week all through winters for hair that looks and feels better.
Also, always use a shampoo that’s sulphate-free. Sulphates (often listed as SLS/SLES on ingredient tally) are inexpensive lathering agents added to shampoos for sudsier results. However, these leach away scalp oils to leave hair and scalp drier than before.
So shampoo twice a week and that too only with a sulphate-free shampoo.
Another important thing: wash hair with lukewarm – not hot – water. It helps your cuticles stay smoother for glossier looking hair.
We recommend taking your pick from WOW Skin Science’s vast shampoo range totally that’s not only completely sulphate-free; it is also enriched with finest botanical actives. Better still, you can choose a shampoo as per your hair’s individual needs.
2. Condition your hair with a conditioner that’s free of mineral oils and silicones
Hair needs extra conditioning in winters to replace its lost moisture that’s taken away by exposure to cold outdoors and heat indoors. We recommend conditioning hair twice a week during winters. However, you need to choose your hair conditioner wisely. Avoid the ones that have silicones and mineral oils in their formulation, as both these ingredient groups make hair limp and hinder scalp’s breathing.
We recommend taking your pick from WOW Skin Science’s vast hair conditioner range that’s totally without mineral oils and silicones. WOW’s hair conditioners are also enriched with finest botanical actives for superior results. Best of all; you can choose a hair conditioner to match your hair’s individual needs.
3. Give hair extra care with oils massages and hair masks
In winters, your hair needs extra nourishment that you can give through hair oils and hair masks.
Good quality hair oils – made with seed oils (almond, argan, onion seed, castor, coconut, olive oil etc) and enriched with botanical extracts/essential oils (fenugreek, rosemary, tea tree etc) and vitamin E – help give hair and scalp nourishment of fatty acids and antioxidants. Regular application of hair oil at least 30 minutes before shampooing also helps moisturize and hydrate hair for softer feel and glossier looks.
In contrast, a hair mask is a deeply nourishing, high-powered treatment for your tresses. It helps restore your hair’s health and gives it an extra boost of hydration and shine. Hair masks can target specific hair concerns like extreme damage, dryness, limp hair and more - showing dramatic results from the first use itself.
Again, like in shampoos, you need to ensure that your chosen hair oils and hair masks are totally free of mineral oils and silicones – two common ingredients that actually harm hair.
We recommend taking your pick from WOW Skin Science’s range of speciality hair oils and hair masks. Enriched with finest seed oils, nut butters and botanical extracts, these are sheer luxurious pampering for your tresses. Best of all; you can choose a hair oil or hair mask to match your hair’s individual needs.
4. Avoid hair dryers as much as you can. Apply serum or revitalizer before heat styling
We know how tough it is to let your hair dry naturally in winters. In the rushed lifestyle where you must be on the dot in outside commitments, a hair dryer becomes a necessity.
However, on the flipside, hot air blasts from hair dryers upset your hair’s cuticles and leach away your hair’s healthy hydration to leave hair frizzier and weaker. We recommend natural air drying for your freshly shampooed hair. If that’s not possible, it may be a good idea to invest in an ionic hair dryer that doesn’t upset hair cuticles, works at a lower temperature, and dries hair faster.
Hot air hair dryer or ionic, we recommend that you first apply a good quality hair serum or hair revitalizer to add protection to your tresses before switching on the air blast. Hair serums and hair revitalizers are protective and nourishing formulations that shield your hair from heat/pollution damage.
We recommend WOW Skin Science 10-in-1 Miracle Hair Revitalizer and WOW Skin Science Hair Loss Control Therapy Serum. Both are superlative products enriched with the finest botanical actives for protecting and enhancing your tresses.
5. Give hair the touch of silk, not wool or cotton
In winters one needs head coverings like caps and scarves to keep away the cold. However, wool, cotton, acrylics,felts, or any fabric with roughness, can make hair prone to split ends and breakages. All these fabric types cause friction that’s damaging to hair. We recommend using silk scarves, and wearing silk lined hats during winters. For similar reasons, silk pillowcases are also on our recommendation list.
6. Stay hydrated, eat nourishing food
Last but not the least; stay hydrated and eat well. Winters mean less thirst but do drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day. Also, at nourishing and balanced meals – rich in vitamins, healthy fats, proteins, minerals and carbs – to give your body optimal nutrition that will in turn benefit your hair. We especially recommend foods rich in biotin – eggs, almonds, mushrooms, cheese, spinach, cauliflower etc – as this vitamin B type is vital for hair health.
You can also take a biotin supplement. We recommend WOW Life Science Biotin Capsules.
All in all; these tips and WOW products will help keep your hair looking fabulous through winters too.