Winter can be tough on your hair, causing dryness, frizz, and breakage. With the right care and products, you can maintain healthy, shiny locks even in the coldest months. So, sit back, relax, and let’s explore tips and tricks to conquer the winter hair blues.
Reanetse Khiba based in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, says her hair is her crown and when it doesn’t look and feel healthy, she gets frustrated. She explains that coconut oil, black castor oil, and hair food are her go-to products, especially in winter.
“These products keep my hair shiny, healthy, and moisturised during this season.”
Every two weeks, it’s wash time for her hair, as she keeps it under beanies or a doek when it’s windy to protect it from dust.
Khiba tells Health For Mzansi that washing her afro every day is bad as it tends to cause breakage and dry scalp.
Styles and products that work
“Low-maintenance protective styles for natural hair are the best,” says Khiba.
She adds, “Styles like twisting my hair and making buns, especially when going to bed, keep my hair secured for days because I don’t have to apply hair food and coconut oil every day.”
Jacqueline Cupido from Manenberg on the Cape Flats says she did not learn how to care for her hair properly.
She says growing up, she would take anything from the shelves and experiment with all the products because her hair was different from what was shown on the packages.
“I have natural curls, so I often just used any conditioner that seemed to work for me.”
Jacqueline Cupido
She adds that in her twenties, there was a common American product labelled as “natural hair care” on the shelves, and she was one of the people who ran to experiment with it.
The results of these products ended up being a bad experience for her hair, including dry, scaly, and dull appearance, stripping all the natural oils, and leaving her hair brittle.
Finding a solution
Faced with these hair challenges, Cupido says she created a hair care range called Melanin Influence. She says it includes a blend of oils infused with extra virgin olive oil, Jamaican black castor oil, avocado oil, and some others.
She adds that this helps to nourish her scalp, open her hair follicles, and ensure the oils are evenly distributed on her scalp and hair strands.
“I alternate between a clay mask, deep conditioning, or oil treatments. The clay mask helps absorb dead skin cells and cleanse the scalp of excess oils that cause blocked pores, resulting in breakage and lack of hair growth,” Cupido says.
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Embracing seasonal changes
Dr Leticia Kuda Mupawose, a trichologist and the founder of Feso-Africa based in Morningside, Johannesburg, emphasises that changing seasons necessitate changes in our skincare routine, including hair.
She explains that one should not use the same products in winter that are used in summer.
“The interesting part of life is that we forget that hair is an extension of skin,” she says. “Therefore, the scalp, hair, and nails are all part of our skin. If these are affected, it means we must change our hair products too.
“The dry weather causes the hair to become brittle and break. Dryness leads to a dry and itchy scalp, as well as hair damage with every combing or styling session.”
Dr Leticia Kuda Mupawose
Winter’s dry spell
“Winter contributes indirectly by drying out the scalp and making hair more brittle, leading to increased breakage,” explains Kuda.
She suggests ways to maintain a shiny, healthy look:
Wearing a hat or scarf during the winter is an easy way to shield your hair from moisture-robbing snow, wind, and dry air. A silk scarf is ideal because it won’t promote static or cause breakage to fragile winter hair.
A humidifier in the room where you spend the most time can help to rehydrate the air, which helps to keep skin and hair hydrated.
She also warns that while a steamy shower might sound like a good idea when it’s freezing outside, hot water can zap the moisture from your hair, leaving it dry and prone to breakage.
To keep your hair healthy during winter, Kuda recommends the following:
- Shower in comfortably warm water, not hot, to prevent drying out your hair.
- Use products with humectants, which help maintain moisture in the hair.
- Avoid oil-based products, as these can lock out moisture.
- Switch to cream-based products, which are rich in moisture.
She says to get on the humectant-infused products.
“Humectants are frequently used in cosmetics as a way of increasing and maintaining moisture in the skin and hair.”
Change your daily styling routine
Kuda advises investing in hairstyles that don’t require too much hair manipulation and help your hair breathe.
She adds that if you have braids, remember these must not be heavy and are not a substitute for keeping your hair hydrated.
“The heavier the braids, the more damage. A protective hairstyle means less manipulation.”
Dr Kuda Mupawose
Some of the winter products to consider, she says, are creams and butter.
Avoid oils, she says, mainly coconut oil and rather look for products with shea butter, maturation butter, marula butter, and products with more water than oil.
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