Top 10 Protective Styling Tips for Winter

Girl with natural hair in winter throwing snow to show how to protect hair in winter

Top 10 Protective Styling Tips for Winter

Winter is upon us once again and NaHaZo has got you covered with our top ten tips for protective styling.

This season is perfect for giving your hair much-needed TLC as it hibernates in your preferred styling. It is also the season that causes the most hair damage, so follow these hacks so as not to be caught off guard.

Psst: Check out our Protective Styling for Growth: Do’s and Dont’s to get you started on your protective journey. 

Read up on our top 10 winter hacks for protective styling:-

1. Tuck ends away

If you want to maintain your length, make sure you tuck away your ends in winter.
This is not the season to be trying out cute afro styles as the weather is very drying on afro-textured hair.

The dry weather makes it more likely for your hair to break, making it susceptible to split ends and thinning. At the first sign of the yellow autumn leaf, bundle your coily curls and kinks into a protective style until the weather warms up.

Braids, cornrows, and wigs are some of our top winter protective styles, and definite no-no’s are twist- outs, braids out, and any style that exposes not only your ends but any part of your hair.

Get some protective styling inspiration from Willow Smith. 

2. Protein treatment

Eggs in egg tray to show protein treatment for hair

Winter is a good season to give your hair some protein treatment love.

This not only strengthens your hair, but also allows it to withstand the effects of the harsh weather on your strands.

One NaHaZo hack is to make sure you do a protein treatment before you put your hair in protective styling, and then follow up with a treatment once a month or every two months, depending on your needs.

On the subject of protein treatments, it is important to go easy on drying spritzes and oils such as rice water and clove oil.

This is because, despite the fact that your hair is in protective styling in winter, you still need to add moisture to it. So in order to get the most of your protein treatments, you can mix it with a blend of moisturizing oils.

Also, make sure that you do not leave this treatment on your hair for too long.

3. Do not baggy conditioner overnight

While summer can be blamed for frizzing hair and causing shrinkage due to the humidity, it is a great season for baggying your hair with all the luscious hair treatments.

However, winter is not conducive for sleeping with conditioner or hot oil treatments on your head. Not only will the damp and cold weather be a breeding ground for all kinds of scalp issues, but it is also not a smart move health-wise.

With colds and flu all over the place, rather time your conditioning and hot oil treatment for earlier in the day, and rinse off after 15 – 20 minutes.

Your scalp and overall health will thank you for this.

4. Invest in a good moisturiser and sealant

Did I already say that winter is drying on one’s hair?

Well, it is very drying and can set you back on your length and health goals if you do not moisturise your hair properly.

Invest in a good moisturiser and sealant that is store-bought or try some of our simple DIY hair sprays to moisturise hair. These are great to use when protective styling your hair in winter. 

Also, daily spritzing or spritzing every second day (depending on your style and lifestyle) will ensure that you lock in the moisture needed to keep your strands healthy.

This is one hair care routine that you do not want to overlook in winter.

5. Do weekly / bi-weekly moisturising treatments

Want to get the most moisture into your hair during winter?

Then moisturising treatments need to be your friend. You can either DIY at home or buy some organic, creamy moisturisers that are a dime a dozen on the shelves.

For some inspiration, you can also join a moisturising hair challenge to see you to the end of your winter hair goals. 

Not sure how a hair challenge works? Check out our 3-month hair challenge using Moringa Powder. You can also reap the benefits of lush, moisturised hair by using Honey in your hair conditioning regime. 

If you go into winter with already damaged hair, then it is recommended that you do weekly moisturising treatments for at least a month, thereafter switching to bi-monthly treatments.

Doing this will restore the moisture to your hair, as well as allow you to match your summer body with your summer hair.

Win-win all round!

6. Use a satin cap / silk-lined hats

Glide, glide, glide – repeat after me.

When winter comes a-knocking, invest in a good silk pillow or satin cap that allows your hair to glide smoothly over it as you toss and turn.

If you can grab some satin bedsheets, that would be first prize.

Girl with natural hair showing that one needs to sleep on satin pillows

Do you love wearing hats in winter? Well, depending on your protective style, it is a good idea to line the inside with satin/silk so that you can maintain whatever moisture your hair has. 

Cotton and wool hats usually absorb the moisture from your hair, making it a much dryer winter for your hair. This is especially true if you have cornrows or plaits as a protective style. 

Rather use silk/ satin over this period to keep your hair soft, supple, and moisturised.

Wearing braids over winter? Our Hair Care for Braids: Ultimate Guide has got you covered. Or are you more of a wig girl? We got you covered with Handy Hacks on How to Care for Synthetic Hair & What you need to know about Synthetic Wigs

7. Drink Water

Yep!

You still need to drink water, even in winter.

We understand that the colder weather makes chugging a glass of water, let alone eight difficult, but your hair needs moisture more than anything during this time.

To make it easier to get your daily intake, you can drink warm water, or you can consume hot beverages to get your water count up.

It may be tedious, but when summer arrives and your hair is out of its hibernation phase, it will thank you for your discipline with lusciousness.

8. Get your Vitamin D

Girl with afro-textured hair pointing at the sun

Get whatever vitamin D you can get out of the winter sun.

Depending on where you are, the sun may not always come out, but when it does, brave the cold to catch some rays.

Also, you can visit your health care professional and look into taking some Vitamin D supplements to tide you over the sun-free days.

Vitamin D is not only a huge building block for healthy hair, but when low, it makes you susceptible to depression and moodiness.

Don’t let winter take your smile and hairline away. Make sure your Vitamin D levels are where they needs to be.

9. Stay away from heat when protective styling in winter

Not that kind of heat.

Heaters, hot water bottles, and ACs are allowed, just no heat on your hair.

NaHaZo has discussed in length the side effects of heat on the health of afro-textured hair and these negative effects are worse in winter.

This is because the colder weather is already drying as it is, and the added heat on hair is a first-class ticket to split and raggedy ends

Lay off the heat until the summer heat, if you want your hair to bring the heat.

Try out our 3 Ways to Stretch Natural Hair without Heat

10. Check your Iron levels

Winter does not need to be a rough month, but you can instead use this time to pamper your body from the inside out.

And nothing says internal pampering more than monitoring your iron levels.

If you are anaemic, make sure you monitor your Iron by going into winter with a blood test.

Also, top up on all those healthy iron-rich foods that will help bring up your iron levels.

Girl with eye showing that iron levels needs to be checked

As any long-standing naturals know, no hair oil or cream can bring back to life lifeless hair from low iron levels.

So rather than looking for the cure, prevent that dip in your hair journey by keeping your levels tip-top over winter.

Bonus: Make sure that you take plenty of Vitamin C. Not only will it help chase away those pesky colds and flu, but it also helps in the absorption of Iron.

Plus your hair loves it as well.

Is it winter and you feel stuck with dry hair? We have the cure. Mozzie over to our insightful take on Natural Hair in Winter: Top 10 Tips to Manage Dry Hair

Sooooooo, no need to give the mournful cry that winter is coming.

Let it come and go, leaving your hair unbothered, by following these ten easy hacks.

Do you have any winter tips up your sleeve? Feel free to share your hacks to keep the dry hair blues at bay and welcome summer hair.

Happy naturaling ladies.

 

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