How to Revive Your Dry Brittle Locks This Winter

I’ve been bleaching my hair platinum blonde for over fifteen years. I’ve been through the crunchies where I brush my hair and hear a “snap, crackle, pop” with every stroke of the comb. I’ve been through the “oh my God, am I sick” phase where clumps of knotted hair swirl around me in the bathroom like seaweed.

And unfortunately for you raven-haired beauties, these occurrences are not limited to bleach junkies like me.

Coloring, curling, crimping, straightening, and blow-drying all take a toll on our hair — especially during winter. This is why it’s essential you take extra-special care of it when temps start to drop. And with the holidays coming up, you want your stands to be soft and silky, especially right now when many are only going to see your eyes and hair.

So how do you whip your hair back into shape?

Here’s some advice and a few tried and tested products from a self-proclaimed beauty junkie. (Please note: I have no attachments to these companies or brands).

Nourish your hair with products that make moisture their main priority

Using moisturizing products is always important for thirsty locks, but winter makes the problem of dry delicate hair worse. Function of Beauty explains why moisturizing products are especially critical during colder weather. They state:

“As the temperatures start to plummet, so too do the moisture levels in the air, which is what’s ultimately to blame for your dry, brittle winter hair. The dry air (both the cold outside and the heat inside) essentially sucks the moisture from your strands, leaving them parched and prone to damage.”

So how do you combat this issue?

You use shampoos and conditioners that add moisture back to your strands.

You can tell whether a product is made to supplement lost moisture by looking at its ingredients. Byrdie cites Amy Abramite, director and stylist of Chicago’s Maxine Salon. She explains that those looking to nourish dry, weak hair need to do a back of bottle check for the presence of things such as coconut oil, argan oil, and shea butter. Then, she explains why, stating the following:

“Coconut oil moisturizes and softens dull, coarse hair and prevents protein loss by nourishing and strengthening it with vitamins. Argan oil contains vitamin E for silky soft strands and shea butter locks in moisture with vitamins A and E to heal and seal the cuticle, preventing breakage.”

Attitude Living offers some other ingredients to search for such as grapeseed oil, almond oil, quinoa, and jojoba.

And to be truthful, grabbing those dollar-a-bottle hair cleansers and conditioners might not be the best for your hair, as they likely contain less of these essential moisturizers. However, you can find shampoos and conditioners that do the job and don’t take much money.

Because I live on a teacher’s salary, I tend to gravitate towards highly affordable coconut and olive oil-based shampoos and conditioners, such as my favorite brand Palmer’s. Another brand I recommend is my current favorite, Marc Anthony. I prefer his coconut-based products, but he also makes other products that contain argan oil instead. These two brands offer tons of nourishment and are almost all under ten dollars.

My cosmetologist’s personal recommendation?

Moroccanoil Hydrating Shampoo and conditioner. It’s more expensive, (averaging around twenty-five dollars for a big bottle and eleven dollars for a smaller size), but she swears it’s the holy grail for those in need of maximum moisture.

Let the “good stuff” penetrate

Though you may not have time to do this every day, I recommend doing a one-weekly treatment where you leave a nourishing conditioner on for hours. I do this but prefer to leave the “good stuff” on overnight to get max benefit.

As for deep conditioning masks, which are stronger than regular conditioners, you may want to put these on your hair less frequently.

Regardless of what product you use to leave on, there’s one thing that really ramps up moisture infusion.

Hair caps.

There are three options for caps: shower caps, clear plastic caps, and caps made of foil. All of these caps are easy on the wallet, costing only a few dollars.

Although each of these caps uses heat to better penetrate the hair shaft, experts disagree on which cap is best.

For example, E Online states the opinion of Felicia Underwood, Hollywood hair expert to the stars. She tells the publication her advice, advising that you slather on a moisturizing conditioner and place your hair in a plastic shower cap because “when your hair is wet, the hair cuticle opens, which allows your hair to soak up the nutrients it needs to thrive.”

Dominican Hair Alliance explains the benefits of using a foil cap. They say:

“Foil is great for speeding up the work of ingredients that penetrate the hair, part of why foil wraps are widely used in highlighting. The metal is a great conductor, which works excellently for ingredients which need to be heat-activated to work.”

The point is that no matter which choice of cap you choose to buy, the heat trapped by the cap will give you far superior results than simply applying the product and leaving it on for a while.

Invest in a good leave-in conditioner

Although deep conditioning treatments are a must for softer, more supple locks, it’s important to regularly use a leave-in conditioner.

Healthline elaborates on why doing this is critical, commenting that not only does a leave-in conditioner give your hair more moisture, but it also tames frizzy hair and protects hair from future damage.

Most people simply spray the leave-in conditioner onto their hair after a bath, but David Mallet gives an additional tip in an article in the New York Times.

The Parisian salon owner suggests that people with moisture loss take the following step:

“Get a natural bristle brush, and after you clean it, deep condition the brush regularly with a hair serum, oil or leave-in conditioner.”

As I’ve said before Palmer’s and Marc Anthony make great leave-ins, specially designated for those with dry, damaged hair.

The bottom line:

An anonymous person wrote a great piece of advice for all those thinking their hair might need a little TLC.

“Invest in your hair. It is the crown you never take off.”

And you’ll look like a much more beautiful queen with hair that’s soft, silky, and nourished.

So clean up your crown. That way, it can shine and sparkle during the holidays and all the “snow days” after that.

Although I own the rights to my story, it was originally published on Medium.