The other day, I was asked if I have a winter hair care regimen, and well…the answer is, yes and no. Luckily, I live in a climate where it rarely falls below 50 degrees, and while that is not optimal for me, I don’t have to worry about my hair freezing in 15 degree temperatures. Therefore, I’m still team wash and go at the moment. However, the dew points have dropped significantly – from the 50-60 to 20-30, so for me, that pretty much cuts out all glycerin. Strangely enough, I do not have issues with other humectants, just glycerin. Also, I try to make sure I DC more in winter since my apartment is much drier with the heat on, and I may invest in a humidifier this winter. Oh…and I want a steamer for Christmas (Hey mom and dad, if you’re reading this… 😉 ) to enhance my deep conditioning treatments. I was thinking about getting a weave, but then Halley’s Curls shafted me on my free weave hair (come on, I was TWO DAYS LATE!), so I ditched that idea!
Recently, my friends over at Oyin posted a blog about using glycerin in winter. I loved the tips, and they basically allowed me to buy some Shine and Define! The main takeaway is to make sure your products with glycerin also have WATER to help keep your hair hydrated (remember, water is our friend!). Also, if you use products with glycerin BEFORE you shower, the steam from the shower will give moisture to your hair, and then when you get out of the shower you can seal your hair with an oil to keep the moisture from escaping.
I can attest to sealing your glycerin products, because I did this over summer with Curl Junkie’s Aloe fix when we had high dew points. Aloe Fix can turn my hair into a bird’s nest in a high dew quicker than you can say, “Shazam!” so I sealed over it with my flax seed gel, which contains oils I add to it. My hair looked awesome, if I do say so myself.
So, what are your plans for winter? Protective styling? Putting away humectants? Steaming? Or are you going to hide in the house until spring (like I want to do)?
questfortheperfectcurl.com 
OMG I WISH I HAD KNOWN THAT ABOUT GLYCERIN. My hair LOVES it and when I found out that my hair could not handle it in the winter, I stayed away and could never get my hair moisturized again. I actually buzzed off my hair (it was still a pretty short twa) because it was so bad and it was taking too much of my time and just causing me stress to keep it barely moisturized…blegh oh well, good to know for the future 🙂
I have no clue! Aaaggghhh! I have 2 in. of hair right now and I live in the Midwest, where it gets cold AND dry. I will go home and check my products for glycerin and switch. I don’t want to chance it since I already have dry hair. I definitely plan to DC more often though for sure. Thanks for the heads up!
Definitely concentrate on moisturizing. Last winter my hair was as short as yours and I DC’ed like 3 times a week because it was so easy to apply.
My winter changes are:
-seal with shealoe mix (whole shaft) and castor oil (ends)
-protective styles 24/7 (rolled, tucked and pinned updos)
I’m only planning (so far) to try and maintain my WNGs for a week at a time using your snorktails tut as inspiration. I am hesitant to do roller sets simply because I prefer my curls over straighter hair right now. However, I won’t rule them out completely. My other style option is the twist out. I have finally gotten them to work for me and like the look.
Product wise I have no plans to change my staples. I’m a LI junkie, so I have tons of conditioner and will continue to use those daily, along with sealing w/coconut oil.
I think I’ll be fine once winter is over. But we’ll see.
I know I need to seal my hair more. Where I live, it gets down to the 30s, 20s and sometimes teens at night and I paid the price recently for not properly moisturizing and sealing my hair. Hopefully my recent Oyin and Darcy’s order will help.
Definitely protective styling! I’m going to buy some tichels for myself this Christmas to keep my hair covered all Winter long 🙂
Oooh, I had to look up what a tichel is. Good idea!