5 Hair Care Mistakes To Avoid For Longer Hair - Winter Hair Care Tips

The seasons are changing and our hair has an effect on the change in weather. Since it’s winter now and it’s so cold, some of us end being lazy overlook the need of switching up our hair care regimens, while others make frequent haircare mistakes that cause our hair to become brittle and damaged. So in this guide, we’ll be sharing some hair care mistakes to avoid that might cost you your length this winter, we discuss some things to look out for and be mindful of in this winter. 

5 Winter Hair Care Mistakes To Avoid For Longer Hair

1. Deep conditioning

The first thing you should know is that where there is cold weather, there is dryness because dryness runs rampant in the winter season. That's just because the cold air has a direct effect on the cuticle of our hair. It actually draws moisture from our hair, so with that being said you definitely want to increase your deep conditioning in these next upcoming months.

If you only dc once a month, maybe do it twice a month, four times a month, once a week, depending on your hair care regimen. And when it comes to your sealants, this is a good time to transition over to some medium to heavy sealing oils depending on your hair type. If you are like 4A, 4B or 4C thick hair and you are used to using grapeseed oil or something lighter, in the summer months you may want to transition over to something a little bit heavier like avocado or sunflower. So be mindful of the oils that you're using because you want that moisture that you are applying to your hair to stay locked in and you don't want to suck that moisture out of your hair. In addition to that, a lot of you will be switching over to heat styling this winter which is completely fine, but just be mindful of dryness that comes from using heat. And where there is dryness, there's going to be a lack of elasticity in your hair and when there's a lack of elasticity in the hair, that leads to breakage aka ruining your lymph retention. So make sure that anytime you use a blow dryer or flat iron that you have done some type of deep conditioning treatment prior to and that you are using a heat protectant ideally one that has a silicone base because silicone is really ideal for protecting the cuticle from excessive amounts of heat.

2. Avoid wearing hair wig too long

You want to be careful of how long you keep the wig on your hair because our scalp is just like living skin. It's a part of this organ that we have on our flesh. And skin needs oxygen, and where there is a lack of oxygen, it makes it really hard for collagen within our hair and our skin to really do its job. Collagen is responsible for the health of your hair, hair growth, it just has so many great properties when it comes to our hair and our scalp and for it to thrive. However, where there's a lot of oxygen collagen can't really do its thing, so be careful of how long you keep wigs on your scalp because you really want your scalp to breathe. There's nothing wrong with having wigs, but make sure you have some breaks in between where your hair is just breathing.

3. Stress

In the holiday season and going into a new year, a lot of people get stressed out around this time of the year. Any time a person experiences a lot of stress or some type of shock to the body, this can make the hair growth cycle go into Telogen Effluvium, and that is a condition where it is like stressed induced shedding. So at any given time, about 15 to 20 percent of your hair follicles are currently in shedding mode the telogen phase. But if someone is intelligent of fluvium, stress and do shedding, that can go from 15 all up to 60 and that's a lot of hair loss. If you think you are experiencing this, you definitely look into some stress-relieving activities, maybe that's some prayer, meditation, relaxing. Also, look into a trichologist in your area because they can really look at your follicle, your scalp to really determine what's honestly going on. Make sure you are being mindful of your diet, make sure that you are eating plenty of veggies and fruits and protein that can really help not only with your hair health, but just when you eat good you feel good too. 

4. Avoid overwashing your hair

When our hair becomes dry and our scalp becomes flaky, the only thing we can do to alleviate the situation is to wash our hair, but this could cause hair and scalp damage. However, you may be using a conditioner to moisturise your hair, but washing your hair too frequently is stripping your hair of its natural oils, which may develop dandruff or worsen the issue.

5. Avoid colouring your hair during winters

Winters are rough on your hair and cause it to become dry and brittle, but coloring your hair makes the situation even worse. Bleach and chemical-based hair products come into contact with our hair, and the fact that our hair is already dry during the winter months can exacerbate the situation even worse.