Autumn Hair Care
Whilst you need to take care of your hair all year round, autumn winds and changes in temperature dictate a specific approach to your hair care, according to Laura Sagen , hair care and growth expert, and owner of The Hair Fuel. Precautions will make sure your hair isn’t exhausted by the time of your office Christmas Zoom party. And cosy autumn and winter months isn’t something that should be dreaded, but celebrated. Main culprits of cold weather for hair are dramatic changes in temperature and hair dehydration.
La;ura Sagen
Condition Plus
Regularly condition and add a few drops of oil to your hair while your hair is still wet/damp. This will lock natural moisture within your strands, help your hair withstand constant variation of temperatures and prevent the oil to remain on the surface of your hair if you applied it when it’s already dry.
Calm Down
Invest in a humidifier to beat the dry indoor heating. Dry air makes the cuticles of the hair stand up like a brush, making it frizzy and vulnerable to losing moisture. “Calming” your hair cuticles down with a humidifier for your bedroom and living room will pay for itself as your expense for deep conditioning masks will go down as a result.
Hats On
Add a few hats to your style. You might be already dreading the “hat hair”, but hats are great to protect your strands against changes in temperature. Opt for those with silk or satin lining to reduce hair friction against thicker wool or acrylic fibres that cause static electricity in your hair.
Frizz Free
Opt for protective hairstyles such as braids. Whether when going to sleep or going outside, our hair gets a lot of friction by rubbing either against each other, our pillows or against our coats, jumper and hats. To minimise the frizz consider wearing your hair in a protective style: think braids, or hair clips during the daytime. Ponytails and unsupported hair buns are not a protective hairstyle. In fact, it pulls on the roots of the hair, weakening them; and the hair that’s left loose – will rub off against your jumper and hat. It’s better to learn a few braided styles for daytime and get a silk pillowcase for the night. Just make sure you’re not braiding your hair too tightly. (Bonus: wearing your hair in protective hairstyles makes it less greasy – so you will be needing to wash your hair less, too.)
Easy Does It
Send heat tools into hibernation. Your hair is already vulnerable to the changes to weather, challenges of the dry heated air indoors, so give it a break and go easy on the heating tools. Heating tools wick out all the moisture or even burn your hair cuticles further making them susceptible to breakage and weakening them. If you follow our advice above with protective hairstyles – wearing your hair in a braid will make it last longer between the washes and make it wavy.
Sulfate Free
Say goodbye to silicone and sulfate-laden products. Silicones wrap your strands in a plastic-like film, and while it creates instant smooth shine and improves manageability, it creates product build-up. Sulfates clear out these non-soluble silicones from your hair, but they also dry out and strip hair of its natural moisture – much-needed resources in wintertime! Consider products with gentler surfactants or none at all. In addition, stay away from products containing non-soluble silicones and if possible – no silicones altogether. Rather, follow up with natural oil on your strands: grapeseed works well for both, humid and dry environments.
Feed Your Hair
Give your hair an extra nutritional boost. Summer with its abundance of fruits and vegetables is over, so you want to support your immune system during colder days. Consider supplements, especially vitamin C and zinc to help your body produce more collagen and fight inflammation. Your hair will thank you for that. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, ensure you consume a sufficient amount of iron during wintertime, too. As a general rule of thumb, produce which is in season will contain more nutrients since there is less need to speed up their ripening. If you focus your nutrition to be from a local farmers market or a veggie box – this might not only help you in your quest for a more sustainable living but also feed your hair nutrients it desperately needs in colder times.
Mask & Massage
Get masking and massaging for increased blood flow. With longer, darker evenings, you might be glad to allocate one evening a week for a good deep conditioning and self-care routine, or better yet – oil scalp massage and mask. Consider the inversion method use warm oil to massage your scalp and improve blood flow. Good blood flow in the scalp will strengthen your hair roots during the colder seasons.
