We know that maintaining healthy, undamaged hair can be a nightmare during winter. However, the worst of your problems can easily be avoided by simply planning ahead.

Cold weather can be excesively drying on natural hair, causing it to become brittle and even break. This is why a lot of women opt for protective styles where they have little to worry about when it comes to maintanance. 

We suggesting using these 8 natural haircare tips as a guide to keeping your hair feeling and looking healthy, and even growing throughout winter!

1. Pre-Shampoo Oil Treatment

We weren’t joking when we said increase moisture. We love using a healthy oil, like olive oil, by coating the hair prior to shampooing. A pre-shampoo oil treatment serves to condition the hair as a means to fight against it from drying out. Take it a step further and deep-condition by sitting under a heating cap or dryer for about 10 minutes.

2. Double-up on the conditioner

During summer, most ladies will often choose between using a deep conditioner or a leave-in treatment. We suggest you use both! To avoid buildup, deep condition your hair first, then shampoo it. Afterwards, apply your favourite leave-in treatment. Leave-in treatments still work great on clean hair.

We love the Mizani H20 Intense Night-Time Leave-in Treatment (R138 at selected hair salons) because it is designed to increase hair strength,  reduce the formation of split ends, control dryness and frizz as well as enhance moisture retention without weighing the hair down.

A less expensive alternative is the Dark & Lovely Anti-Breakage Healing Treatment (R32.95 at leading pharmacies nationwide.)

For a deep condition we also love the Mizani Rose H20 Conditioning Headress (R150 at selected hair salons). You can also try the Dark & Lovely Deep-Seal Conditioner (R28.95 at leading pharmacies nationwide.)

3. Protective Styles

Protective styles will be your best friend during winter. You want your protective style to do a minimum of two things: protect your ends to avoid split ends and breakage and limit the use of heating tools.

Autumn and winter won’t allow you the luxuries you had in summer when it came to airdrying and basic finger curling.

Exposure to the winter elements will leave you having to reach for straightening irons and hairdryers often. This is when a good protective style will come in handy.

The coats and jackets we wear means that your loose hair will find it easy to rub against the collars. This encourages split-end formation which is of course something that you wouldn’t want. Plan out your protective styles so that your winter doesn’t have to be a boring one!

4. Say NO to Your Shower cap

Interestingly enough, you may think shower caps are for you to have and to hold during the winter time but, not so much. Natural hair loves steam as it serves to naturally hydrate the strands. If you’re worried about getting your hair too wet, toss out your shower cap only when you’re reaching the end of your time in the shower.

5. Get a Trim

There is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to trimming off your ends routinely throughout the year, and just before winter is a perfect time. A good trim means less chances of knotting, easy detangling and really great styling resutls.

BB Beauties, how will you be prepping your hair for the colder months? Were these tips helpful? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!