7 Ways To Keep Your Natural Hair Protected This Cold Season

It's winter season in most parts of the world right now, and as we know, the humidity and cold weather are not good for our hair, especially natural hair.

So it's important that you take steps to keep your natural hair protected this cold season so as to avoid dryness and hair breakage. Even if your hair is in locs or it is in a natural afro, you need to give it a little bit of extra tender loving care.
The cold and dry weather dries out your hair and makes it brittle and susceptible to breakage. The humidity makes it difficult to retain moisture, no matter the porosity nature of your hair.

If you're new to the natural hair journey then you might not know about this and your hair is probably starting to break or is now more difficult to manage and you're wondering why. I know, it happened to me when I first went natural, I was so frustrated with it that I almost gave up! Blasphemy! Lol.

These are what you should be doing to protect your hair -

1. Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise! - 

I say this a lot right? But I cannot overemphasise the importance of moisturising your natural hair adequately. And by moisturising, I don't mean you should pack your hair full of hair creams or oils, no. I mean good old water, H20, aqua (whatever else water is called in any other languages you know, lol).

Your spray bottle should be your best friend this season. Spray or spritz your hair with your spray bottle a few times throughout the day. Your spray bottle can contain only plain water or you can add a bit of coconut oil, olive oil, tea tree oil, castor oil, leave-in conditioner, glycerin or any other thing you feel your hair will benefit from.

Just a little bit of these ingredients, though, say, half a teaspoon of each. The other products should not overwhelm the water, the quantity of water should be a ratio of 80% water and 20% any other product (all other products combined).
You can even get a smaller spray bottle to carry around with you if you have to leave the house; to top up the moisture in your hair.

2. You might want to stay away from shampoos - 

For these next couple of months, at least. This is because some shampoos might dry out your hair, and you don't want that right now.
You should co-wash instead. Co-washing = Washing your hair with a conditioner instead of a shampoo. Co-washing your hair will help your hair to retain moisture while also keeping your hair clean. It's also advisable to wash with warm water rather than cold water.

3. Deep condition your hair weekly - 

In my other post about the benefits of deep conditioning treatments, I explained why you should deep condition your hair weekly. Deep conditioning your hair helps to moisturise your hair from deep within your hair shaft. This helps to keep your hair soft and moisturised for longer.

4. You should think about putting your hair in a protective style -

A protective style is any hair style that keeps the ends of your hair tucked in and well protected. Putting your hair in braids with extensions or crotchets is the best way to keep it protected and out of harm this cold weather. I have my 'Fro tucked away and protected in braids right now.

A protective hair style can also be any hair that reduces manipulations to your hair, such as buns, roll-tuck-and-pin, goddess braids, etc. Even when your hair is in braids or any other protective style, don't forget to spray it with your spray bottle daily. Never neglect your curls, even when they're out of sight!

5. Drink more water - 

Yes, you read that right. The old saying, "You are what you eat", applies here. Drinking water is not just good for your health and skin, it's good for your hair too. Drinking enough water will keep your hair moisturised from the inside out. It will also help your hair to grow faster by providing it with the nutrients it needs to grow and stay healthy.

6. Hot oil treatments - 

I also wrote about the benefits of hot oil treatments earlier on the blog (You can check out the hot oil treatment post to find out more about its benefits and the process of doing it). Hot oil treatments open up your hair and penetrate deeply into your hair cuticles, to moisturise and treat your hair from within. This treatment also helps to keep your hair moisturised for longer.

7. Eat more fruits and vegetables - 

To provide your hair with the nutrients it needs to flourish. Your hair also requires vitamins and minerals to grow and stay healthy. A healthy hair is a happy hair!

         Don't forget to seal your hair after moisturising. Sealing simply means applying oil or butter to your hair after moisturising it. Some of the sealants you can use are; coconut oil, Jamaican black castor oil, shea butter, avocado oil, etc.

You can use the LOC method or the LCO method, whichever works best for you.
LOC = Liquid (water), Oil, Cream.  LCO = Liquid, Cream, oil. Taking care of natural hair is really not difficult at all.

Over to you. 

So tell me, do you have any other tips and tricks you use to keep your hair protected in the colder seasons? 
Are these ones I wrote about already part of your hair routine or regimen? 
Or will you be trying them out? 

Let me know in the comment box below.