5 Cold Weather Tips for Type 4 Hair

Raise your hand if you used #Blizzard2016 as some downtime to nurture your hair? 

You guys already know that I did. It was the perfect excuse to spend some time with my hair (believe it or not, my low maintenance self often gets accused of spending too much time with it, already. Imagine!). But this weekend, with being inundated by 32'' of snow, I mean, what else was there to do? 

Sitting Indian style in front of my tv with traces of my coconut prepoo running down my neck (I always use too much), I started thinking of cold weather fixes that can work for us naturals who are dealing with brutal winter storms. 

Take a look at what I came up with, and add to the list if I've left any out:

1. Cold water rinses are counter-intuitive, because who doesn't love steamy hot showers in the winter? This girl loves them year-round.

 But, they can be very drying to your skin and hair. So, try ending your wash routines with a blast of cold water, which flattens hair cuticles and tightens up the pores on your skin.

2. Up your steam treatments. Steam treatments create moist environments for your hair. A moist environment is especially important when deep conditioning because the steam opens up your cuticles, allowing your hair conditioners and hair oils to penetrate and work more effectively. There are many steamers on the market (Q-redew, Huetiful, etc).

If you don't own any steam machines? No worries. I don't either. To get similar results, I heat up a small wet towel (think washcloth) in the microwave and place it over my plastic baggied head. Then I cover my head with another plastic bag, and I turban everything up in a larger towel.  

3. Increase your hot oil treatments. This is the perfect time for them because a lot of us suffer from itchier scalps during the dry winter months. Warm up your oils and apply them to your scalp. They are also great for your hair strands and they work similarly to the steam treatments in opening up your cuticles and imparting healthy nutrients. What's also great about them is that you can use easily accessed oils- coconut, olive, avocado, jojoba. I'm going to be trying this with palm oil soon.

4. Cold weather usually also means drier temperatures that leech out moisture from your hair. Are you dealing with this as you rip and run through your daily activities? No problem. I love creating portable elixirs that re-hydrate my hair when I'm out and about. My favorite ingredients are simple- glycerin, rose water, and coconut oil. They're mixed in a tiny spray bottle et voila; a cute hydrator for cold temperatures and thirsty hair.

5. Bun your hair before you cover it in your hoodie or beanie. Hear me out on this one. If you're not protective styling during this time, and you're rocking twist outs and wash n gos, you can still protect your hair as you move about. Wrap your hair up in a loose bun (you don't have to disrupt your style too much). Then wear your jacket hoodie or beanie as you normally would, before you step out into the cold. Once you're at your destination, remove the bun and fluff out your tresses.

Did I leave any out? Chime in below.