Is the Dry Winter Frizzing Up Your Hair?

Winters are a difficult time for hair. Come winters and the hair woes maximize with dryness and frizz. Frizz can interfere with your efforts to tame your hair in a style that lasts throughout the day. This is especially true for African American hair types that are thicker and sometimes curlier. But the use of excessive, chemically-strong curly hair products can only worsen your worries.

Why does hair frizz in winters?

Hair is made up of complex protein that is very sensitive to the amount of moisture in the environment. Protein bonds in the hair expand and stretch when the hair is wet or absorbs moisture from the air. During winters, the hair is exposed to multiple environments due to indoor heating, cold winds, slight drizzle, snowfall and pollution all at one go. These differing and constantly changing levels of humidity lead to the frizzing of the hair. Woolen caps and clothes can lead to sweating even on the scalp and haphazard drying can also add to the frizziness. It can also be caused due to dryness as a result of cold weather and with the unavailability of moisture in the air for the hair to absorb. The extent of frizz also depends on hair type, volume and health besides the effects of the environment.

Tips for frizz control

• Winter is the right time to go natural and put out of sight and mind all styling products and procedures like relaxing, straightening, weaving and extensions. This will help the hair react better to deep conditioners, while eliminating the stress of unnatural processes. 
• Using a deep conditioner for natural hair at least once a week  helps in dealing with frizz due to dryness. Natural oils also work wonders as deep conditioners in the winter season. 
• Wrap your hair in a soft fabric like satin or silk before going to bed. This eliminates the chances of friction with the pillow while preventing the loss of moisture from the hair, leading to minimization of morning frizz. 
• Style your hair in hairstyles that provide protection and tame the frizz as well. You can try loose braiding and similar hairstyles that are minimum fuss and easy to manage. 
• Wash your hair with shampoo  a maximum of two times a week. Over washing in winters can lead to dryness and frizz. You can wash your hair with just water on the other days for clean and fresh hair. Washing with just water does not eliminate the natural hair oils like shampoos do. 
• Avoid using blow dryers and stick to air drying your hair in the winters. Washing hair in the evening so that it is dry and ready the next morning is a great way to minimize the use of blow drying. 

Each hair type and quality is different than the other, and it is advisable that methods that suit your particular needs are made use of instead of a taking generic approach to tackle frizz in winters. Taking simple measures mentioned above can go a long way in making your hair behave well during the winters and it always helps to remember that even superstars have bad hair days.