The Ultimate Winter Natural Hair Care Guide For Longer Hair!

Last Updated on September 11, 2022 by The Blessed Queens

Let’s talk all about winter natural hair care and how to master natural hair care in winter! If you’re like like me then you know that taking care of natural hair in the winter especially in cold weather is a pain in the…. flowers lol!! I mean how long does your hair take to dry?!

The Ultimate Winter Natural Hair Care Guide For Longer Hair!

So we are gonna dive into winter natural hair care tips and tricks and how you can improve your hair care game during winter.

Let’s break it into two categories, according to your hair porosity type. But you might ask, Queen, I don’t know my hair porosity.

Gurl, check this video out:

Long story short there are three types of hair porosity:

1. low
2. medium
3. and high

Most of the time genetics is the biggest factor that will determine your hair’s porosity when at a healthy state.

Other factors in hair porosity have less to do with genetics and more with external influences like exposure to chemical treatments, heat styling, and environmental elements.

High porosity hair has holes and gaps in the cuticle layer, which allows moisture to be quickly absorbed and quickly released.

If you have high porosity it takes extra work and knowledge to find the right routine and techniques to keep your hair healthy during the colder months.

Let’s get into the tips:

Winter Low Porosity Hair Routine

Who says low porosity natural hair can’t be healthy and moisturized in the winter?

The wintertime is notorious for sucking the life out of our curls, leaving them dry and brittle. Especially for us low porosity queens.

Basically, winter is responsible for endless shedding, ends snapping and edge snatching.

Fortunately for us, there are some key steps that you can incorporate into your curly hair routine this winter to ensure healthy, undamaged hair.

Don’t let your hair down this winter! Here are ten things to add to your low porosity winter hair routine:

Pre-Poo Low Porosity Hair During Winter

Pre-pooing is a staple in every low porosity curly hair routine. When you have low porosity hair, it is extremely difficult to retain moisture. And when we take a shower, we further this by stripping our curls of its natural oils.

What’s a curly queen to do?

Pre-pooing, which is the act of applying a protective layer overtop your hair prior to shampooing, is the only way to protect your hair’s natural oils before you wash it. It’s as easy as layering on oil (or leave-in conditioner) of choice before you step in the shower!

Common pre-poos include olive oil, avocado oil, and shea butter. To take it a step further, try to detangle using the pre-poo before you start your wash day process. Your curls will love you for it!

Ditch the Gel During your Low Porosity Hair During Winter

In the summer, gel is a great way to maintain defined curls. Some low porosity queens also state that their hair retains more moisturized using a gel and doesn’t need to be restyled as often.

But wintertime is another story. The name of the game in winter is moisture, not just definition. As low porosity naturals, we need to make maintaining our hair’s moisture our top priority.

And what better way to do this than swapping the gel for an oil or cream styler?

While gels can seal moisture effectively in their own right, the organic molecules in oils and cream stylers are custom-made to seal in moisture atop our leave-ins conditioners. Try swapping your gel for a creamy, more hydrating styler and take note of how buttery soft your hair becomes.

Protective Style your Low Porosity Hair During Winter

Protective styling is a guaranteed win for all naturals, regardless of porosity type.

Wind, sun, snow and other winter climate conditions have an excruciating effect on our hair, especially our ends. By putting your hair in a long-wearing style, such as braids, weaves, wigs, and buns, you are sheltering your hair from the winter elements.

These protective styles inherently protect our hair from breakage, shedding, and dryness. But, before you put your hair in a protective style, be sure to 1) deep condition, 2) seal in the moisture with a moisturizing leave-in conditioner, and 3) plan to take down your style no later than every 6 weeks.

Less Protein, More Moisture for your Low Porosity Hair During Winter

Don’t get me wrong, protein is a MUST for any curly hair routine. The fact that our curls are composed of primarily protein (called keratin) is an attest to this. If it wasn’t for protein, our curls would be limp, dull, and prone to breakage, regardless of how much moisture we put into it.

Use too much protein, though, and your hair will become stiff, brittle, and extremely dry. A regimented balance of moisture and protein is critical in the winter.

Our hair is craving moisture more than protein in the winter, simply because of how dry the air is. Incorporate moisture-rich deep conditioners and leave-in conditioners into your routine for healthy low porosity coils.

That doesn’t mean to totally cut out protein from our regimen, though. Using a light protein treatment every month is sufficient enough to maintain a healthy moisture-protein balance.

 

Focus on Your Ends while caring for your Low Porosity Hair During Winter

Your ends say a lot about your hair care routine. They tell you whether or not a new product is working for you. Your ends can tell you when it’s time for a trim. They can also tell you when it’s time for a break, i.e. protective styling.

Nothing screams unhealthy low porosity hair like brittle, dry ends.

At every step in your curly hair routine, your ends should be a top priority. This is especially true in the wintertime, a time when your ends are at its most fragile.

Leave-in conditioners need to be concentrated at your ends first and then applied to your roots. The same goes with your deep conditioner 

Your ends are your hair’s elders – so treat them with respect!

Give your Low Porosity Hair a Scalp Massage During Winter 

Healthy hair starts at the scalp they say! For starters, it’s an efficient way to stimulate follicle activity because it promotes blood flow in your scalp.

Scalp massages are also a great way to loosen dirt buildup. Dirt and grime can latch onto hair follicles, slowing down hair growth. It can also weigh down new growth coming in, resulting in new growth hair loss.

Grab your favorite oil, put on some Netflix, and work some of that oil into your scalp gently using the pads of your fingertips (not your nails). By the time winter is over, you’ll notice thicker, healthier hair.

Use Heat the Right Way sis!

If you’re natural, or on your way to becoming natural, there are a few things that you probably have heard in the natural community. One of them being: avoid heat like the plague.

Contrary to this, particular forms of heat can be good for your hair. In fact, curls love heat. It all depends on how you apply it.

Too much heat, in the form of a flat iron, is bad. Flat ironing your hair routinely will lead to hair breakage, loss of thickness and excessive shedding. Your curls in its natural state will lose its beautiful pattern.

But heat in the form of steam is great for your hair, especially low porosity curls! When you apply steam, much like the pores on your face, the cuticles will open up and allow for your product to truly penetrate.

The most beneficial way to incorporate steam in your winter hair care routine is using a hair steamer during your deep conditioning session. If you cannot find or afford a hair steamer, use a hair dryer attachment.

 

Vitamins, Exercise and Diet Will take you a long way through the winter!

As much as we hate it, no routine can truly thrive without some sort of health and lifestyle change.

If you are determined to have long, healthy, moisturized natural hair, you must incorporate vitamins into your life.

Did you know that your hair, skin, and nails are the last places in your body to receive nutrients? So if you aren’t eating right or taking your supplements, your body will prioritize essential organs (heart, brain, lungs) first. This is why when you’re deficient in critical nutrients, you notice it in your hair, skin, and nails first.

Exercise is another key part of a healthy hair routine and healthy physical life. Exercising naturals swear that exercising regularly, in addition to a healthy diet, boosts their hair growth cycle significantly.

Healthy hair starts with a healthy body. If you focus on what you put on your hair just as much as what you consume, you’ll notice a significant increase in your hair growth potential.

Cowash More, Shampoo Less during your Low Porosity Hair Winter Routine

Co-washing, a term coined by the natural hair community, is when you only wash your hair with conditioner instead of shampoo.

This works for many naturals – conditioner contains some cleansing agents, so you still get a decent cleanse out of it. And co-washing does not give your hair that squeaky clean, dry feeling that shampoo does.

On the other hand, many low porosity naturals state that co-washing leaves their curls feeling limp and lifeless. You may find that co-washing does not rid your hair of all the grime and dirt that has built up.

To combat this, use a cleansing conditioner. These products have all the slip of a conditioner but all the cleansing agents of a shampoo. Examples include Deva Curl’s No Poo Decadence and As I Am Cleansing Conditioner.

Drink Water and Mind Your Business

Drinking water is a must for everyone. Don’t at me.

Drinking water is essential for everyone. Our bodies are primarily composed of water, so it makes sense that we need to replenish our bodies with water to keep healthy.

The Bottom Line for Low Porosity Hair Care During Winter

There are many ways to keep your hair healthy during the wintertime. By deep conditioning, protective styling, exercising, and using the rest of the above tips, you are ensuring that your hair is at optimal conditions for growth.

What are your tips for a low porosity winter curly hair routine?

Let’s move on to some tips for my High Porosity Queens:

 

Winter High Porosity Hair Routine

Do the LOC method

The L.O.C. method works best for tightly coiled naturals that have a type 4 and high porous hair since both crave water.

This method will help you get the right amount of moisture in and keeping it in by layering the products in a specific order to receive maximum moisture retention. Liquid or leave-in conditioner will add the moisture, the oil will seal it, and the cream, butter, or even gel is just another layer of sealant.

You may be wondering why sealing is necessary if your moisturizer is formulated with oil and Janelle elaborates on the importance of sealing.

Protein treatments are your friend girl

They are great for year-round, but if you have been slacking on them while frolicking in the sun this summer, then you really should incorporate them during this winter.

High porosity hair is more vulnerable to dryness during the winter and protein treatments give your strands strength by temporarily patching up the holes in your hair’s cuticle layer.

Monthly treatments are great during winter but do not use protein treatments as a moisturizer or use them frequently like you would a moisturizer. Too much protein is just as bad as not using it at all and can make the hair brittle and cause it to break.

Gentle cleansers will help in those cold days

With the dryer weather, it just does not pay to use products that can potentially make your hair drier than need be, so the cooler months may be a good time to start reincorporating co-washing.

Shampoos clean your tresses and the surfactants in them do the job effectively. The problems some (not all) surfactants are they (e.g. sodium lauryl sulfate) can strip the natural oils out and even make worsen the holes and gaps in high porosity hair.

Use products that have them in the first five ingredients to ensure you are getting the full benefit of the heavier oils.

For effective sealing during winter, try heavier products like shea butter, olive oil, avocado oil, or castor oil.

They not only help with sealing your porous tresses, but they add that protective layer your strands may be lacking.

How do you care for your high porosity curls, coils, and waves in the colder months?

 

There you have it, The Ultimate Winter Natural Hair Care Guide For Longer Hair!

What is something that has helped you take care of your natural hair during winter days?

What to read next? I’ve got you, girl!

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• Why Denman Brush For 4c Hair Rocks!
• 21 Classy Protective Hairstyles For Natural Hair Growth
• The Ultimate Rice Water Hair Growth Strategy For Longer Hair!

Xo, Queen