As the fall comes to an end winter will soon be here. In addition to all the other qualms that are come along with this season you don’t want to have to deal with winter hair shedding. Although shedding is natural, you are not supposed to lose excessive amounts of hair. Here are a few tips to help decrease hair breakage as the temperatures drop.

Limit heat tools

Curling irons, curling wands, flat irons and blow dryers help give us our favorite hairstyles. However, we all need to cut back on using heat tools on our hair. Heat can be very drying on your hair and drying leads to breakage. Instead, try heatless styling techniques.

For example, letting your hair air dry instead of blow-drying it is an easy way to cut back. Also, rollers and flexi-rods can help you achieve curls without causing damage. If you are going to use heat tools make sure they are not at an ultra-high temperature. The highest you probably want to go is 350°. If you want to straighten very curly hair you may have to up the temperature to 400° in order to get it completely straight.

Keep it moist

Although there may be lots of precipitation in the air, it is not keeping your hair moist. The only way to have moist hair is to deep condition it and to use products that add moisture for in between washes. Hair masques are probably the most effective way to deep condition your hair to add moisture. My current favorite deep conditioner is Camille Rose’s Algae Renew Deep Conditioner. It contains cocoa and mango butter, which help to make your hair super soft.

Creams and hair butters will help keep your hair moist in between washes. You should try Fantasia IC Pure Tea Instant Oil Moisturizer Hair Lotion. It can moisturize even the driest hair and scalp. Plus, it smells amazing and is super lightweight. I have been using it for years and it helps me to stretch my relaxers for up to 11 weeks.

Trim your ends and protective styling

Split ends can easily destroy your hair and ruin any style. Cut them off and definitely don’t start the new year with damaged ends. It is important to have your ends trimmed on a constant basis. My recommendation would be to trim your hair every 6 to 8 weeks, that way you can ensure your hair strands will remain as strong as possible.

Another way to limit winter shedding is protective styling. Wigs, crochet braids, box braids, and weaves can help you achieve your desired look with minimal damage to your hair (if installed correctly). The less you manipulate your hair, the less shedding you will experience. You can keep your hair and scalp moist by adding moisturizer to your braids and parts. If your protective style involves leave out, don’t abuse that piece by adding heat and tension to that hair.

photo credit: Harry Pammer winter on me via photopin (license)