October 1, 2022

7 Fall and Winter Hair Regimen Tips for Moisture and Growth

It is officially Autumn 2022 and the weather is quickly changing from warm and sunny to cool and gloomy. So what does that mean for our curly/kinky hair? It means that it is time to adjust our hair routine to a regimen that protects our hair from the cold and brittle weather. Cold weather has the potential to dry out our curls causing excessive breakage and split ends. If you are hoping to retain moisture and length during this fall/winter season, check out The Kurldom's tips down below:

1. Hydrate, Moisturize, and Seal Daily

Moisturizing your hair is not as easy as applying moisturizer and going about your day. The first step in any moisture regimen should be to hydrate your hair with water. For those with low porosity hair, try using warm water or steam to open the hair cuticle. After hydrating, apply your favorite hair moisturizer or cream.

Shameless plug, hopefully you are using The Lavender & Plum Oil 2-in-1 Leave-In Styler which is formulated to condition and soften dry and coarse textures while leaving hair moisturized for days. After moisturizing your hair, follow up with an oil or butter to seal all the moisture in. Not sealing your hair properly can allow moisture to escape, leaving your hair dry and brittle. If you do not have a favorite oil, The Kurldom is here to help; The Lavender & Kukui Moisture-Locking Oil is our best selling product in The Lavender Collection and is formulated to lock in moisture, increase shine, and strengthen the hair to prevent breakage.

2. Do Hot Oil Treatments

One of The Kurldom's favorite ways to retain moisture and length during the fall/winter is to do frequent hot oil treatments. The benefits of hot oil treatments or H.O.T.'s are as followed:

increase hair strength
reduces frizz
reduces breakage and split ends
nourish the hair and scalp
increases blood circulation

The best time to apply a hot oil treatment is after you shampoo and before you deep condition. On freshly washed hair, apply your favorite hair oil to your hair focusing on your ends since they are the oldest. You can also give yourself a scalp massage to create more blood flow. Be sure to cover your hair with a cap for 30-45 minutes and rinse out.

3. Do Hair Steam Treatments

Steaming can be very beneficial to your hair and scalp health. For those of you with low porosity hair, steaming can open the hair cuticle and allow for better product absorption. Some of the overall benefits of hair steaming are:

hydrates hair
increases blood flow
promotes hair growth
lifts hair cuticle for product absorption
increases elasticity

For more benefits of hair steaming, check out The Kurldom's YouTube short on steaming natural hair.

4. Protective Style

Protective styling has its pros and cons; however, if you protective style safely you can reap all of the benefits. When you protective style, you are manipulating your hair less often which can help with length retention. It is important to style your hair in ways that do not cause too much tension on the scalp and lead to thinning and excessive breakage.

5. Deep Condition More Often

If you do not deep condition, now is your time to start. By not deep conditioning your hair is missing out on softness and moisture replenishment. Shampoo alone can strip our hair of its natural oils and by doing hot oil treatments and deep conditioning, you can replace the moisture that your hair lost. If you skip the deep conditioning process you leave your hair exposed to more split ends, breakage, and brittleness. Good deep conditioners are hard to find, be sure to read all labels before purchasing a deep conditioner to ensure that you are not buying a hair masque. Hair masques provide different benefits than deep conditioners. Deep conditioners provide moisture while hair masques provide strength. Always understand the current state of your hair before using either product. Ask yourself, "does my hair need moisture or strength right now?"

6. Trim every 6-8 weeks

The Kurldom used to encourage naturals to trim their hair every 12-18 weeks. However, after a recent discovery, we now encourage hair trims to be done every 6-8 weeks. As stated earlier, your hair is more susceptible to breakage and split ends during the fall/winter. Now add having kinky/coily hair to the equation, and you have the perfect recipe for creating more split ends. Kinky/coily hair becomes more tangled than other textures because of its coily nature and because we have these tight coils, our products can have a difficult time spreading evenly down the hair shaft. Less lubrication means more split ends, so to keep split ends from splitting further up the hair shaft; frequent trims are needed.

7. Do Protein Treatments Every 4-6 Weeks

The natural hair community seems to be scared of protein treatments because of the common misconception about them. Our hair is made up of protein; therefore, our hair needs it. Depending on your porosity, your hair may or may not need protein treatments as often as recommended. This is where hair masques come in because they can give your hair the strength and elasticity it needs until a protein treatment becomes necessary. Your hair maintenance regimen can determine whether you need to do treatments every 4-6 weeks. If you straighten your hair frequently, color your hair, and wear high tension styles often, then The Kurldom definitely recommends you do protein treatments every 4-6 weeks. If you do not like store bought protein treatments because you cannot regulate the strength of the ingredients, you can create your own protein treatment using hair strengthening and hydrating ingredients. If you would like a D.I.Y protein treatment, take a look at our article on Homemade Natural & Organic Protein Treatments for Natural Hair.

If you found this blog helpful, be sure to share these 7 hair regimen tips with your fiends and family so their hair can flourish too. If you have questions, concerns or want to share your own hair care tips that your hair loves, leave a comment down below.