Your Winter Hair Care Survival Guide

Ah, good old reliable winter—while it’s the season for holiday shopping, ice skating, and sipping hot cocoa, cold, windy days and dry indoor heat can really do a number on your hair’s look and feel. But you don’t have to let the extreme weather conditions knock you—and your winter hair—down. Keep reading for our best winter hair-care tips to help nourish dry hair and tame the appearance of frizzy hair caused by winter hats, along with our best winter hair-care product recommendations.

Winter hair care tip #1: Use a hydrating shampoo and conditioner

Intense winter weather can leave hair stripped of essential moisture, especially at the ends. To help restore softness, look for a nourishing system of shampoo and conditioner, like the L’Oréal Paris EverCreme Deep Nourish Shampoo and L’Oréal Paris EverCreme Deep Nourish Conditioner. This pairing gently cleanses and conditions dry, brittle hair, replenishing vital nourishment and deep moisture for silky-soft texture and gorgeous shine without weighing hair down. Both products are also super gentle on color-treated strands and are formulated without any sulfates.

Winter Hair Care Tip #2: Nourish Rough Strands with a Hair Mask

Hair gets the winter blahs, too. Depleted of moisture, it can lose the ability to reflect light. Our hair-care survival strategy is adding a hair mask, like the L’Oréal Paris Elvive Total Repair Extreme Emergency Recovery Mask, to your usual hair care routine. This hair mask helps to hydrate damaged, sensitized hair. Use this essential to help revive lifeless winter hair and restore radiance. Once a week after washing your hair with the EverCreme Deep Nourish Shampoo, apply this hair mask, focusing on lengths and ends. Leave it on for three to five minutes, then rinse thoroughly.

Winter hair care tip #3: Help Prevent Hat Hair with Anti-Frizz Serum

When it comes to hat hair, knit hats are a notorious offender. To help keep static, flyaways, and frizz at bay, smooth hair with the L’Oréal Paris EverSleek Frizz Finish Oil-in-Serum. This lightweight hair serum helps to tame frizz and flyaways as well as detangle and smooth each strand, offering a silky finish, luminous shine, and touchable softness. To use, apply one to two pumps evenly on damp hair from mid-lengths to ends, then style your hair as usual. You can also apply the serum on dry hair to help tame flyaways, condition split ends, and smooth hair.

Winter Hair Care Tip #4: Turn Down the Heat

Super-hot water can strip your strands of essential oils, leaving your hair feeling drier and looking duller. So, while a hot shower might feel relaxing in the dead of winter, it’s a smart idea to rinse your hair in lukewarm water instead. Your hair will thank you!

Winter hair care tip #5: Cool it on the heat tools

Air-drying your hair in the middle of winter may seem like some kind of cruel and unusual punishment, but it’s important to give your hair a break from heat tools whenever you can. After all, excessive heat usage can take a toll on your strands. Put down the blow-dryer, flat iron, and curling wand and embrace your natural texture every so often. Apply a dollop of the L’Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle CURVE IT Elastic Curl Mousse throughout damp hair, scrunch your hair, then let it dry. No one said you can’t rock an effortless wavy hairstyle while it’s snowing outside. Plus, think of all that time you’ll save by not having to blow-dry your hair!

If you can’t seem to part ways with your heat-styling tools, we totally understand. Just be sure to spritz on a heat protectant, like our L’Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle BLOW DRY IT Quick Dry Primer Spray, prior to styling.

Next up: Now that we’ve finished taking you through a hair-care routine for winter, let’s move on to your skin care routine. Next, check out our article, 15 Ways To Save Your Skin From Winter, for seasonal skin care tips you can use as the temperature drops.