Baby, it's cold outside! Are your tresses ready for these dry winter winds?
Heavier moisture is definitely a necessity during the winter months. Those spray and mist leave-ins just might not cut it anymore for frizz control, and that's okay! You should be switching up your routine every season (3-4 months) because your hair has different needs during different times of the year.
Whenever it comes to starting or adjusting your hair care routine to add more moisture, you always start with the cleansing step. That's why we have the acronym C.O.L.D.
The C stands for cleansing. There are three forms of cleansing products you need to know about and have in rotation. They are clarifying shampoos, co-washes, and conditioners.
Conditioners
Adding extra moisture to your routine normally comes in the form of conditioners and moisturizing stylers such as creams. One thing to know about moisturizing products is exactly how they work.
Conditioners are meant to moisturize the hair. Conditioners are formulated to replace the sebum moisture we do not get in time and keep our hair moisturized and resistant to damage.
Conditioners work by depositing moisture into the hair and forming flexible, invisible barriers over the outermost layer of the hair strand (known as the cuticle).
The cuticle layer is very important in terms of controlling frizz. That's because the little scales on the cuticle (think of shingles on a roof), must all lay flat to keep moisture in and reflect light molecules, which gives hair its shine. Conditioners are positively charged, our hair is negatively charged, and since opposites attract, conditioner molecules are able to deposit moisture, laying those scales down and giving your curls the extra boost it needs during the cold winter months. When all the scales lay down on your cuticle, you feel more "slip" when applying products.
Conditioners help protects our hair from the drying winter winds, allowing us to retain moisture and therefore retain length and health goals. Conditioners such as our Soothing Mint Conditioner are perfect for an extra boost of moisture.
The conditioner can be used in the normal rinse-out way (leave on for 2-5 mins). Or you can use it as a pre-poo. A pre-poo stands for pre-shampoo treatment. This is when you use the conditioner to carefully detangle and moisturize hair, essentially prepping your tresses for the shampoo.
Conditioners help mimics human sebum keeping your hair healthy, shiny, and moisturized. Conditioners should NEVER be ignored! When you think of hair, "condition" should always be the word you associate with your hair.
Regular rinse-out conditioners are normally formulated with gentler surfactants (cationic surfactants) to allow for gentle cleansing as well! Conditioners can be used in many ways, get creative!
Just remember one thing...
Each time you use a conditioner or some kind of moisturizing product, you deposit another layer of moisture on top of the previous one, this over time will lead to product build-up.
You need a consistent clarifying routine to remove all this excess build-up allowing new moisture to penetrate deeply and effectively, giving your hair exactly what it needs at the moment instead of caking on more product.
Clarifying Shampoo
A proper clarifying shampoo is an absolute necessity in your routine year-round, but it's especially important during the winter months.
If your hair strands dry out, but you have caked on layers of conditioner over the past few days or weeks, the newfound moisture will not penetrate giving the hair what it needs. Instead, it will sit on top further preventing curl definition and other haircare goals.
A clarifying shampoo is a perfect way to revamp or re-direct your haircare routine. Why? Because a clarifying shampoo contains the strongest detergent available to remove all forms of build-up. This class of detergents is known as Anionic Surfactants.
Anionic Surfactants are known as the strongest class of detergents. The group includes both sulfate and sulfate-free options. Anionic Surfactants (whether you choose a sulfate or sulfate-free option) will always be strong enough to remove all types of build-up including silicone and conditioner build-up.
Anionic Surfactants are negatively-charged molecules and can you guess what they are attracted to? That's right positively charged molecules such as the conditioner molecules currently attached to your hair. Think of conditioners as temporary spackle. The anionic surfactants found in the clarifying shampoos will immediately become attracted to their opposites and begin pulling all that moisture from the hair.
The key to healthy hair is a healthy scalp, it always starts at the scalp.
Anionic Surfactants make sure to remove any debris, build-up, and dandruff from the scalp and hair follicles. Remember your scalp is still skin, it dries out, it flakes up, and build-up only exasperates those problems. A sulfate-free anionic surfactant will give the scalp, follicles, and hair a deep clean allowing new moisture to penetrate and give the intended results, popping curls!
From styling with conditioners to creams to butter, and oil, product build-up is just a normal result of a styling routine. But a clarifying shampoo like our Soothing Mint Sulfate Free Clarifying Shampoo will remove all those layers of build-up including sweat, sebum, and silicone.
A clarifying shampoo should be used about 1-2x a month, in conjunction with other gentler cleansing options such as a low poo, like our Soothing Mint Gentle Cleansing Shampoo
or a co-wash like our Tropical Escape Cleansing Co-wash
By ensuring clean and clarified hair, you can properly moisturize your hair and protect it against split ends and breakage.
Co-Wash
Co-washing is the physical act of cleansing your hair with a conditioner instead of shampoo.
The purpose is to add more moisture to the hair, whereas a gentle cleansing shampoo might take out a little too much moisture.
Most on the market conditioners are formulated with gentle cleansing surfactants (known as Cationic Surfactants ) which will give a light clean while adding more moisture. Co-washes are perfect for those in-between clarifying washes and perfect for after-workout sessions. You will get just enough of a clean hair feeling without the hair feeling stripped of all its moisture.
We here at Inahsi Naturals never ever recommend using only a co-wash as your cleansing routine. A co-wash is still a conditioner and behaves the same way. Build-up is an inevitable result of co-washing only. If you prefer to co-wash (like our Tropical Escape Cowash), please make sure to use a clarifying shampoo (like our Soothing Mint Sulfate-Free Clarifying Shampoo) at least once a month to remove the build-up keeping your scalp balanced and your tresses weightless and defined.
Co-washing is a great way to gently clean your hair and restore moisture. Winter can be brutal to curls and it's important we show a little extra TLC, especially during the cleansing process. Co-washing can be done once a week to several times a week depending on your active lifestyle.
Oil
Back to Our Acronym C.O.L.D., next is the O. O stands for Oil.
Oil has the ability to enhance the shine, flexibility, and softness of your hair. Oil is amazing in its ability to seal in moisture by encasing the hair in a flexible invisible film, similar to the way silicones work. This keeps your hair moisturized for longer periods of time during the winter months helping you stretch out your style.
One thing to remember about oil is not all oil is created equal.
We normally divide oils into two categories when talking about hair care, you might know them as Moisturizing Vs. Sealing Oil.
While oil doesn't actually add moisture into the hair, it seals the cuticle down increasing shine and sealing in moisture from products longer. The oil that penetrates into the hair shaft is known as Moisturizing Oil, it's simply another name for Penetrating Oil.
Basically the more fatty acids present in the oil the more it will penetrate like coconut oil. Pure plant-based and vegetable oils (like the ones present in our Pamper My Curls Hair & Scalp Elixir can in smaller amounts effectively penetrate the hair strands and scalp.
The introduction of more fatty acids to the scalp helps soothe and moisturize the scalp, preventing dandruff / brittle hair.
The film provided by the oil to seal in moisture in your hair leads to more shine. Once the cuticle layer is properly sealed, which the oil does, the light molecules in the environment are now able to reflect off of the cuticle scales. This all varies on the specific oil you use and how much of it you use.
Pure oils in small quantities work fantastically. It can help you keep the moisture in your hair for longer periods of time, especially helpful for high porosity hair. The oil fills in those gaps temporarily and helps properly seal the cuticle. During the winter months, your hair can become weak from over-moisturizing or wear and tear, oil is a great way to strengthen your strands preventing Hygral Fatigue (too much moisture entering the strands weakening the structure).
Leave-In
Once again back to our acronym C.O.L.D. We are up to L. The L stands for Leave-In.
The cardinal rule of naturally textured hair: Thou shalt always moisturize thy parched tresses!
As we discussed, naturally textured hair is by nature more susceptible to split ends and breakage because the natural oils (sebum) produced by the scalp are delayed from doing their job (moisturizing the hair) because of the texture acting as a mini obstacle course.
While the hair waits for moisture, it dries out and breaks off. Leave-in conditioners are formulated to be lighter and more water-based than rinse-out conditioners and deep conditioners. Because lighter ingredients are being utilized (and are greatly watered down as compared to the other types of conditioners), product build-up is less likely. That, of course, depends on how much product you use.
If your hair is properly moisturized it will be healthier, stronger, and therefore, more resistant to damage. Our Aloe Hibiscus Leave-In Conditioner moisturizes, strengthens, and restores shine. The water and aloe vera moisturize, the panthenol along with the rich oils of avocado (penetrating) and coconut (penetrating) help to strengthen the hair with the ayurvedic herbal blend of hibiscus and marshmallow root, which provides slip to get rid of pesky tangles.
If you have fine density hair or your hair responds better to oil-free options, check out our Pamper My Curls All-In-One Leave-In Moisture Mist! The mist will moisturize, nourish, and refresh your hair without weighing it down. The ayurvedic herbal delight of marshmallow root will not only provide the slip we mentioned in our Aloe Hibiscus leave-in, but it will also make your hair soft, supple, and sleek! The mist will moisturize, and protect by repairing the hair from damage due to coloring, heat styling, or weathering.
$6.50 USD
Our light-weight oil free mist will moisturize, nourish, and refresh your curls without weighing them down. The ayurvedic herbal delight of marshmallow root will not only provide slip for pesky knots, but will make your curls soft, supple, and sleek.… read morePamper My Curls All-In-One Leave-In Moisture Mist
Deep Conditioning
Once again for the final time, back to our acronym C.O.L.D. The D stands for Deep Conditioning.
Deep conditioning is the act of applying a special treatment to the hair to improve the overall health of your hair. Deep conditioners contain ingredients that work to penetrate the hair strands on a much deeper level than regular rinse-out or leave-in conditioners. This more substantial treatment is meant to be left on anywhere from 10-30 minutes. The conditioner (depending on the specific ingredients) is formulated to provide moisture to the hair to slowly revive and nourish dry, brittle, and damaged hair for healthy, durable, and shiny curls with consistent use.
Healthy hair requires a balance of protein and moisture, too much of one good thing turns into a bad thing. This doesn't necessarily mean we should stay away from one or the other. The truth is you need both protein and moisture.
As we discussed, all hair needs moisture, but naturally textured hair needs more moisture supplemented regularly to continue growing and thriving. But don't go overboard with the moisture, follow instructions on your products, please! If your deep conditioner says to leave on for 30 minutes, do not leave it overnight. Yes, there is such a thing as over-moisturizing your hair. It's called Hygral Fatigue.
Hygral fatigue occurs when your hair follicles swell up due to over-moisturizing, the cuticle layer of the hair strand weakens and damages due to moisture going in and out without having enough time to dry and enough protein to strengthen the strand.
Protein is a non-negotiable need for your hair. Hair is made predominantly of protein but our hair is constantly withstanding damage every day whether it be from your environment, manual manipulation, and so many other factors. Protein strengthens the hair strand, allowing moisture to bind better to the hair strand. Think of protein as the spackle to fix any cracks in the container you are going to pour all this moisture in. But again, don't overdo it! Using protein too often or the wrong type of protein for your hair will lead to brittle hair that feels like straw, this is called protein overload. Trust us, this takes forever to correct, so strike a balance early in your journey to avoid frustrating setbacks.
How do you strike the right balance you may ask?
Simple, by incorporating BOTH moisture and protein into your healthy hair regime. Take our Restorative Hair Masque Deep Conditioner for example, if you deep condition weekly or even bi-monthly, you are getting the moisture you need from the water, glycerin, and aloe vera.
But that's not all! The Restorative Masque also contains hydrolyzed oats and silk amino acids. These are known as gentle proteins. Why? Because most protein like egg, mayo, and avocado is too big on a molecular level to penetrate past the hair cuticle (outermost layer). Hydrolyzed proteins such as amino acids are protein molecules that have been broken down so much that they are small enough to penetrate past the cuticle layer all the way to the cortex (the innermost layer of the hair strand responsible for most of the strength of the strand). The smaller the protein the easier it is to penetrate the hair more deeply and therefore strengthen it more effectively. The stronger your hair, the more resistant to breakage. That is the key to keeping your hair growing.
