365 Days of Hair Life. Hair Care & Seasons of the Year

The health of your hair doesn’t just depend on the food you eat, products you buy and lifestyle you live. Its appearance and health are also affected by the… seasons. Weather conditions make up an important factor that you must consider while choosing the right hair care.

Every season may have a negative impact on the hair condition. Can you keep the disaster away? How to prime hair for season changes and save it from frost, dry air of heaters, summer heat waves and seasonal hair loss? Why don’t you take a look at one year from your hair life and learn the rules for every season of the year?

Summer Hair Care

Summer is a wonderful season, making us think of warmth, rest, sun and energy. Too bad, our hair doesn’t like it that much. The hot summer is one of the least hair-friendly seasons.

What harms your hair in summer?

In summer, the most damaging duet destroys the hair – the sun and water. If you’re planning on going to the seaside, remember that the sunlight is most destructive for wet hair after bathing in the sea. Water works like lenses – it focuses the harmful sunrays which damage the hair structure quite quickly. That’s not the end of the destructive power of the sunlight: together with the salt in water, it weakens the lipid coat of hair which loses protection and is more prone to damage. High temperatures deprive strands of water and, as a result, hair gets dry faster than during other seasons.

How to care for your hair in summer?

What can you do to fully enjoy holidays and avoid hair damage?

• After coming back from the beach, precisely rinse your hair to get rid of salty water; choose mild shampoos which leave hair moisturised and relieved.
• After washing your hair, always reach out for a good conditioner; twice a week, use a repairing and moisturising mask – a perfect one is rich in natural plant extracts e.g. Caviar, Aloe, Honey.
• Make use of the benefits of natural oils: at least once a week, do a hair oil treatment: apply a good blend of oils to your hair and scalp, let it sit in for thirty minutes or longer, wash your hair precisely and use a natural conditioner.
• During the day, rub a bit of a chosen oil into hair ends and leave it in – it will protect against the harmful UV radiation.
• For the final rinsing, use herbal infusions e.g. Horsetail, Nettle, Camomile.
• In summer, you’d better give up on blow-dryers and flat irons – it’s an extra dose of heat; let your hair dry naturally – it doesn’t take long on hot days.
• Protect your hairdo from the outside, too: hats, scarves will save both hair and scalp – in this way you avoid a dangerous scalp sunburn.

Autumn Hair Care

When the fall comes, your hair has a moment of relief, trying to get back to normal after the blistering-hot and hair-unfriendly summer. Are your strands successful?

What harms your hair in autumn?

Sun-damaged and dry hair and scalp try to restore the hydro-lipid balance and start producing too much sebum to replenish it. That is why so many women complain about oily hair roots and dry ends. You must remember that hair starts falling out excessively – it’s a stage of drastic weather as well as hormone changes. The level of oestrogen drops (it’s the highest in summer and spring) whereas there’s more testosterone being produced. The hormone stimulation is over so hair – being in the growth phase so far – finishes its life cycle.

How to care for your hair in autumn?

What’s the best remedy for seasonal hair loss? How to bring the scalp balance back?

• Autumn hair loss shouldn’t be worrying – it’s normal that your hair goes through some changes. Simply let the crisis come and go, remembering that you may lose even 100 hairs a day during this rainy season!
• Still, you should make sure you eat the right diet to avoid hair thinning. Enriching it with unsaturated fatty acids will slightly reinforce your hairdo before the harsh winter. Remember about vitamins and eat more proteins (the main ingredient of hair)
• In autumn, making a daring step and having a gentle haircut is a good idea – in this way your hairdo gets a volume boost and you get rid of very dry ends.
• The hair hydration is a must: you don’t need as strong moisturisers as in summer but still, you must make sure the hair is non-stop moisturised. Otherwise, your strands start producing too much sebum in self-defence.
• To balance the processes occurring on the scalp surface, go for hair oils that include squalane – the ingredient of human sebum. The squalane balances the sebum secretion: it reduces the sebum when the skin is too oily or intensifies the secretion when your scalp is very dry.
• Herbs and herbal infusions are always welcome. In autumn, choose Nettle which is high in vitamins and minerals, preventing the scalp oiliness at the same time. Except for rinsing hair with herbal infusions, you can use them as scalp treatments – gently massage them into the skin.
• The autumn hair loss can be reduced if you treat your hair gently: no towel-drying, no pulling while brushing, no hot water for rinsing because it weakens hair bulbs.

Winter Hair Care

Winter is far from being caring and loving. It is beautiful yet rough with our hairdos.

What harms your hair in winter?

Mostly, frost and low temperatures. In winter, your hair doesn’t have a moment of relief – you move from the cold air to heated rooms: dry air is as damaging to hair as the frosty air. To make things worse, there is a sudden change of temperatures (moving from the cold to warm rooms and the other way round) is like a thermal shock for hair: blood vessels shrink and hair follicles lose vitality. Wearing a hat may disturb the blood flow in the scalp but taking it off is a bad idea, too – a simple way to damage hair follicles and lose huge numbers of hair. A common winter mistake is using too many styling products, wanting the hair to look stunning after taking the hat off. Consequently, sebum glands are clogged and disturbed.

How to care for your hair in winter?

In what way can you save your hair from winter, frost and dry air of heaters?

• Hydrate your body from within – try to drink up to two litres of water daily. In this way, you prevent hair dryness and block the excessive hair loss.
• Remember about vitamins – blood vessels are contracted due to cold so they deliver a scarce portion of nutrients. Apart from a diet that is rich in fruit and vegetables, regularly use vitamin hair masks and conditioners. To deliver them directly to the scalp, buy a hair oil which is high in vitamins e.g. Coconut Oil or Avocado Oil and apply it minimum once a week to your hair and scalp.
• Natural oils create a natural barrier on hair which protects from the damaging action of external factors and keeps toxins from getting under the cuticle scales. Try rubbing a bit of an oil from mid-lengths every day.
• While shopping for a winter hat, make sure it’s not too tight so you can provide the scalp with the proper circulation. In this way, you save yourself from dandruff and oiliness.
• Choose a mild shampoo which has normalizing or moisturising properties. A kids shampoo is a perfect choice. It soothes the scalp irritation and gently purifies the skin.
• Hair tends to be static in winter. To keep it away, pick products that are infused with liquid silk. Worth knowing: synthetic materials trigger hair static more than wool or cotton hats.
• Cut down on styling products – they have comedogenic properties and clog the sebum glands. If you can’t do without them, choose natural and mild styling lotions and sprays.
• Beware of overburdening hair masks: they may additionally weigh your strands down. Instead, go for delicate nourishing and moisturising products.

Spring Hair Care

In spring we aren’t as exposed to hair loss as in autumn yet this problem affects many people. Hair is weak after the winter and waits for a large dose of vitamins and minerals. If you fail to provide them… strands land on the floor. Remember that the life of lots of hairs comes to an end in the spring – it is normal that there’s more hair on your brush.

What harms your hair in spring?

In the spring, your hair has a chance to get back its balance in hair care routine, appearance and sebum secretion. The scalp is cleaner whereas the sebum secretion is reduced. On the other hand, some of you face to hair damage and bulbs that are clogged by the cosmetic build-up, sebum, dust – no way nutrients are able to get through such obstacles. Spring may be as rainy and changeable as autumn so you need some protection – at least an umbrella. Seasonal (spring) hair loss is a quite common phenomenon. It is connected with seasonal and climate changes, and may last up to two months.

How to care for your hair in spring?

How to repair hair after a harsh winter and care for your hairdo during the seasonal (spring) hair loss?

• To check the condition of your hair after winter, do hair porosity test - in this way, you find out if it is worse and if the porosity is higher. It will be easier for you to think of the right hair care.
• Your hair condition can also be identified by observing how your hair behaves without the conditioners you usually use. If it gets greasy quickly, it means your scalp needs cleansing – use a scalp scrub or green clay mask.
• Dry and dull hair will benefit from intensified oiling – natural oils can be applied to hair and scalp every two or three days.
• To bring the healthy scalp back, pick natural shampoos free of comedogenic silicones and parabens.
• If your hair is weak in the springtime, remember to treat it in a gentle way: pick a wide-tooth comb (e.g. a wooden, neem tree comb is a great choice). You mustn’t tear or pull your hair. While styling, don’t backcomb or make tight updos to avoid weakening the hair bulbs.
• While blow-drying, set a cool airflow – it’s hair-friendly and lets you lock water in.
• Nourishing your hair from within is a great idea. Spring vegetables are rich in lots of vitamins, nutrients (A, B1, B2, PP, E) and sulphur which is essential for the hair.

To keep your hair beautiful all year round, you must keep caring for it. The secret lies in the mindful care – matching it to the season of the year, your hair type and porosity.