How To Maintain Healthy Hair In The Dry Cold Winter

It has been so bitterly cold these last few days that the skin on my knuckles is starting to crack. I believe I'm also developing some kind of wind burn-related face rash, and the ash on my legs in sloughing off by the handful. Yay winter! And to add insult to injury, the arctic air is also attacking my hair.

This is the first cold season I've faced with colour treated hair in many years and I'm suffering for it. The chemicals, along with abuse from heat tools, are latching on to the harsh weather to create a trifecta of damage. Essentially, my scalp is full of flakes and the ends are frizzier than a pomeranian. I brought these complaints to P&G Beauty and Grooming Scientist Rolanda Johnson Wilkerson and she came back to me with a handful of solutions to help ease my hair woes over the winter months.

"Moisturizing shampoo and conditioner, such as Head & Shoulders Damage Rescue, and the use of hair treatments which further moisturize hair are beneficial in the winter time," Rolanda says. "It is also important to wear scarves and hats to protect hair from harsh winter winds." The nice thing about a shampoo like Head & Shoulders Damage Rescue is that it also contains acti-zinc which starts working right at the scalp and is clinically proven to help restore the scalp's natural moisture, meaning no more pesky dandruff.

If you're unsure of your hair health or the need for a moisturizing shampoo versus one formulated for limp or oily hair, consider this: virgin - or untreated - hair is in its healthiest state. It has a natural protective layer around the shaft so that when a drop of water is placed on the hair, that bead of water will sit on top, unable to penetrate. As Rolanda says, when this layer is not present, water simply penetrates the hair shaft very quickly showing that the hair has lost its natural hydrophobic layer.

So if you can't do snow angels without your hair sopping up every last fleck of the white stuff, switch to a moisturizing shampoo and get into some deep conditioning treatments before your coif cracks off with the next gust of wind.

Have your say! Do you experience dryness and dandruff in the winter?

By: Laura; Photo by iStockphoto.

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