Have you read our blog about routine changes you might want to consider as we head into winter? A Canadian winter can be really tough on our curls.
Along with changes to your routine, you might be interested in switching up your products based on these tips.
1. Use heat/steam to help your conditioner (regular or deep) penetrate better. This can be as simple as using a plastic cap but you can also add a warm towel on top. There are also heat caps that are specially made for this task. The heat works great on all hair types, but it is especially important for lower porosities as it assists in getting the product below the cuticles so you can reap the full benefits of the treatment. Flora and Curl have a multi-purpose insulated shower cap that you can use for this.
2. To maintain moisture in your curls between washes, you can mist your hair with water/conditioner or a conditioning spray. You can even do this at night before bed.
We recommend:
3. Use a pre poo of either oil or conditioner (for finer textures) the night before wash day. Although this isn’t moisture it will give your hair a bit more flexibility and prevent your hair soaking in too much water. Two pre-poo treatments you could try are the Righteous Roots Rx Oil and the Flora and Curl Pre-Shampoo Oil.
4. Don't forget to clarify to keep product and hard water build up from your hair. We recommend Malibu C Un Do Goo or Hard Water Wellness Shampoo for this. They are customer favourites.
5. You can add glycerin and other simple humectants like propylene glycol or sorbitol back into your routine. Simple humectants are so good at keeping moisture (water) in your hair. I’d only look at dropping them if it is extremely cold and dry i.e., dew points below -15 C. I know the “charts” say -1 C but that really isn’t that cold in Canada!
7. Seal your hair. This is accomplished by the LCO method which stands for Leave In, Cream and Oil. I will state though that you can play around with the order and use it whatever way works for you. This method might be a bit heavy for some textures and densities, so experiment with the amounts. If it doesn’t work skip one of the products. I recommend using a creamier leave in that has nice fatty alcohols like Cetyl, Laurel, Stearyl, Myristyl, Cetearyl and Behenyl, such as TreLuxe Untie the Knot Leave In Conditioner or Ecoslay Rice Pudding Leave In Conditioner. Two creams to consider for your winter curls are the Miribel Naturals Dreamy Hair Cream or the Inahsi Naturals Rock Your Curls Cream. Finish things off with an oil like the Harmonic Healing Oil from Innersense.
Have fun with your routine and try something new when you have the time or your hair is not cooperating. Fall and winter are experienced so differently from coast to coast, you may find some things suggested above work very well for your hair, and others just don’t! Give each tip a few tries before moving on to something else if it isn't working.
