As the days get longer, the sun shines brighter, and outdoor activities (thankfully) return to our lives. The wool hat that limited your hairstyle options is no longer needed. The scarf that half covered your face is folded and put away.

How The Weather Affects Your Hair

After a long, cold winter, a glance in the mirror can be a shocking peek of someone else: Drab, needing a change, something to brighten, to refresh. It’s spring – the hair care routine you followed during the dry winter months of weekly deep conditioning treatments to keep your hair looking healthy may require an adjustment.

How Will Moisture Affect Your Hair?

As the weather warms up, there is increased moisture in the air. Balancing moisture, as opposed to adding it, now becomes the issue. Luckily, your hair will let you know what it needs.

Care For Frizzy, Dry Hair

If your hair is frizzy, dry and tangles easily, or if your hair feels rough to the touch, you hair is lacking moisture. You’ll need to keep up the deep conditioning treatment, and/or add a moisturizing conditioner to your hair routine, gradually transitioning to a two-week schedule.  Caretrico Moist Bounce Treatment is an ideal product for this. It can be used everyday as a conditioner and/or weekly as a deep moisturizing treatment.

Care for Limp Oily Hair

If your hair becomes limp or oily, cutting back on added moisture will rebalance your hair. Only deep condition your hair twice a month, and apply your daily conditioner by running it quickly through the bottom half of hair.

Apple Cider Vinegar

The change of seasons is a good time to rinse your hair with apple cider vinegar- like spring cleaning for your scalp!  Mix a tablespoon (make sure to use Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar) in a glass of water to run through your hair. Leave in for a moment and then, rinse, rinse, rinse. The apple cider vinegar removes the build up of conditioners and treatments. The acid also closes the hair cuticle making your hair shine.

Hair Care Products

Seasonal changes require us to make different choices for our hair to balance out environmental effects. It is important to keep in mind that one product usually doesn’t work for all seasons. With shampoos & conditioners, you might need an alternative to compensate for the effects of the environment. A mild shampoo that worked wonders in the summer might need to be replaced with something more moisturizing come fall. A conditioner that has a heavier bond may be too much in the summer, but the perfect choice for fall/winter. Caretrico Moist Bounce Shampoo and Moist Bounce Treatment are perfect winter hair care choices. Summer air is moist, and causes many hair types to get frizzy. In the fall, however, the air is dry. Some hair is at it’s best in the fall, while others need to condition more due to drier air, heating systems in our homes and constant blow drying.

Hair Color

As the golden luster that your skin garnered over the summer fades, you will notice a similar phenomenon transforming the hue of your hair. Fear not, this is completely normal. This is nature’s gentle nudge to encourage us to add more depth to our hair color. Richer hues go better with our winter wardrobe palette. This change can be made all at once, or you could add lowlights to gradually return your hair to its richest tones. When these tones mix with your hair’s natural highlights from the sun, your hair color will gain extra depth and dimension.

There is very little difference between caring for your hair at the beach and when skiing. In each instance, your hair is subjected to similar environmental hazards. For example, windy conditions, the sun, sweat, salt or chlorinated pool/sauna water, even hats—be they large rimmed sun hats or snug & wooly ski attire.

The primary consideration is protection from all of these elements, of which I will describe below:

Salt & Chlorinated Water

Salt water has an osmotic effect on the hair, meaning that it leaches water out of your hair. Chlorinated water can be just as damaging. To protect your hair from associated distress, use Philip Kingsley Swimcap. I originally formulated it for the U.S. synchronized swim team in 1984 and it contains UV protectors, moisturizers and is highly water resistant.

The Sun

Have you noticed that the skin on your face burns just as easily on the beach as when skiing? The same applies to your hair & scalp. The sun on both the slopes and the beach can be exceedingly damaging, causing hair to become brittle and dry and any exposed scalp prone to burn. To help prevent this, use my Swimcap Cream (as described earlier), or wear a hat. To re-hydrate and replenish your hair & scalp, apply an intensive treatment twice a week. I recommend using my Exfoliating Scalp Mask and multi-award winning pre-shampoo conditioner, Elasticizer. They both ensure trouble-free scalps and resilient, manageable, shiny hair.

Wind

Apply weatherproof products that counteract dehydration. For example, Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defence. As an added bonus, this will enable you to have protected and flyaway-free hair when going to social events!

Sweat

The sun, physical exertion and hats can all cause a sweaty scalp. This can result in itching, a buildup of bacteria and greasy looking hair. Apply Philip Kingsley Scalp Toner to your scalp to inhibit the spread of bacteria, clear irritation and soak up excess oils. Furthermore, always shampoo your hair at the end of the day to thoroughly cleanse your scalp and hair. Choose the correct shampoo according to your hair type and follow with the correct conditioner, also according to your hair type.  If necessary – and it won’t harm – shampoo your hair in the morning, too.