Condition Your Hair For Cold Weather

Old man cold has only begun to howl.  Weeks of cold and blustery weather are ahead – weather guaranteed to take a toll on your hair.  A conditioner can help protect your hair but read the label and manufacturer’s claim carefully.

Claims about what conditioners can do for your hair are often exaggerated.  Consumers are often misled to believe that a conditioner will cure or correct whatever’s ailing their hair.  Not so.

Conditioners can’t change the internal hair structure (the cortex).  Like your nails, a shaft of hair is made up of dead protein material.  It can’t possibly be “healed”, “cured” or “restored” to its original healthy state.

Conditioners won’t make your hair grow faster.  Protein or amino acid conditioners can’t “nourish” or “feed” your hair.  Even “deep-penetrating” conditioners can’t get inside the hair shaft with normal use.  If you want to feed your hair, eat a well-balanced diet.

Conditioners can, however, cover and conceal the damage and protect hair from further damage.  Conditioners can temporarily change the physical characteristics of the hair’s outer layer (the cuticle), causing it to appear improved, more nearly like it’s a natural state – smooth, soft, and shiny.  Here’s how it works.

The outermost layer of each hair is composed of cuticle cells.  These cells resemble overlapping scales or shingles on a roof.  Shampoo and other chemical treatments swell the hair shaft, making the cuticle cells or shingles lift and open up.  The shaft becomes rough and uneven, appears dull, and tangles easily as individual hairs catch on one another.  Because hair is weak when wet, trying to comb out tangles nearly always results in stretching and breaking the hair.

The conditioner contains protein material that coats the hair shaft and makes it appear thicker, giving hair more body.  Too much conditioner left on your hair can make it droop beneath the burden.  This material “glues” split ends back together, although the effect is only temporary.  Split ends will open up again.

The protein material also fills cracks in the cuticle, smoothing rough edges.  This makes hair softer and more manageable.  A comb slides easily through the hair, preventing needless damage.

With the hair shaft smooth enough to reflect the light once again, a healthy-looking shine returns.  Oil in the conditioner also works to reflect light and create shine.  Too much conditioner left coating your hair can make hair dull with soil that sticks to it.

Conditioner cuts down on static electricity that causes “flyway” hair.  The shampoo is alkaline and carries a negative electrical charge, causing individual shafts of hair to stand away from one another.  Conditioners are slightly acidic and carry a positive electrical charge that reverses the effect of shampoo.  Hair lies calm and is more manageable.

Conditioner temporarily replaces oil lost in shampooing.  Natural oils from the scalp normally coat each hair.  Shampoo strips hair of natural oil during the cleaning process, allowing moisture to evaporate from the hair.  Hair becomes excessively dry, coarse, and brittle.  The protective coating left by the conditioner helps to retain moisture.  This coating protects hair from pollution, changes in temperature, and heat from a drier, curling iron, or electric curler.

Considering all it can do, conditioner is one of the best beauty buys on the market.  Use it to your advantage in the cold weather weeks ahead.

Note: This article was previously published in the printed issue of The Corporate, Guide and Style for Professionals Magazine.