Hair Care in Winters

Personally, Winter is my favorite season in all the year. I love the snow and snuggling inside the big thick blankets with the blowers switched on. (I do not like heaters because they dry the skin horribly !!) How I miss my childhood when I had to do nothing but sleep and read and eat :) I love being lazy but growing up is far from such luxuries. Only if I had realized that when I was young and naive. Huh, the irony!!

I have already talked about skin care in winters. So, let  let us continue with the topic of the day.  Hair in Winters. Winters is the most difficult time for hair. The growth slows down, winter dandruff comes up (in many people except lucky few), it always looks like we have had a 'centershock' :D and one is always struggling to keep it in place. Seriously, it is difficult. Moreover, I do not even feel like combing. It creates even more static. The woolens are so heavy on the body itself but they are even worse for hair. Splits increase in the hair, the dryness for dry hair increases by a notch, they look dull and lifeless and many people suffer from winter dandruff. Worst of all, the cold makes oiling of the hair also very difficult. Ok, so all these scenarios are for hills not plains. But, people in plains also suffer with same problems, only the intensity is a lot toned down according to the temperatures. Still, I love winter and I am glad it is back :) Can't believe a whole year has passed off so quickly. Time seems to fly away. In just a month, we will bid farewell to 2010 and welcome 2011. God, I do not know what has happened but you can get me started on this topic for hours together. So, I'll again come back on the track. So, how do we care for hair in winters. 

It is a difficult and time consuming task but not an impossible one. You need to devote time to your hair. So, let us start with oiling your hair. Regular oiling will keep the frizz away. Dryness in the hair is also controlled. Use warm oil to massage your hair nicely at night and then out a scarf on it and go to sleep. You can also do the hot oil treatment if you feel like. Do this for at least two times a week or whenever you shampoo your hair. Do not shampoo often. Shampoo hair when the need arises. Due to pollution, you might need to wash your hair twice or thrice a week. To reduce this need, use a silk scarf.

Shampooing your hair. Use a very mild shampoo. Either go for a herbal shampoo or use soap nuts. This prevent your hair from drying excessively due to the use of excess chemicals. Dry your hair gently. Keep a hand towel in the bathroom and after shampooing, squeeze all water from the hair. Wait for a few minutes and then apply conditioner on the hair. Wait for another 15-20 minutes (if you can), wash off the conditioner properly and come out. I would not advise you to go for a cold water rinse in case you might catch a chill and I do not want to be blamed for that :) Use baking soda in your shampoo once in every two weeks. Use only luke warm water. Hot water would be drying for your hair and skin both.

Drying your hair. Try to air dry your hair in little of sun which will provide shine to your hair too. Or, if you are in extreme hurry or feeling too cold, blow your hair dry just to the point that it becomes damp. Keep the setting of the drier to warm and not hot to avoid extreme temperature variations. Use a hooded drier as it controls the air circulation properly and does not direct a stream of hair to just one place. Another very useful trick while blow drying is to keep the drier moving. Do not direct it to one place or the hair would become excess dry there. To reduce the time of blow drying, squeeze the water from your hair properly before starting the drier. End with a cold air setting on the temperature. Then, use a comb or a finger and remove all the tangles. Your hair will dry sooner that way. Do not blow dry your hair excessively or it makes your hair frizzy. Use a heat protection product or something of the like before blow drying your hair.

Use a leave-in conditioner. I would advise this for people with extreme dryness and frizz in their hair. People with manageable hair can definitely give a skip. No point applying products which will give no results, right? If it satisfies you, go ahead but honestly, no point wasting money if you do not really need that product.  You can even make your leave-in conditioner at home. A tip for people who keep on buying thins which they do not need: Think about how much money you could save by not buying these products and then you might get your favorite dress or camera or watch or something which might be really useful to you. I do use this tip now a days and it is definitely working :)

Do not use excess products on your hair. A conditioner then a leave-in then a mousse then a styling product then a mist or a hair spray then something else. If you do that, the barrage of the products would not end but the things piling on your hair would definitely increase which would make the hair even more drier by blocking the hair follicles. So, stick to a single product in the winters and apply any product on the hair except a shampoo starting from your ears down. And, use only an appropriate quantity. 

Hair Accessories. This is one of the most important things. You hair bands, rubber bands, hair clips, clutchers, etc., whatever you are using on your hair might cause frizzes and splits so be very careful about what you are using on your hair. No harm in spending a little money to buy a good product. I would mention one thing here: Buy whatever you feel like but just remember to check for the ends or any edges in the accessory. Any sharp edges or protrusions in the accessory makes it unworthy for your hair. Same goes with the hair bands. They have comb structure underneath them which snag at your hair every time you remove it. Look for cloth covered accessories. They are soft on hair and do not cause static. Look for good quality hair brushes and combs. For curly and wavy hairs, do not use brushes. This is very important as they snag at your hair. Brushes are great for straight hair but curly and wavy haired people should stay away from them.

Keep your hair covered. Leaving your hair loose is a sure shot way to get hair breakage so keep your hair covered at all times in the winters. Either use scarves or go for braiding your hair. Silk scarves add a lot of charm to your dressing and braiding can be done in lot chic ways these days. Avoid wearing hats and tight caps as they stop air and blood circulation in the scalp. When your are wearing your clothes specially woolens, put your hair up, wear your woolens, cover your shoulders with the scarf, pull the hair down, tie it or braid it and then, tie the scarf around. This way you can avoid static and splits in your hair due to woolens. Do not let your hair be in contact with your woolens. Not only that, scarves also keep your hair and scalp clean in the pollution so use them regularly whenever you go out. Go for a trim the moment you spot a split in your hair.

Winter Dandruff Control. This is one of the most difficult tasks. Dry scalp and dry hair contributes to dandruff but this does not mean that oiling your hair would make dandruff disappear. For this, you certainly have to use an anti-dandruff hair cream. I would recommend Himalaya Anti-Dandruff Hair cream. Besides that, you can mix lemon juice with your hair oil before applying it on your scalp. Use a good conditioner which can prevent dandruff. Using soap nuts to wash your hair will definitely cure this problem. So, go ahead and give it a try but otherwise you would have to depend on some hair cream only.

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Keep your skin moisturized this winter with Banana

This is a tried and tested trick in this season itself for over a week and the results were fabulous. But, this is only for people with dry skin or normal skin.

Blend banana really well but do not make it too watery. Keep the consistency to creamy and put appropriate amount of chickpea flour in the blended banana. Blend to get rid of lumps. The paste should enough to cover your entire body so 2-3 bananas may be needed. Now, take a really quick shower with luke warm water. Then, apply the banana chickpea flour paste on your entire body. Cover your face and neck too. Leave it on the skin for at least 10-15 minutes. Wash off without using any cleanser or body wash. You should not feel greasy but in case you do, then try to dilute the paste with rose water or simple water instead of taking a shower again. Now, immediately after washing the paste off your body, apply a thick moisturizing lotion on your skin to keep all the moisture inside. This gives best results when done at night as we have ample of time to allow the paste to stay on the body and the nutrients to get absorbed.

This is an extremely amazing remedy for people suffering with dry skin in winters and specially when none of the moisturizers are able to help you. You can substitute banana with milk cream too but it becomes very greasy for some people. I am repeating this again this remedy is for only people with normal or dry skin. Oily skin people can also use this treatment but not for face only for their bodies. The skin is smooth, supple and amazingly soft. Any blemishes and dark spots start to vanish within a week but do not expect too dramatic results.

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Winter Skin Care Lotions

Hey People!!!

I do not know about you all but I did miss my blogging these all days and I am glad to be back but I am not still sure if I will be posting regularly. So, I wanted to write about something which will be useful for people with dry skin in the just-at-door-step winters. 

I am sure you all are busy stocking on all the creams and lotions for the winters. I do have 3 recommendations for those who might want to give a try. All of them are my personal favorites and worked fabulously for me in the temperatures of 7 degrees.

Biotique Winter Cherry Body Lotion

Ohk, so I'll begin with describing the situation first. I got this bottle of winter cherry a year back during the starting of winters just around Diwali when I was just walking down the cosmetics aisle and a bottle of Biotique with pink color content caught my attention. I instantly wanted to buy and did. I needed a really good moisturizer for winter weather in a really cold and dry climate. And, for a change, this body lotion really worked for me.It made my skin soft and kept it moisturized all day long. I always loved to massage this cream into my body right after the shower.

It is pale pink in color, is light in consistency (not too thick or runny), smells really awesome (even you will smell of winter cherries half the day) and the best part of the lotion is that it was great in removing the stubborn tanning on my arms. I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for normal to dry skin moisturizing. It costed 180 INR for 210 ml (last year).

Nivea Smooth Body Milk with Gingko and Shea Butter

My love of this season. Absolutely fabulous for people with normal to dry skin. Sorry, but I really do not have stock for oily skin but if you feel dry, you can give this a try (nice rhyme!!). Smells really pleasant and keeps your body oh-so-soft. I loved it so much that I can not stop raving about it and the only thing I would say is get the product ASAP!! It definitely is costly. I bought the smallest size of 75ml at 109 INR to give it a try and I will get the bigger one as soon as this gets finished. It is thick in consistency and gets absorbed easily and I am sure it will suit normal skin too. It kept my skin moisturized all day long, no itchy feely which I get at a temperature less than 10 especially in cold climes and soft, most importantly. Can't wait to finish the teeny tiny bottle which would not last you for more than a week if you use on your entire body. 

Nivea Creme

The original Nivea which was released in 1911 and stays the same still in the same old container and same sizes. My father bought the biggest size of the creme and kept it in the bathroom. I was intrigued and wanted to try it. So, gave it a try. Do not ask me for my experience. I would not say it was horrible because it is the best product for people with extra and over dry skin. This is not a statement-in-the-air but a personal experience. It helped me when no body used to suit me. So, if you do face some same situation, you should give it a try. 

If you ask me, it is really thick (the same consistency for which Nivea is famous). Scooping it out of the container itself is a task. And, then spreading it is a uphill task again. I could not even moisturize my arms when I used it. It simply stuck to my hand and refused to spread. This was my first experience. Next day, I needed something really thick to moisturize my legs because it has a really weird bees pattern (which I guess is due to extreme dryness). So, I used this creme. I scooped out a really large amount, nicely rubbed it in between my palms (to warm it) and massaged it in my legs for 5 minutes. The result was a fabulous and moisturized leg. The effect lasted all night and the next day till I took bath. My legs were really soft and smooth in the morning.

I know it sounds scary but do not get afraid of this experience of mine because I definitely do not need this product except on my legs. Just because a product is thick and takes really long to apply does not really become a negative point if it gives results. So, if you feel that nothing else is helping you, I would ask you to give it a try. This creme is especially useful for people with extremely dry skin. In winters, sometimes, some parts of your body become especially dry so you can use this creme there too. The best time to use this creme might be at night as far as I think because you can sit and take your own time to massage the product in and it will help the skin while rejuvenating too. If I use this product again, I'll surely let you all know about it.

Disclaimer: I have not been paid by Nivea or Biotique for pleading you to buy their products. The reason for my message is that I have seen a lot of people miss out on products which can help them just because of some trivial reason like their consistency and smell which in the first place should not be a criteria for judging the products. And, yes, I am partial to Nivea products because that is the only product which brings nostalgic memories of my childhood and also because it suits me better than others. 

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How to protect skin this winter?

Autumn is giving way to winter. By the time Diwali would come, winter would officially declare itself. Its time to change your beauty routines to accommodate the change in climate and lifestyle. Whether you live in tropical, dry, temperate or cold climate, the air in winter is drier as compared to that of the summer in the respective areas. Thus, you need to lavish more pampering on to your skin.

Your skin care starts with taking baths. Remember what I said about bathing too much. A must follow advice or you will see the repercussions soon enough. And, an advise from me would be to couple your baths with oil massages. That would prevent your skin from drying. In case oil massages become too much time taking and demanding, you can pour 2 teaspoon of your favorite oil to your bath. The oil will keep your skin moisturized. Follow with moisturizing your body on the damp skin. Keep the temperature of water low. Do not take long baths in any case how so ever tempting they might be.

Do not stick to the heaters and blowers in winters in case you live in cold climate. Exercise well to make your body tolerant to cold. That would also bring a pink glow on your face. Wear a lot of clothes to protect yourself from cold. Heating equipments burn the oxygen in the room and deprive you from all your moisture.Always avoid extreme temperatures as they simply lead to cracking of your skin and trust me you do not want to see the worst of it. People living in hilly regions would be knowing about that.

The air in the winter is really drying for the skin no matter where you live. The dryness generates a lot of static electricity in the skin and wearing woolens worsens the situation. So, invest in a good humidifier.Or, place a mug full of water in the room.

Drink lots of water. No one feels like drinking water in winters. But, that will surely lead to dehydration. Compensate with drinking fruit and vegetable juices instead of just plain water. Add lots of fatty acids and oils to your diet. That will keep your skin moisturized from inside. 

Moisturize the skin a lot. In  the instant you feel dryness, apply moisturizer or oil immediately. At night, you can also compensate with milk cream or white butter. Coconut oil is the best if you go for oils. Buy heavy moisturizers. look for products rich in shea butter and cocoa butter. In case you do get pure unrefined shea butter, nothing is better than that. Pay special attention to your elbows and knees otherwise the skin around them would get rough and darker.

Cleansing and exfoliation are two things which should be done properly in winters. Anything excess would make your skin dry and less would make your skin dull. Go for homemade products in exfoliation. Do not exfoliate more than twice if you go outside regularly and once is enough if you rarely venture out. For cleansing, either stick to your favorite cleanser or go for homemade ones. Oil cleansers are good idea in winters even for oily skin.

In winters, you would find sometimes (especially at very low temperatures) that you feel like scratching your skin. I have seen my mom do it many times. That is because of the excessive dehydration of your skin. At that time, apply a moisturizer or oil and massage it slowly into your body. Oil is always better as it gives fatty acids into your body and keeps it nourished from inside instead of outside. And, improve your diet as indicated. Food is the only thing which can keep you well in winters. Eat lots of eggs and fish if you can. Otherwise, depend on lots of seeds of every kind. Do not forget nuts, any kind of them. You can go on a binging spree without any qualms.

Skin tends to get darker in winters. There are various reasons for it. The first on my list is excess exposure to sun. People love to bask in the heat of sun in winters. Do not forget a sunscreen if you are one of them. The second is dry air. It sucks out the moisture from your skin. You can do nothing except keep the water levels inside your body at a high and nutrition very controlled. Avoid junk foods which we do binge more in winters. Do not go for bike riding or long car drives in open. The third is obviously the friction and static electricity which I mentioned above also. This can be avoided by wearing cotton clothes first and then covering with woolens. Wearing multiple layers of clothing also helps prevent cold than a simple jacket. The fourth reason is excess exposure to heat. So, stay away from heaters, save electricity and keep yourself in check by exercising regularly. Use more blankets. The last reason is over application of moisturizers. If you just keep on slathering moisturizer in layers on your skin, the pores will get clogged and your skin starts to look dull. 

[These tips are for everyone no matter what climate you live in. I am sure you would be able to relate to something or other here. I would surely love to hear any ideas which you might have for winter skin protection.]

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