Managing Hair Shedding in Winter: How to Keep Your Hair Looking Healthy & Full

Noticing more strands in your brush during the colder months? Winter can lead to increased hair shedding, but don’t worry—it’s a common seasonal issue. 

Harsh weather, dry air, and indoor heating can all cause your hair to become drier and more brittle, leading to winter shedding.

Here’s how you can reduce shedding and keep your hair strong and healthy-looking throughout the season.

Why Does Hair Shed More in Winter?

Experiencing hair shedding in winter is normal. Here are a few reasons why it happens:

• Cold Air & Dryness: Winter air lacks moisture, and when combined with the dry heat indoors, your scalp becomes dehydrated. This can weaken your hair’s roots, leading to more shedding.
• Seasonal Cycles: Hair naturally goes through growth and shedding cycles, and for many people, more shedding occurs in the colder months due to the body’s reaction to environmental changes.
• Wearing Hats & Scarves: While it’s necessary to bundle up, friction from wool or synthetic materials can damage hair, causing breakage that leads to shedding.

Hair Shedding vs. Hair Loss: What’s the Difference?

It’s important to note that hair shedding in winter is not the same as permanent hair loss. Shedding is a natural part of your hair’s growth cycle, and while it can feel alarming to see more hair in your brush or shower drain, it’s usually temporary. 

Hair loss, on the other hand, is when the hair falls out and doesn’t grow back, which can be caused by genetics, hormonal changes, or other long-term factors.

If you notice that your hair feels thin in winter, and considerably less dense, it’s likely due to seasonal shedding, dry air, or breakage from friction or heat styling. With the right care and protection, this type of shedding can be managed and minimized.

How to Minimize Hair Shedding in Winter

There are some simple steps you can take to help keep your hair looking full and optimally  healthy:

1. Use a Gentle Cleanser

Start by using a sulfate-free shampoo that cleans your scalp without stripping it of moisture.

Our recommendations:

• Our Color Security Shampoo (for non-curly hair types) is sulfate-free and contains no silicones, thickening, conditioning or anti-frizz ingredients that stay behind and can weigh hair down, dull it, cause scalp irritation and even hair loss.
  
  
• Hooked 100% Clean Shampoo (for curly hair types) features our proprietary Procapil® blend to help “anchor” strands at the root, preventing excessive shedding or hair loss.

2. Apply a Scalp Serum

Our Youth Juice Scalp Treatment is clinically proven to reduce shedding by up to 90%* (*Invivo study of 30 volunteers over 28 days). Its ingredients help create optimal scalp condition for youthfully thick, supple, resilient hair.

3. Deep Condition Regularly

Hydrated hair is less likely to break or shed. A weekly deep-conditioning treatment like Money Masque provides much-needed moisture to your strands, making them more elastic and less prone to breakage.

This extra hydration goes a long way in helping to prevent breakage and hair fall during winter.

4. Protect Your Hair from Heat and Friction

Try to limit heat styling, which can exacerbate dryness. If you do choose to style with heat, make sure to use a heat protectant.

All Color Wow styling products contain at least 2 levels of heat protection so you can take your pick. 

When going outside, wear a silk or satin scarf under your wool hat to reduce friction and protect your hair from breakage.

Reducing the damage from heat and friction will help minimize winter hair shedding, thinning and breakage. 

5. Treat with Leave-In Hydration

After washing, apply a leave-in conditioner like Money Mist to lock in moisture without weighing your hair down.

Money Mist detangles, defrizzes, hydrates and reduces breakage by 69%* in one use. This helps keep your hair soft, smooth, and more resistant to the stresses that can lead to excess shedding.

*Average results based on independent testing. 

By focusing on hydration, scalp care, and gentle handling, you can help minimize hair shedding in winter and maintain healthy-looking, strong strands throughout the season.

Using the right products from Color Wow ensures your hair gets the moisture, strengthening and root fortification it needs to survive the winter without excess shedding.

Visit our full range of winter hair products here.

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