Expert / 8 January, 2025 / Christina Walter

Essential Winter Hair Tips For Braving The British Chill

The winter season can be challenging for our hair, as the severe weather and excessive use of heat styling products can lead to scalp and hair length irritation. Anabel Kingsley, President and Consultant Trichologist at Philip Kingsley, provides guidance and winter hair tips to combat prevalent conditions.

Here are the top 5 Trichologist winter hair tips to survive the British winter:

Hydration is key

There are a lot of external factors that can cause hair to become drier in the winter. We tend to forget that central heating can have a big impact. Dry hair tends to be more porous. It will absorb moisture quickly and lose it quickly too whereas healthy hair will retain moisture making it elastic – dry hair becomes brittle and breaks. Telltale signs of dry hair are frizz, lack of shine, tangles, crisp straw-like texture and breakage. This is why prioritising a weekly pre-shampoo deep-conditioning treatment like Philip Kingsley’s Elasticizer helps to flood moisture back into parched strands, improving hair elasticity.

Don’t forget to wash your hair

People tend to shampoo less often in the winter, which can lead to the illusion you are losing more hair than usual. More importantly, good scalp hygiene is essential to hair growth – after all, your scalp is your hair’s support system. Your scalp is skin and needs similar care to the skin on your face. Try to shampoo frequently, I advise most of my clients to shampoo frequently to obtain the best scalp conditions for healthy hair growth. Every day for fine hair, every other day for medium hair and no more than 3 days apart for coarse or coiled hair textures. A healthy scalp is vital to hair growth – and a healthy scalp is a clean scalp.

Use heat protection

Excessive heat can, over time, break down the keratin in the hair making it weaker and more prone to breakage. While it may take a little longer, a low to medium heat setting will give you great styling results, but without dryness, breakage, and split ends. You should always use a heat-protective product and not hold your dryer right next to your strands.

Scalp is king

Your scalp is skin – it is a living tissue that produces oil, sweats and sheds skin cells. It also starts to smell when it’s not washed. We do know that dandruff and a flaky scalp are more common in winter and it’s important to treat it as soon as possible as it can increase hair fall. So, it becomes even more important to look after your scalp. If you are struggling with an itchy or flaky scalp, I recommend using a targeted anti-microbial shampoo, like our Flaky/Itchy Scalp Shampoo, as well as a daily soothing Scalp Toner (PK Flaky/Itchy Scalp Toner).

Regular trims

Treat your hair gently. As hair becomes drier and frizzier due to external factors in winter, the chances are your hair might break easily. Especially if you don’t use treatments that improve hydration. Breakage can lead to split-ends, which if not looked after can really damage hair health. So, don’t forget to schedule that hair salon appointment to get regular trims and avoid split ends for healthier-looking hair.

Quotes by Anabel Kingsley, Brand President and Consultant Trichologist at Philip Kingsley.

Your Guide To The January Detox: Recipes & Must-Read Tips For Healthy Eating

Get Organised In 2024 With Our Favourite Luxury Stationery