Every year during the holidays most of us get that itch to do a protective style, whether it’s braids, twists, low maintenance styles like buns or even updos.
There is good reason for this, for one its cold! And nobody has time for frosted dry ends, and two it gets busy and styling daily can get a bit cumbersome when trying to get everything ready for the month’s festivities.
Even though many of us have the protective styling aspect down pact there is still some confusion on how to tweak your Summer regimen to ensure that your hair can stand up to colder temperatures. – In the hair community, we like to call it “Winterizing your regimen” or your wash day.
Recently I had the chance to try As I Am’s new Long and Luxe line and if you have not heard of it before, here is your chance to get formally introduced.
In this post, I am going to use some of the products from this new line and show you how to use them to develop a great Winter wash day regimen that will keep your strands strong and healthy.
Let’s begin!
Always Pre-poo
You all will have to forgive me, but I am a huge pre-poo fanatic because not only does this process prepare your hair for wash day it prepares your hair for maintaining its moisture for the week.
You want to choose your pre-poo wisely during the colder months, you want something that not only adds moisture to the hair but that strengths the hair from the very start of your wash day. As I Am took things a step further though, they developed a product that also focuses on the scalp.
The Scalp Serum Strengthening Hair Treatment is perfect for a pre-poo because it combines oils, with strengthening agents that focus on hair growth, follicle nourishment, and hair manageability.
The serum contains nutrients such as Biotin, Phytosterols, Aloe Vera and Pomegranate Juice but in addition to those ingredients its loaded with some light oils including jojoba and pumpkin seed oil.
For a stellar pre poo dampen your hair with some water and then using the little dropper tool, add the serum to your scalp rub it in thoroughly. After the serum is applied to your scalp cover your hair with a plastic cap and use a heat source for a luxurious pre-poo for 20 minutes.
The Cleanse
During the Winter we might decide to stretch wash days to every 14 days but I know for me personally I never last that long. If your scalp tends to get dry and flaky, by all means, wash your hair and scalp despite what you would “typically do” in previous years.
Choose a shampoo that not only cleanses your scalp and hair but that will add value to your hair as well. These days brands are really focused on ensuring that all their products serve dual purposes and we the consumers, are savvy enough to pick ingredients that help our strands in multiple ways.
The Strengthening Shampoo from the Long And Luxe collection particularly intrigued me because it has hydrolyzed protein included on the ingredient list.
Specifically, it has Hydrolyzed Lupine Protein which will penetrate the hair strand and strengthen the hair from the inside out while getting rid of old product and any debris on your hair and scalp.
If you are afraid of protein, you shouldn’t be, especially if you have fine or porous hair. Proteins help your hair to retain moisture longer because it reduces the porosity of the strand.
Another alternative for a quick cleanse
Co-wash with a Cleansing Creme Conditioner to keep your hair moisturized weekly! If you workout you might have to wash more often, and having a cleansing conditioner one those days you need something quickly can be very handy. The Long and Luxe Cleansing Creme Conditioner Gro-Wash, detangles Hair, moisturizes hair and scalp and has a special blend of natural ingredients that work to promote healthy hair growth.
Allow the conditioner to work for you
This is where the rubber meets the road! I can almost guarantee that conditioning your hair and deep conditioning your hair even when you do a pre-poo can help you retain more moisture than you can ever imagine.
The conditioner from the Long and Luxe Collection is a Strengthening and hydrating treatment that like the shampoo has hydrolyzed proteins for strength as well as coconut oil that also penetrates the hair for maximum strength.
During the colder months let the conditioner work a little harder by either applying heat or just letting it sit for the best penetration especially if you have low porosity hair.
Finally!
Protective style
These days I love to just load my hair up with nutrients and then tuck it away for the week! During the Winter the routine for styling remains the same only you want to be more diligent in comparison to the Summer months.
Do not get me wrong hair hibernation is not *always* necessary but it is recommended especially on cold days. The great thing about these products is that they are loaded with ingredients that help to keep our hair strong in case we decide to wear our hair out for an event or special occasion.
In conclusion, understand that the key to Winterizing your regimen is overcompensating for the loss of moisture at the beginning of wash day with a prepoo and towards the end of your wash day with your deep conditioning process and protective style.
If you do those three things using great products, your hair will survive the season with absolutely no issues.
That’s it!
If you made it this far, and you want to try the As I Am Long And Luxe Collection, please make sure that you use our discount code below:
The Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday code is – AIABO15OFF (Valid until November 28th)
This post was sponsored by AS I AM Naturally but all words and opinions are my own!
