Winter hair care products to protect and soothe your locks

The arrival of winter is bad news for hair. Luckily, the beauty world has come up with a host of new-fangled products to keep your locks nourished

Hair treatments and styling tools can ease the effects of the cold weather (Getty)

It should come as no surprise to learn that winter wreaks havoc on your hair.

From the freezing cold temperatures to the blustery winds and central heating, our locks are often left feeling brittle and lacking in moisture.

But fear not because there is hope.

Thankfully, the beauty world has come up with a host of new-fangled products designed specifically to soothe and protect your tresses.

There are shampoos infused with hydrating and tropical ingredients, treatments that shield from aggressors, and styling tools created by some of the world’s leading engineers.

Here are our top picks for warding off the effects of winter weather on your mane.

Shampoo and Conditioner

Maui Nourish & Moisture Coconut Milk Shampoo, £5.99 and Conditioner, £5.99, Boots

The first step in soothing your tresses is to invest in a hydrating shampoo and conditioner that will help lock in moisture.

Not only will this cleanse the strands of any dirt and debris but, pick the right products, and it will also leave them feeling super-smooth and looking shiny.

In this case, we suggest picking up a shampoo and conditioner that contain a unique blend of nourishing ingredients, such as essential oils, that will provide an instant dose of moisture to the hair.

One of our favourites is the Coconut Milk range from Maui, which is made using aloe vera juice, coconut water, creamy coconut milk, guava oil and wholesome mango butter.

It’s not just about finding the product though – what you do with it matters too. When washing your hair, give your scalp a good massage for about 10 minutes to increase blood flow, which will in turn deliver thicker, healthier tresses.

Hair mask

Bleach London, Beer Treatment, £10, Cult Beauty

The combination of wind and indoor dry heat can deplete your hair of moisture, making conditioning vital.

To really treat your hair, it’s wise to use a treatment like a hair mask on a regular basis, perhaps once a week, to help restore lost moisture and shine.

Your best bet is one that’s rich in oils and will result in softer, silkier hair that not only looks and feels better, but will also be easier to style.

For a mask that will repair and fortify your tresses we suggest Bleach London’s Beer Treatment. Enriched with yeast beer proteins, which, given their low molecular weight, can penetrate individual hair shafts to deeply condition each individual strand from within, it helps to soften, strengthen, repair, detangle and reduce breakage.

What’s more, it also contains B vitamins (B2, B6, B7, B8 and B9) as well as magnesium and selenium, creating a formula that nourishes and protects. Plus, it’s vegan and cruelty-free.

Leave-in treatment

Ouai Haircare, Hair Oil, £24, Net-a-Porter

If you’re the kind of person that gets up late and has to leave your house in a hurry, a leave-in treatment like an oil or serum will quickly become your go-to product this winter.

Serums and oils are ultra-nourishing formulas that instantly add shine, condition and repair without weighing the hair down.

One of our favourites comes courtesy of celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin, the woman responsible for maintaining the manes of the Kardashian family and Gigi Hadid.

Ouai’s Hair Oil is ultra-lightweight and enriched with a cocktail of nourishing ingredients including amino acids, tamarind seed, keratin, ama oil, hibiscus and jasmine to enhance moisture levels and protect from humidity.

Either work one to three drops through wet hair and air-dry, smooth over already dry strands or use as a hydrating overnight mask before rinsing in the morning.

Styling tools

Dyson Airwrap, £399.99, Dyson

The world of styling tools has come a long way since the days of scorching flat irons and right now there are two major players you should be watching – Dyson and GHD.

Heat is the most obvious culprit when it comes to hair damage but, for many of us, it remains a necessity. So, if you really can’t go without heat styling, you’re going to need to opt for a tool that’s kinder to your tresses.

Investing in a quality hair dyer is a good place to start and both brands offer their own versions which help reduce damage. The Dyson Supersonic completely reinvented the way hairdryers are designed, using a microprocessor to regulate the temperature 20 times every second, keeping it under control and helping prevent any harm.

GHD’s Aura Hair Dryer, meanwhile, uses Cool-Wall technology to achieve a 27 degrees Celsius cooler to touch body and 82 degrees Celsius cooler to touch nozzle, ensuring you can style much closer to the root for impressive volume.

GHD Air Glacial Blue Hair Dryer, £99, GHD

When it comes to straightening, GHD’s new Platinum+ Styler is a worthy choice. Designed using breakthrough predicative technology, the tool monitors the temperature of the plates 250 times per second, and recognises the thickness of your hair to adjust the power accordingly.

If nonchalant waves or bouncy curls are more your thing though, look no further than Dyson’s Airwrap. Designed to be used on damp hair, the tool uses aerospace technology – called The Coanda Effect – to create a spinning vortex of air around the curling barrel so that the hair wraps around it.

The styler measures its temperature up to 40 times a second to ensure hair does not become damaged and results in smooth, bouncy curls without the need for extreme heat.