Undoing Winter Damage

Winter does a specific kind of damage, and before you build anything new, it helps to know what you're actually dealing with.

The first step is to assess before making any decision. Don't assume what went wrong; know. Run your fingers through a small section of your hair and notice what you find. Short pieces without a white bulb at the end are breakage. Long strands with a bulb are shed hairs, normal, and not a cause for alarm. The difference matters because breakage and shedding have different causes and different solutions.

Breakage after winter usually points to one of two things: moisture loss or mechanical damage. Cold air strips water from the hair, and heavy styling like tight buns, friction from hats and scarves, and protective styles that weren't properly maintained create stress at vulnerable points along the shaft.

For breakage repair, your priority is the scalp. Healthy strands begin at a healthy root, and if your scalp spent winter dry and under-nourished, it's been producing weaker hair. MPL Hair Treatment 5 Oils, applied directly to the scalp two to three times a week, restores the environment your follicles need to produce stronger growth. Massage it in with light circular pressure for three to five minutes to stimulate circulation.

On the strand side, reintroduce balance before you add anything else. Winter often leaves hair over-moisturised and under-proteined, and this is damage too. Hair that stretches without snapping back, feels soft or mushy when wet, or loses definition quickly is telling you it needs protein. A light protein treatment before rebuilding your routine sets a better foundation than going straight to deep conditioning.

Know when to trim. A small cut to remove split and damaged ends makes the difference. Trying to grow hair while the ends are splitting is building on a broken foundation. Even a centimetre taken off the right places makes a measurable difference over the following months.

Finally, simplify before you experiment. When hair is compromised, adding new products creates more variables and more confusion. Get back to basics — cleanse, treat the scalp, moisturise, seal. And let your hair stabilise before introducing anything new.

Assess first. Treat specifically. Then rebuild. Here’s to undoing Winter’s woes!

Love MPL,

Your Hair Doctor