It is that time of year again. The sun is casting long shadows on the sidewalks. Leaves of orange and yellow cover the ground. Winter is coming. The look of the landscape is changing and evolving, signaling to us that it is time for us to change as well. It’s time for us to start to make our plans for our winter look. Our summer hair looks a bit out of place by now and the time has come to start thinking about our hair care in winter. Time for us to carefully examine what we want, what we feel, and what we think our personal style needs to feel secure and confident as the busiest time of year begins. To figure this all out we need to ask ourselves five questions in order to determine what it is we want and where it is we want to go.

Am I relevant?

We always want our hair to reflect who we are, or at least what we hope we present to the world. You have to look into the mirror and ask yourself if this is a person who is relevant to the world today? You should take a long look at your personal style and ask yourself how it has evolved throughout the year. Has it evolved or have you been stagnant in the sea of fashion for some time? If so its never to late to get current. Let this be the day you discover if you look like you belong in or not.

What is my life like?

Who are you? Are you serious and professional? Are you playful and sassy? Your hair must reflect your personality as well as your relevancy to the world around you. A professional working mother of 3 probably doesn’t want to have a sultry haircut. Likewise a saucy girl probably shouldn’t have a hard bang with a steel blonde bleachout. Identify who you are and start to figure out how that translates into your look. Consider your lifestyle and responsibilities. If you have little morning prep time then you probably do not need an overly complicated cut requiring a lot of styling. Before you meet with your stylist understand the limitations of your time that might be at odds with specific looks you might want to try.

Am I open to color?

There are very few women who do not benefit from the aide of some professional salon hair color, but the question isn’t just are you open to coloring your hair. It also means you’re amenable to continuously evolving your hair color, allowing it to change in tone dependent upon the seasons? For example when planning your hair care for winter you must not forget your winter color is a slightly different shade than your summer color was. In summer months our blonde tones are brighter around the face and crown to give us a sun kissed glow, telling the world that we are outdoorsy, even if that isn’t so. But when Winter arrives, our hair has to tell a much different story. Winter keeps us largely indoors, close to home and hearth. The sun doesn’t kiss our hair during the cold months. Instead we have to rely on hair color to provide the depth and warmth we want to reflect. Blonde hair becomes more honey colored and golden. Platinums tend to get a little more ash into the shade. Brunettes acquire tones of caramel or chestnut, while Reds can evolve into crimson and burgundy. Being open to color means that you recognize with each passing season your hair must slightly transition into a color that reflects your relevancy, your personality, and the season.

Is my cut alive?

Your plan for your hair care for winter cannot be complete without your winter cut. Haircuts should evolve with every visit all year long. When you glance back through those holiday photographs you should never see the same hairstyle in each picture year after year. That harkens back to the question of our hair’s relevancy in today’s world. Your cut has to has to grow and live and breathe. Every salon visit should be one minor step towards your look’s evolution. You shouldn’t walk in one day with long hair and leave with short, let the shorter look come in stages, giving you time to enjoy the different stages as you evolve into a shorter cut. A talented stylist will know how to make your every haircut move into a slightly new direction that will take months for a real change to occur, and when it does occur it will have happened slowly enough that you never at any one time heard anyone ask “Have you changed your hair?” It will just naturally evolve with subsequent visits. So when you do glance back through those old photos you will see different styles yet you won’t really be able to identify an exact point where it changed. You hair is just alive, growing and evolving.

Do I allow my hair to heal?

We put a lot of demands on our hair. Curling, flat ironing, and blowdrying damages our hair plenty through the year. Not to mention the effects sun, sweat, pool and ocean. A proper plan for hair care in winter must include time for nourishing reparative treatments like John Frieda Nourishing Moisture Shampoo. Luckily these can be performed in-salon at color appointments. But we cannot neglect the healing factor our hair needs. Especially during the cold months of winter when our hair is at its most brittle and dry.

Final thoughts

Remember that your hair makes the biggest statement about you. Until you open your mouth to speak to people, the way you look tells them who you are. Make sure you are telling them what you want them to know by portraying yourself as a relevant and authentic individual who stays updated with her look and confident in her style.

Please feel free to leave comments and share your own hair care methods and ideas.