So as I was walking in the cold tonight, I was thinking. Some people do a cold water rinse to close the cuticle, or they have the cool shot on the blow dryer to seal the cuticle and make the hair shiny. If cold temps seals the cuticle, shouldn't your hair be shinier and smoother in cold weather? It's in the 20s out there. Coconut oil freezes on my hair, so do you cuticles also lie down?
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Silly question about cold and closed cuticles
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Odd One
Well-Known Member
hmm interesting.. but im thinking air is air, its not like water when you do a cold rinse : at least the water is moisturizing. but air, COLD air, has little to no moisture, its harsh, its drrrrrryyyy lol... but im just someone who HATES winter and cant wait for it to be over
Nonie
Well-Known Member
I've never bought the cold water closes cuticles theory. I always use lukewarm water on my hair. I personally believe it's the pH that closes the hair cuticle, acidic pH to be precise while alkaline opens the cuticle. If a change in temperature was necessary to open cuticles, I think you'd find relaxers would never be applied without heat being introduced at all times
I also don't believe in pores opening or closing due to temperature of the water. But that's a-whole-nother discussion.
I also don't believe in pores opening or closing due to temperature of the water. But that's a-whole-nother discussion.
Nonie
Well-Known Member
Coconut oil solidifies because its freezing point is very high. Room temperature is enough to make coconut solid. Cuticles don't respond to temperature in the melt/freeze way. A perfect test would be to use cold water in which baking soda has been added or some other alkaline and pour it over your hair. I bet you your hair will not shine or feel smooth. Now take hot water with ACV in it (not so much ACV that you break down cuticles but just enough to make the solution acidic) and I bet you that your hair will shine.
unalteredone
New Member
from http://jillipoo.blogspot.com/2008/12/cold-weather-hair-care.html:
"When the weather gets cold, your primary goal is to keep your hair moisturized. It's impossible to get the moisture from the air, so you have to use products that will do the trick. This means lots of aloe vera, creams, and butters (if you hair can tolerate butters). Humectants such as honey or glycerine may defeat your purposes -- remembers that humectants pull moisture wherever it's needed, so if the hair is dryer than your hair, guess where the humectant will pull from to try to hydrate the air??
In addition to the dew point situation, you also have to remember that your hair cuticle is tighter (like most things, hair contracts when it's cold). This means that not much pollution is getting in, sure, but it also means that not much moisture can, either. Even the type you apply yourself. Where does that leave you? For some people, it means just using bigger helpings of moisture. For others, it means applying moisture more than once a day."
"When the weather gets cold, your primary goal is to keep your hair moisturized. It's impossible to get the moisture from the air, so you have to use products that will do the trick. This means lots of aloe vera, creams, and butters (if you hair can tolerate butters). Humectants such as honey or glycerine may defeat your purposes -- remembers that humectants pull moisture wherever it's needed, so if the hair is dryer than your hair, guess where the humectant will pull from to try to hydrate the air??
In addition to the dew point situation, you also have to remember that your hair cuticle is tighter (like most things, hair contracts when it's cold). This means that not much pollution is getting in, sure, but it also means that not much moisture can, either. Even the type you apply yourself. Where does that leave you? For some people, it means just using bigger helpings of moisture. For others, it means applying moisture more than once a day."
Everything Zen
Well-Known Member
Well it also depends on what else people do to their hair during that time of year. If that were true, people wouldn't feel like their skin is drier and use steam humidifiers in the winter. The extreme conditions wreak havoc on the rest of the body, mind, etc. so I don't see how it could help your hair.
I think that only applies to wet hair that is dried in cool/cold air.
I've never bought the cold water closes cuticles theory. I always use lukewarm water on my hair. I personally believe it's the pH that closes the hair cuticle, acidic pH to be precise while alkaline opens the cuticle. If a change in temperature was necessary to open cuticles, I think you'd find relaxers would never be applied without heat being introduced at all times
I also don't believe in pores opening or closing due to temperature of the water. But that's a-whole-nother discussion.
So I'm guessing you also don't think deep conditioning with heat is necessary?
Hmm, okay. I think I see. But if that's so, shouldn't cold air be like sabino moisture block. supposedly it works by sealing moisture in. new moisture can't get in, but the moisture you originally put in can't get out, either.
also, it's possible for it to be cool and humid. i mean, humidity and temperature aren't always a one-to-one correlation, right?
Nonie
Well-Known Member
I deep condition with heat, but I've also been trying to do it without because I've read of people having great success with it. I also have started to wonder if the heat doesn't just melt the product so it is more liquid so it enters cuticles. I learned about DCing with heat from Cathy Howse and have been doing it since then...but since reading of others' successes without heat and also realizing that none of the products I DC with recommend heat, I've wondered if it's necessary.
To be honest, my main reason for DCing with heat now is just for the "steaming factor". I seem to recall how good my hair felt when it was steamed many years ago and since I usually DC under a cap after my hair has been wet and has conditioner on it, I think of it as just steaming my hair. If I DC with Emergencee by wearing a cap and just going about my business or by going under the dryer, I don't see any difference. Which might explain why "heat" isn't suggested in the instructions. I seem to recall someone else who finds Emergencee works best when she lets it dry on her hair till it's hard and then washes it off. I can't rememer who. I do that too.
unalteredone
New Member
The cuticle constricts, but once you go inside, where there is heating, your cuticle will relax and open more. The problem is, heating tends to be drying. So your hair dries up in the heat inside, then you go outside and there's no moisture in the air. It's a vicious cycle. That's how i understand it.
Also, even if there is cold humidity, if your cuticle is snapped shut...it cant take in any moisture, right?
okay, that makes sense. so in this scenario, it's not really or just the cold weather, it's the heating we do for cold weather.
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