Beat the Winter Hair Blues with Warren Tricomi

It's that time of year again, winter is on the brink and we are going to battle the cold again. As the winter approaches, my skin and hair have a major moment, get sucked dry of any moisture and then finally sink into a deep depression until the sun reemerges in May. I think they may have Seasonal Affect Disorder but I'm no doctor. The harsh, frigid air makes my hair brittle. Pieces break off and it just hangs limply on my shoulders while I try to slather on moisture rinses and maks. This holiday season don't let the winter hair blahs happen to you. As I checked myself out in the mirror recently, I couldn't help but think, my hair is starting to look strangely like the a retro 70s haircut…and not in a good way. I reached out to my favorite salon, Warren Tricomi for some revival therapy. A new haircut that would breathe life back into my despondent locks was just what the doctor ordered.

The two pictures above are before pictures, as you can see, my hair was getting a little past the point of being long and luxurious. I'm always terrified I'm going to become one of those women who has hair down past her bum but thinks she's still totally rocking it. I have several friends standing by to alert me if this ever becomes an issue. A few days ago, I had no angles, no layers, just loooooooooong hair, usually parted down the middle. I was headed right for winter hair depression. Someone send over some prozac. Stat.

Yes, Cher totally rocked this look but I think no one, not even I should be going for this…

So, I went to the salon I always go to when my locks are feeling low, Warren Tricomi. The doctor (Naru, an amazing stylist from Japan who is as sweet as can be and so talented) recommended layers, angles and lots of 'em. Plus she added a few long layers just for some texture and to clean up the ends. For those of you who do not know me, I am very adventurous with some things, I have been to Southeast Asia, I've been bungy jumping, but I do NOT mess around with my hair. It's quite literally what I consider to be my crowning glory. But I trust Warren Tricomi and I chose to trust Naru. 

I think I made the right decision. This is the "after" shot. Please excuse my tired eyes, if this was a commercial I would have had a professional makeup artist make me over for my "after" shot. But Smartypanties is on a budget afterall. I love my new haircut, do you see all of the angles and layers at the bottom? How lightweight it looks? This is exactly what I needed to beat the winter hair blahs.

To breathe extra life into your locks, Naru recommended that I use a curling iron at the ends and curl from the bottom, rolling upwards, away from your face. I love this effect: soft and light curls that look natural.  (Admittedly, I didn't let her do it all over because I was going for a casual Saturday afternoon look). I used to feel guilty pulling out my curling iron but she said that blow dryers can actually damage hair just as much. After seeing how she worked I realized why. When I'm (attempting) to style my ends with a blowdryer, I'm pulling and twisting and genuinely just making it up as I go along. I end up going over and over again the same tortured pieces of hair in an attempt to get them to curl the way I want. With one quick swipe of the curling iron, Naru reached the desired effect. Simple as that. Much less damage.

Here are some more tips I have gathered from both Warren Tricomi as well as my own personal arsenal of expertise.

• Get a haircut–but not just any haircut. Get a REALLY good haircut. If your hair is cut properly you won't have to mess around styling it and thus damaging it even more. Now that my hair is so bouncy and full of life, I won't need to be flat ironing the bottoms as much.
• My scalp can get really dry in the winter if I don't properly care for it. To prevent this I use T-Gel shampoo from Neutrogena about once every two weeks. This stuff is the real deal. Don't bother with Head and Shoulders, I swear that stuff is disgusting. T-Gel smells medicine-ish so be sure to condition with something that smells yummy.
• Deep condition your hair with some kind of mask once a week to keep your ends moisturized. I love Amika's Nourishing Hair Mask.
• Add a lightweight leave-in-conditioner to fight static. Is it just me? In the winter I look like my hand is on one of those electricity balls from the 80's! This will also help keep your ends fresh and healthy. 
• Wear a hat. I am a big believer that the wind drains my hair of any shred of life it may still have. Wearing a hat just seems to help for me.
• Keep up on trims so that split ends don't further damage. 

To get more advice from Warren Tricomi or to book yourself a haircut online, visit their website or call them at  to book an appointment at one of their many locations: New York City, Greenwich, the Hamptons, Miami, New Jersey or Los Angeles.

As an FYI, Naru is located at the Madison Avenue location in New York City:

1117 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10028
212.262.8899
To schedule an appointment: bookmadison@warrentricomi.com 

*I received this haircut as promotional consideration for a feature in this post but as always all opinions herein are my own. 

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