Growing up, I used to always hear people say "Don't go outside with wet hair! You'll catch a cold!!!" So, for yeeeeeeears, I was so fearful anytime I would wash my hair and then head outside into the cold. The funny thing is... I never ever caught a cold from going outside with wet hair. I just ended up BEING cold! lol Although my grandmama may have gotten it wrong with catching a cold, her warnings were absolutely correct.
Think about this... Have you ever put a can of soda (or pop depending on where you're from) in the freezer and forgot about it? When you finally remembered about it and opened that freezer back up...yuck! You either found an exploded mess or a can that's so warped that it was undrinkable. What you witnessed is the expansion of liquids when frozen. Well, when freshly washed, your hair is holding a lot of moisture inside of its strands. So, when you take your wet hair outside into the cold, it leaves room for the moisture (inside of your hair) to expand...damaging the cuticles (outermost/scale-like structure of your hair).
When your cuticles are damaged from this type of expansion, it
- makes it harder for your hair to retain moisture
- makes your hair more fragile and prone to breakage
- makes your hair more brittle and hay-like
- makes your hair look dull and rougher to the touch
These are all things that are a huge pain when it comes to your hair. Not only that, but you run the risk of your hair mildewing. Gross right!?! How do I know this? Because it actually happened to me. I went outside in the cold with wet hair. By the end of the day, I smelled something sour and assumed that I did a crummy job of washing my clothes... only to realize later that it was MY HAIR!!! Ugh! Huuuuuuuge lesson learned... and that was with my actual hair. Imagine if I wore a weave or wig. The smell would've been so much worse!
You're probably sitting there like "Ok Kristine. We get the point!" Hahaha. Ok ok. I've scared you straight with all of the bad side effects. But, what's the resolve??? Your best bet is to dry your hair as best as possible before going out into the cold. Running behind and have to run out with wet hair? In these situations, I usually put on a silk/satin headscarf and then place a cotton t-shirt, a towel, a microfiber towel, or a cotton headwrap over the scarf. What this will do is allow some of the moisture from your hair to be absorbed into the fabrics. Don't judge me, but at times, I've even wrapped a paper towel around my ponytail and used butterfly clips to keep it in place (allowing for excess moisture to be absorbed easily from my hair).
No matter what method you choose to dry your hair (a legit one or my bootleg paper towel method lol), the important thing is to ensure that you listen to grandmama's words of wisdom. Avoid going outside into the cold with wet hair... your hair will be much happier as a result!