HOW TO DRESS FOR THE HARMATTAN SEASON

The Harmattan season is here again. Harmattan is the dry and dusty West African trade wind that blows between the end of November and the middle of March in Nigeria. It usually enters Nigeria from the South through the Sahara into the gulf of Guinea at intermittent strengths.

Due to the dryness and harshness of the Harmattan weather, you should be mindful of what you wear and also pay more attention to your skin to avoid cracking a skin. What are you doing to protect yourself and your family from the dusty air and cold usually associated with the season.

During this season, you will see a lot of people with cracked lips and feet moving about. It is also a season where people’s skin gets dry easily so a jar of Vaseline would come in handy to help sooth the crack in your lips and hands.

While some people would tell you that they prefer the rainy season, others would argue that the Harmattan season is their favourite time of the year. They would tell you that during the Harmattan, you would hardly see anyone sweating or uncomfortable. This is to a large extent true but because of the cold whether people also experience some level of discomfort in the Harmattan season.

Presently in Lagos, where the whether is usually temperate, the Harmattan cold is biting and the long forgotten season of dust has returned. While people in Port Harcourt and other southern states may be enjoying a relative humid condition at this time of the year, people in the far North are almost clamoring that it should go, as they contend with cracked lips, or dusty skins and leaking nostrils. 

Everyone should have some item of clothing that help prevents the skin from the hash whether of Harmattan. The skin can be kept healthy by the topical application of oily creams and weather-friendly dressing. This is perhaps the best time to explore the cultural advantage of wearing ‘Etibo’ (South-South traditional attire) and suits, and other thick fabrics like wool and cotton, as it would be most beneficial to keep warm. 

Covered shoes and boots are recommended for your footwear, as this would also keep your feet warm. Sandals are not really advisable for this season because of dust. To avoid cracking, always ensure you constantly apply lip-gloss or Vaseline on your lips. Your eyes also needs to be protected, since the eyes are directly exposed to the harsh weather especially the dust particles carried by the wind, so a pair of sunshades would come in handy.

 Also at night, you should sleep under layers of clothing to keep warm with your doors and windows closed.