► Use the right tool to dry your hair – Raising the cuticle creates frizz and drying with a regular old bath towel is asking for your hair to frizz up like nobody’s business. You are disturbing the curls and causing undue friction to your tresses.
Try an old t-shirt or a microfiber towel* to dry instead of a regular towel to reduce frizz, I personally I swear by the old t-shirt method. Both techniques not only combat frizz but they don’t take out too much moisture when you dry your hair and that’s a great way to prevent dryness.
► Use anti humidity styling products – These specialized products enhance curls, smooth the cuticle and thereby prevent frizz for longer periods. Most curlies in humid climates know about this but if you’ve been suffering with frizz for a while check out styling gels and mousses that fight frizz. There are styling solutions, serums, gels, and leave-ins that actually block out the humidity.
► Don’t touch while drying – Once hair is detangled and clumped in the shower, no more combs, brushes or even fingers especially if your hair is prone to frizzing. Disturbing the curls prior to your hair being fully dried is a well-known no-no for naturals and curlies and even though you always think it can’t happen, believe me it can!
You will be trying to ‘fix’ your hair and end up with a frizzy mop. You ruin your style and you ruin your chances of frizz-free hair. JUST DON’T DO IT!
► Air dry whenever possible – Even though using a diffuser* will reduce the chance of frizz while speed drying, a blow dryer* will still remove more moisture from your hair faster than air drying which in the greater scheme of things leads to more frizz. The blow-dryer can end up causing breakage by over-drying your hair so if you must apply heat use a diffuser*. If you want to ensure you get the least amount of frizz then air dry and don’t touch your hair until its 80% to completely dry.
► Plan ahead – We all have weather apps on our phone that will give you not on the temps but the humidity levels in your area. Use them! These are great tools to allow you to determine how to style your hair during extremely humid days. If you are planning on wearing your hair straight you might want to change the plan if you know that you are having 50% to 100% humidity.
In the same way you can adjust your usage of anti-frizz hair products depending on the day’s humidity levels. Wear a hat, a scarf or a headband* or wear styles like buns so you are not fighting a losing battle. Make the weather work for you and you will see less frizzy bad hair days than before. With all the tips we have mentioned you can’t win against Mother Nature so work with her instead!
That’s all well and fine for those who hair will go into a bun but what about those with short hair? What style can I do to avoid frizz?
You can still do many of the tips mentioned above like the cool rinse, air drying and not touching your hair until it’s dry. Using anti-humidity products and drying your hair with a microfiber towel or with an old t-shirt will combat any frizz you get from any style.
Good tips, thank you Sabrina! I often look like a brillo pad after washing and drying. Will try some of these and see what happens!
Thanks for these tips, I’ve tried them and they help a lot. Another thing I’ve recently learned is that washing your hair with soap raises the ph which opens up the cuticle as well. The solution is to spritz with diluted vinegar to make the hair acidic again and close the cuticle.
This was a great article! I will definitely try to cool rinse after my next wash. Whenever I’m wearing my hair out and curly I use the CURLS Curl Gel-les’c that gives me definition, hold, shine and blocks humidity. It’s may absolutely fave product for curly styling and I’ve tried quite a few.
http://www.curlkitshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=171
i want my hair frizzy how do i do?
Lovely tips. Thanks Leeznijis Blog
IMO the colder the water the better. Those of us who swear by this have SHINY hair as well as strong healthy cuticles–the cold water helps our cuticles to contract and THAT action along with sealing in our moisture goodies ensure our good stuff does not leak back out–the UP side is healthier, more luscious hair that stays soft and has the BOING factor.
The SHINE is a result of intact cuticles SLAMMED SHUT. We do this by ending the wash day or moisturizing session with an weak acid diluted with water (ACV or Aloe juice or lemon juice) all ICE cold and mixed with water then spritz it on our hair as we pull DOWN, allowing the cold water to pour over from root to tip–in the end–SHINE
Shine is the result of light reflecting off closed cuticles and bouncing back off of hair–true shine is from healthy closed cuticles–you can fake the shine if your hair is damaged with hair gloss or oils but true shine won’t mess up your clothes and is a sure sign your cuticles ergo your hair is really, really healthy!
Of course it goes without saying that the less frizz the more shine and the more closed the cuticle, the more all these things are achieved!