Curly girls, this one is for you!
How many of you have ever felt personally victimized by frizz? *raises hand* I know I have! The higher the humidity, the more I can feel my hair expanding! Lucky for you, I have found ways to combat that frizz with good products and better at-home maintenance care. You’ll read about how to freeze your frizz, scrunch the crunch out, and a magic trick I learned on a hot summer day.
The Cause of Frizz
First, to fight frizz, you need to know how it is caused.
Frizz is a reaction of dryness and damage within the hair cuticle. When the hair cuticle is healthy, it looks like the scales on a fish. As hair dries out and becomes damaged, the scales lift up causing the cuticle to look like a pine cone. During this dry, damaged state, humidity can absorb into the scales causing them to expand. This reaction looks like frizz.
You can manage a healthy cuticle to help reduce frizz by simply bettering your at-home maintenance care and using salon-quality products. Discovering the appropriate shampoo and conditioner for your hair texture and density is a game changer!
Your maintenance routine should consist of diffusing your hair responsibly, sleeping on a silk pillowcase, using a microfiber towel, turning down the temperature of your water, and swatting anyone’s hand away that tries to touch your hair.
Freeze the Frizz
To diffuse your hair responsibility, always apply the proper products and use the correct temperature and speed. Too high of heat dries out hair too fast. Too fast of speed blows the hair around too much. You should be using medium heat and speed. Near the end of the diffusing process, freeze your frizz by switching the temperature to cold air. This cold air will set your curly locks in place.
The proper products should involve a leave-in conditioning spray, a primer for longevity, and a gel cream for hold.
Scrunch the Crunch
Scared of the crunchy hair look? I have a hot tip for how to eliminate the crunch without creating frizz: scrunch the crunch out. Hear me out…
Curly hair needs that “hold” in products to lock in moisture and seal the cuticle. Without the hold, the cuticle won’t stay lying down smoothly. To create luxurious curls and avoid frizz, you have to use gels, creams, and mousses. Once your hair has fully dried and is crunchy, just re-scrunch your hair with oil to eliminate any crunch.
My Magic Trick
One hot summer day, I learned a magic trick. The humidity had gotten the best of my hair; each curl was expanding and I looked like a poof ball. I took a pea-sized amount of styling cream plus sculpting paste, rubbed the concoction into my palms, gently wiped my hands back over the surface of my hair, and voila! The bounce was back and my curls were curling. I had smoothed down the frizz without knocking down the volume at my roots.
These are just a few of my tips and tricks for fighting frizz with curly hair. I hope at least one of them has resonated with you!
