By Michelle Swift June 21, 2016 in Frizzy Hair Tips 2,639 Comments

Crash Course: How To Stop A Frizzy Hair Day Before It Starts

We’ve all had it and we all battle it. Whether you’re a curly or a straight-y the one thing we have in common is frizz. That’s right, no matter the culprit; weather, heat damage or desert dry hair — frizz is the outcome. Non-weather related frizz is an easy fix. Start taming your mane by shampooing less, deep conditioning regularly, putting away the heating tools and once your hair is styled, keep your hands off. (Photo via Getty Images via Stockphoto4u)

source: Getty Images

Weather related frizz gets a bit trickier, but it can be beat. It’s all about understanding your hair, dew points and humectants. Proper use of humectants can actually reflect on what kind of hair day you will have, but more on that later… First, we promise not to get all super nerdy on you, but with a bit of science you can manage any type of frizz that the weather brings you and thanks to technology — there’s an app for that.

The Best “Hair Forecast” Apps To Stop A Bad Hair Day Before It Even Starts:

1. Frizz Forecast (Free): Not only do you get a customized weather report on how your hair will act throughout the day, but this tool will fill you in on what products will work best for your hair and whether or not you should use humectants. If you’re looking for the crème de la crème in weather apps, you can’t get much better than this.

source: naturallycurly.com

2. How’s My Hair (Free): This weather website generates a hair forecast based on environmental factors in your location. It´ll tell you witty things like, “the wind is blowing at 9km/hour, just enough wind to make your hair look like you´re Beyonce; standing in front of a medium power fan” or, “the relative humidity is 61%: hope you´re cool with frizz today.” As you can see, it’s not your typical weather app.

source: gabwhite.com

3. Hair Alert (Free, iOS): Plug in your current location to get customized hairstyling tips at your fingertips. This app updates you with the temperature, humidity, wind and dew point levels to ensure every day is a good hair day.

source: allure.com

4. My Hair Weather Personalized Frizz Forecast ($2 iOS): For less than 1/3 the cost of a bottle of shampoo you can carry a personal hair weather forecast right on your phone. Get current, hourly and 7-day hair weather data, including product recommendations for your hair type as well as, ingredients to avoid so that you can maintain healthy hair. This app is all about putting your hair first.

source: myhairweather

5. Bad Hair Day (Free, Android): Here is another tool to add alongside your blow dryer or flat iron. This app translates the current weather conditions for your location and hair type while prepping you with useful tips on how to prevent a bad hair day.

What Causes Frizzy Hair?

Commonly known as your worst enemy, simply put, frizz is an interruption of your hair’s natural pattern caused by a raised cuticle. Instead of your hair shaft lying flat and behaving like it’s supposed to, it lifts up, welcoming moisture into your hair which causes swelling in your strands — hello frizz.

source: Getty Images

How Do I Prevent Frizzy Hair?

Remember how we told you that dew points and proper use of humectants could make or break a frizzy hair day? Well, here is the science-y, nerdy part that we warned you about:

Dew Point: This is the temperature that the air needs to reach in order to form moisture in the atmosphere. A higher dew point means that more moisture is in the air (aka humid); a lower dew point means the air is dry.

Humectant: A humectant is a substance that retains moisture. Humectants are commonly found in hair products and definitely play a role in how weather affects our hair. Check your hair product ingredient labels for these common humectants: glycerin, sorbitol, propylene glycol, honey and aloe vera. These ingredients are great at grabbing moisture from the air and hydrating your hair, but are dependent on dew points: When the dew point is low and there isn’t a lot of moisture in the air for the humectants to attract, they will actually search for moisture in your own hair. Yikes! That means humectants can actually remove moisture from your hair and diffuse them into the air leaving your hair dry, and frizzy. On a day with a higher dew point when there is some moisture in the air, humectants will pull moisture from the air and keep your tresses hydrated and frizz free.

source: Getty Images

How Do I Stop Frizzy Hair Before It Starts?

So, how do I know when humectants can help or hurt my hair? Here’s a little cheat sheet to help you figure it all out.

Dew Point Below 15: The air is desert dry so, steer clear from humectants and focus on adding as much moisture to your thirsty tresses as you can. Hint: Condition, condition, condition.

Dew Point 15-39: This is an experimental range and relies on the porosity of your hair. If you have highly porous hair, meaning your cuticles stay open, allowing water to go in and out of the inner layers of your strands, it’s safe to say you should avoid humectants. If your hair has low porosity, meaning your cuticles lay flat and stay closed, humectants may help without drying out your hair.
***Don’t know your porosity? Try this: Take a loose strand or two and place them into a bowl of water for several minutes, if they float it means your porosity is on the low end.

Dew Point 40-60: Curly girls this is your sweet spot. Humectants will be your bestie as they will attract moisture from the air, making your curls behave in all the best ways.

Dew Point 60+: The atmosphere is overloaded with moisture, making it overkill for your hair. To keep frizz at bay, be sure to avoid products with humectants.

source: Getty Images

Whether you’re a curly or a straight-y you can conquer frizz. Now go share this with all of your gal pals so they can too!

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Michelle Swift

Michelle Swift is a lifestyle writer who enjoys exploring the world behind the wheel of a Fiat 500, mapping out adventures and stops for good eats along the way. A curly girl since birth, she’s sharing her curly hair secrets as a sort of public favor to all of you curly girls out there. Michelle’s diverse writing experience has allowed her to contribute content to various online platforms, print magazines and social media sites. Find out more about Michelle at her blog Table Without Borders.