3 No-Frizz Tips for Summer

Fighting frizz is always an issue for curly girls. But once the weather heats up, the fight can get harder thanks to high humidity and summer temps. But frizz doesn’t have to be your nemesis. “Frizz is just a curl waiting to happen,” explains Lorraine Massey, co-author of Curly Girl: The Handbook.  And those beautiful curls can happen in summer as long as you know a few frizz facts.

3 Quick No-Frizz Facts

1. Your towel matters: “The cuticle of the hair resembles a pinecone with tiny scales that overlap,” says Massey.  Hair looks smooth and shiny when these scales lie flat. It looks frizzy when they are open. The fibers on terry cloth towels ruffle the hair’s cuticle causing frizz. Use only a microfiber towel or old, cotton t-shirt on your curls.
2. There’s no such thing as too much moisture: “Frizz happens when little strands of your hair lift up off your head and outward to quench their thirst from moisture in the air,” says Massey.  In summer, when the air is humid this happens more easily. The solution is conditioner, which moisturizes hair while its weight keeps these little hairs down.
3. Step away from the alcohol: Yes, you can still enjoy that summery mojito or margarita. Just steer clear of any hair product that contains alcohol, which is really drying for hair. As Massey says, styling products with alcohol “live in a curly girl’s locks for a day or more and will spend those days sucking up your hair’s moisture and preventing new hydration from getting in.”

What frizz-taming tricks have you picked up along the way?