PHOTO COURTESY OF SUMETRAREED

Low Humidity vs. High Humidity

While the topic can be quite complicated it’s important to note that for the sake of hair care and the use of humectants, there are two main weather conditions: low humidity and high humidity.

Low humidity conditions are those such as cold, dry winter air. In this case, if you use products that contain a lot of humectants, there is not a lot of water in the air for the humectants to attract to the surface of your hair. What can occur is that the humectants in your products may prevent the evaporation of water from the hair into the air. Ultra-moisturized hair from humectant use ALONE in this type of climate isn’t going to happen. In fact there is a chance that humectants may remove moisture from the cortex of the hair into the air. Remember diffusion? Moisture will move from areas of high concentration (in this case the hair”> to areas of lower concentration – the air! This can result in dry, icky feeling hair. Not cool! Don’t panic. Humectants are still necessary but you’ll need to add something extra to ensure your hair lock in moisture as long as possible and feels soft and moisturized. You’ll need to use an oil to seal.

With high humidity conditions such as warm or hot summer air, there can often be A LOT of moisture in the air. Some moisture is good; a lot of moisture – not so much. If your textured hair is dry, damaged and overly porous it can absorb a lot of water from the air. This can lead to swelling of the hair shaft, lifting of the cuticle, tangling and frizz. Combine this situation with a product that is high in humectants (especially glycerin”> and you have a situation where a lot of water is attracted to the surface of the hair. This can lead to hair that always feels wet, takes forever to dry and is a sticky, tangled mess. In other words, cotton candy hair. Not hot at all! Again there is a way to tame the frizz.

You wanna get really anal and technical? Figure out the humidity using dew points

So how can you assess the humidity in the air? This is a complicated topic that’s difficult to wrap your head around if you’re not a meteorologist or physicist. However, you don’t have to be either one to get a basic understanding of how to determine how your hair will behave on a particular day. Something we can use is called the dew point. The science-y definition of dew point is the temperature below which the water vapor in a volume of humid air at a constant barometric pressure will condense into liquid water. Huh???

What you need to know is that the dew point is associated with relative humidity. The higher the dew point, the more moisture there is in the air. The lower the dew point, the less moisture in the air. To gauge how dew point makes you feel in general, dew points above 65 F (about 18 C”> make it feel sticky and humid outside while dew points less than 65 F are more comfortable. The higher the dew point above 65 the stickier it will feel outside.

With respect to hair, knowing the dew point can really help you in managing your hair and style and determine whether or not you’ll use humectants, and if so, how much. You can check the dew point of your location on various weather channels and online. If you have the time.

Types of Humectants

Complicating things EVEN MORE: Types of humectants

There are several different types of humectants found in skin and hair care products.

A few examples include:

  • Glycerin
  • Propylene glycol
  • Honey
  • Agave nectar
  • Sorbitol
  • Sodium PCA
  • Sodium lactate
  • Panthenol
  • Hydrolyzed protein
  • Fructose

What’s interesting about humectants is that each one has a different ability to bind to water. Glycerin, sodium PCA, sodium lactate and propylene glycol are humectants that have really strong water-binding capabilities while the other humectants have less.

I’ve used various humectants and my absolute favourite is glycerin. It’s available, relatively inexpensive and extremely effective.

Here are a few interesting facts about glycerin:

  1. It can hold onto water helping to increase the water levels in the hair
  2. Natural hair with glycerin can sustain higher levels of force before it breaks

At high levels it’s effective; however it can get pretty sticky. So it’s typically mixed with other ingredients and oils. However the bottom line is that it is an extremely effective moisturizer and can make a huge difference in your hair care regimen

How to Use Glycerin

So how do you use it? Here are a few tips:

  • Don’t use straight glycerin. Mixing 1 part glycerin with 4 parts water is a good formula to start with. You’ll need to find that glycerin “sweet spot” (no pun intended”> for your hair, so experiment!
  • If your hair feels soft after you use the glycerin it’s adequately moisturized or you’ve used too much glycerin. If it feels sticky then you’ve definitely used too much. Glycerin can be washed off easily with water so you can just apply a little water to your hair to remove the stickiness.
  • If you have a moisturizer that’s not quite cutting it the great news is that you don’t have to go out and buy another moisturizer with adequate levels of glycerin in it. Use what you have and look for one that’s more effective later. In the meantime, add a glycerin and water mixture to your hair care regimen and note the difference in the way your hair looks and feels.
So have you used glycerin? What’s your experience? Share!
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