Image: @sojazzaye
There’s nothing more frustrating then when your expectations don’t align up to reality when it comes to your curls. If, instead of seeing perfectly defined and clumped waves, you find yourself looking at frizz, one of these reasons could be to blame. On wash day you dedicate a few hours of your life to achieving soft, smooth, defined curls. Then you get out of the shower, let your hair dry while looking forward to scrunching out the crunch and seeing what all your hard work has done–but the reveal is quite lackluster. If, instead of seeing perfectly defined curl clumps, you find yourself looking at frizzy hair after drying, one of these causes might be to blame.
1. Breakage is causing a frizz halo.
If you do not cut off your damaged ends, you may start to see breakage throughout your hair especially when it comes to wash day. Unfortunately, breakage is one of the causes of frizz that cannot be fixed or reversed, but it can be remedied.
The best way to deal with it is to understand what is causing the damage in the first place: perhaps your hair dye or heat tool usage are to blame. Once you understand this, it will be easier to avoid the problems. Treat your curls to some extra protein or moisture masks.
2. You are brushing your hair after your shower.
Detangling wavy and curly textured hair is a must or you can wind up with mats in your hair; however, after the shower is not the time to do it. Hair clumps best when it is soaking wet, so once you are out of the shower, getting wavy hair to clump becomes more difficult. By running a brush through your waves, you are effectively removing their definition that you had worked so hard for in the shower.
The way to keep your curl definition: Either brush or detangle your hair during your shower when you have a conditioner with good slip in your hair. Because you do not want to cause your hair to stretch or break, finger comb or use a gentle brush that will not snag and pull tangles but instead the bristles will bend and you can slowly get the tangles out over a few brushes.
3. You are not giving your hair enough moisture.
Dry hair is frizzy hair, so if you are experiencing frizzy hair after drying, your hair is likely asking you for more moisture.
This can come in a few different ways: apply a deep conditioning hair mask that is packed with moisture on a once-a-week basis. You can also try a lasting leave-in conditioner that will help lock in moisture and keep your hair happy all day long.
4. You are not using a product with enough hold.
If you are not only seeing frizzy hair after drying, but also seeing your curls fall out throughout the day, you most likely need a styling product with stronger hold. The amount of hold you need depends on your texture type.
Whatever you do, do not forget: make sure your hair is getting the moisture it needs in conjunction with a stronger hold gel because this type of curl definer can dry out your hair, which would give you more frizz.
IMAGE SOURCE: @amanduh_panduh5
5. You are using a regular terry towel.
While some people can use a regular terry cloth towel and experience no issues, for those of us with naturally wavy and curly hair terry cloth is known to draw too much moisture out of our hair too quickly. The abrasive loops cause our curl clumps to deform and cause frizz.
Thankfully, there is another easy fix for this: dry your wet hair with an old t-shirt, as they are much less abrasive and will not suck out as much water from your hair.
6. You are diffusing with too much heat.
For those that use a diffuser, it is important to remember to go low and slow. Using the highest heat setting or a higher blow setting can cause major frizz, even through a diffuser.
Although it may take a little bit longer, do this: set your diffuser on cool instead of hot or warm. It can help to let your hair partially air dry up to 75% before you diffuse.
7.You are not being gentle enough when removing clips.
For volume on wavy and curly hair, clips can be used to help create lift at the roots and help it dry. If you use this method, you have to remember to be incredibly careful when removing those clips. While this may seem like common sense, sometimes clips in the back are hard to see and when you get stuck you could be ruffling up hair and causing frizz.
If you find you are having a hard time getting a clip out: stop what you are doing and either ask for help or find a mirror and gently pull the clip out. In addition to causing frizz, speeding through this process could lead to snags and breakage (hello frizz halo”>.
8. You are touching your hair before it is completely dry.
Natural hair is beautiful and looks so darn touchable, it is why we have to yell at people to back off all the time. This usually makes us our own worst enemies.
Although it might be difficult: keep your hands off, giving your hair 10 extra minutes after you think it is completely dry before you do anything else to it. Once your hair is dry, quickly tousle your waves before you scrunch out the crunch.
9. You have damage that needs to be cut off.
This is a major cause of frizzy hair. Damaged waves and curls do not clump as easily and therefore, they will try to push away from other strands causing frizz.
Since the damage will likely be located at the bottom of your hair, do this: get a haircut to remove the damage and prevent further issues. You may not want to lose the length, but it will be worth it to give you the defined curls you’ve been working for.
Looking for more ways to get rid of frizz? Check out: What is Frizzy Hair & How To Stop It!
