How to Protect Your Style From Humidity

If you’ve ever spent a good chunk of time on getting your hair ‘just right’ only to have it completely ruined by a quick walk outside on a sticky summer day, you’ve likely wondered if there is a way to protect your hair from humidity.  

If you search for frizz on the internet almost all of the references that pop up are for the next miracle product that claims to solve your problem.  But they don’t all work, do they?  Or some days they do and some days they don’t.  

It helps to know WHY humidity ruins your style.  

But besides knowing why it’s happening – here are some tips to help you deal with your hair on hot sticky summer days. 

1 – Keep the humidity out of your hair

There are two basic ways to keep the humidity out of your hair – keep your cuticle undamaged or coat it with something that mimics undamaged hair.

Keep the cuticle tight and undamaged

The cuticle is the outer layer of each hair strand.  It’s a little layer of shingle like scales (like fish scales) surrounding the inner cortex layer of your hair. That inner cortex layer is the part that is affected by humidity (WHY humidity ruins your style).  When your cuticle is damaged these little scales can stick out or even be loose or missing like shingles on a roof after a bad windstorm.  These gaps let the humidity right into your cortex.  Even perfect, undamaged cuticle will still let some humidity in, but it will take a little longer. 

There are a quite a few things you can do to avoid damaging your hair, but here are my top tips:

Use a hair towel

Hair towels are specially designed towels that soak up water really fast!  They are usually made so it’s easy to put your hair up in a convenient turban.  Having it up in a turban also means you won’t be rubbing it and damaging it while it’s wet. The Aquis towel I use soaks up almost all the water in my hair by the time I’m ready to get dressed after my shower (5 minutes or less).

Keep or add some oils in your hair

Your scalp naturally produces some oils that are designed to coat the hair shaft and help keep the cuticle smooth.  If you shampoo too often you could strip too much of this oil and need to replace it with a conditioner.  So do the things that keep your hair feeling smooth and silky and you will be keeping your cuticle smooth and tight.

Be nice to your hair

If you damage your cuticle it will be harder to keep the humidity out of your hair.  This means all those chemical treatments, blowouts and flatirons that you might be using to make your hair straight and shiny are actually making it harder and harder to keep the frizz at bay.

Coat your hair so that humidity can’t get in or out

If your cuticle is already damaged you can use products that try to cover the gaps and help hold the shingles closed. On super humid days even healthy hair can use a little extra help.

Most anti frizz products are designed to coat your hair shaft so that moisture cannot move in or out. Keep in mind that some of them can build up in your hair or cause further damage.  Silicone containing leave-ins used in moderation can be a wonderful way to reduce the effect of humidity in your hair without the heaviness of natural oils.

Keratin treatments are a semipermanent way to achieve sleek shiny hair, but do have risks.  I’m not a hairstylist, but I found this great article to explain these treatments – Before You Get a Keratin Treatment Know These Facts

2 – Keep the humidity in your hair the same as the air as you style it.

This one is a bit different but doesn’t involve chemicals or extra effort.  It’s not humidity itself that cause frizz, it’s the change of humidity that causes frizz.

How do you avoid changing humidity other than staying in air conditioning permanently?

Air Dry Your Hair

Any heat applied to your hair is forcing the moisture out of your hair, making it even less humid and more susceptible to the humid air around it. Instead, style your hair in such a way that your hair dries in place at the outside humidity level.

Use a detangler on damp hair and comb gently before air drying so the hair is smooth at the start of the process. You won’t want to brush or comb it once it is dry!

Air drying usually just results in whatever your natural hair is unless you hold it in place while it dries.  Try drying your hair in braids for kinky curls, or in a twist to straighten out super curly hair.  

If you want to try a twist and need a way to hold it up try a Lilla Rose flexi clip or U-Pins. 

3 – Try a different style

Put it up

It’s one thing to control a whole mane in frizz weather.  It’s another to just work on the wispies.  If it’s going to be an especially challenging day for your hair, you can always put it up.  This will conquer a head full of frizz by managing it down to a neat bun.  If your curling iron curls fall out in the humid weather, the same principle works – put it up in a classy twist!

If you keep your hair in a twisted or braided style all day the individual hairs don’t get to do their thing.  In fact, if your hair has been controlled all day in a twist or other style it has likely adapted to the humidity level so when you take it out it will stay in loose waves.

Lilla Rose hair accessories are a perfect way to keep your hair under control without damage or pulling.  

Work with your natural hair

If you work hard at changing your hair from curly to straight or straight to curly, consider taking a break. You may still need a leave in conditioner to coat your damaged hair, but the battle to keep your hair exactly the way you want it will be much less.

Experiment towards simpler…

Don’t be afraid to try different approaches to manage your hair.  I personally avoid damaging my hair, air dry it, use a leave-in, and put it up on hot sticky days. None of these things take any effort!  You have loads of things to offer the world, spending oodles of time on your hair if you don’t want to just isn’t worth your time.

What will you do to protect your style from humidity?  Will you try another style that’s not so complicated?