There are four primary factors that cause frizz: the environment, diameter of the hair fiber itself, level of curl, and the amount of damage. Avoid long and hot showers, excess exfoliation, and hot tools like traditional hairdryers and flat irons to prevent frizz.
Damaging hair with too much shampoo
If your hair is already dry or damaged, using too much shampoo can remove the moisture your hair needs. This makes your hair even more vulnerable to damage. This problem can become even worse with harsher shampoos, such as clarifying and volumizing shampoos.
Signs of over-washing include an increase in split-ends and excessive dandruff. If your hair is being cleaned too often, it may look less shiny and more frizzy.
You might notice frizz, or that your curls aren't as springy and well-defined. Your hair may begin to feel coarse and dry. These are all indicators that you may be shampooing too much. Split ends are always a sign that your hair is in distress, and usually, that comes from overwashing.
Humidity, lack of moisture, friction, and styling and chemical damage can unsettle the cuticles and cause hair to frizz. How you treat your hair before, during, and after the shower can help treat frizz, even in the most humid and unforgiving climates.
If you have frizzy hair
Frizzy or curly hair hardly ever gets greasy and its texture doesn't absorb products very well, so it's often dry and fragile. You don't need to wash it more than once a week (you can even stretch it to every 15 days!).
When you wash your hair too often, you strip your hair of its natural oils. This causes your hair to dry out and become frizzy. Avoid using hot water while washing your hair, as this can damage it and cause it to become puffy.
How often you should wash your hair? It depends on your hair type. Generally, folks who have fine or oily hair should wash their hair every other day. But those who have medium to thick, wavy, curly, coiled, or damaged hair can go a bit longer — usually 2 to 4 days.
There are a lot of products out there — conditioners, serums, shampoos — that promise to heal and restore dry, damaged hair. Sadly, there's really no way to heal damaged hair. Hair is not a living tissue with regenerative abilities, so it can't heal.
Another common way to get rid of frizzy hair permanently is opting for the Japanese hair straightening technique. Japanese straightening is also known as thermal reconditioning. This process involves breaking hair proteins, thus making your hair less frizzy. The results are little different than keratin treatment.
Try Anti-Frizz Salon Treatments
Products with keratin can help eliminate frizz that can sometimes make hair look dull, such as Eksperience™ Reconstruct Phase 1 – Keratin Filler.
While these terms are often used interchangeably and have similar symptoms, there is a common misconception that frizzy hair means damaged hair and this is simply untrue.
As we get older, our hair texture changes dramatically. Hair will slowly become drier, coarser, and thinner over the years. The truth is that as we grow older, the oils that our scalp relies on for nourishment decrease, resulting in drier, frizzier hair.
Even for healthy hair, high humidity environments can lead to frizz when your hair absorbs excess moisture where an anti-frizz moisture hair barrier spray can help. Over-styling damaging the hair cuticle and causing frizz. Heat damage and styling is another common culprit of frizzy hair.
Using products that are designed to nourish the scalp and hair can definitely speed up this process, but on average you'd be looking at six months to a year to fully see a difference in your hair's condition.
To help control frizzy hair after washing it, first avoid any hair products that contain alcohol. The best ingredients for frizzy hair are nourishing oils like argan oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil.
Apply a leave in conditioner or a light serum to ensure you lock in the moisture in your hair after a wash. This will also help you detangle your hair easily, especially if it is long.
Moisture overload tends to affect those who have high hair porosity, causing it to look limp, stringy, and even greasy. It is essential for all hair types, but it is even more crucial for those who have strong and defined curls.
For the average person, every other day, or every 2 to 3 days, without washing is generally fine. “There is no blanket recommendation. If hair is visibly oily, scalp is itching, or there's flaking due to dirt,” those are signs it's time to shampoo, Goh says.
"Simply put, overwashing can result in extra oil in your hair. When you train your hair to be washed every day, your oil glands adjust to producing more oil to compensate for the loss of oils that the shampoo is stripping. Even if you're more oily, you're also drying out the hair strand," she says.