One of the main causes of frizzy curly hair is lack of moisture. When curly hair lacks moisture it will reach out into the atmosphere to find it instead. Author of Curly Girl: The Handbook, Lorraine Massey, famously says that “frizz is just a curl waiting to happen”, and that all it needs is moisture.
Because it's harder for the scalp's natural oils to coat strands from root to ends, curly hair is more prone to dryness and frizz than any other hair type. Excess heat-styling is also a common culprit. Using high heat can dry out your strands and damage the hair's cuticle, causing frizz to emerge.
Curls tend to be naturally dry, even when you take care of them. Due to their spiraled shape, it's harder for the natural oils produced from your scalp to travel down and coat the strands, which is why they can get so frizzy.
Yes! According to Witherspoon, leave-in conditioners help hydrate as the curls absorb and maintain styling products. It simultaneously helps reduce frizz for more curl definition, too. Hardges adds that it helps seal in the moisture from water.
Why is my curly hair frizzy even after using conditioner?
If you notice your hair is frizzy after you apply conditioner, this may be because you haven't applied it on soaking wet hair. Your hair may also feel frizzy due to a lack of moisture, so you want to apply a deep conditioning masque that will help to prevent dryness.
How do you make curly hair not frizzy in humidity?
One of the best ways to do that is to lightly coat your curls with oil. The great thing about oils is that they not only lock moisture in, they also lock excess moisture out, which is exactly what you need to fight frizz on high-humidity days.
Curly hair needs both protein and moisture to stay healthy and strong. Our hair is made up of 91% protein. Protein is useful for strengthening and also for repair. However, if we damage our hair with too much straightening, colour treatments, and heat styling, the protein can break down (oops).
How do I know if my hair is lacking protein or moisture?
Take an inch of your hair and stretch it, if it doesn't stretch or breaks, feels dry and rough, it is brittle/damaged and needs moisture treatment. If the hair stretches far and does not return and/or breaks, feels mushy, gummy or cotton candy-like, your hair needs protein.
What does curly hair look like when it needs protein?
The Protein Test: Your hair feels squishy or marshmellow-like, stretches and doesn't return to its original shape or breaks easily. You will be able to tell if your hair needs more protein as it will become brittle and more prone to breakage. Your hair can: Look stringy.
Scientifically speaking, humidity causes hair problems like frizz and flatness because it creates weak hydrogen bonds between the humidity and our hair strands—and this messes with our hair! The more porous our hair strands, the more moisture they absorb, which results in rough, lifted hair cuticles.
