Beauty Tidbits sent in today’s link lovin’ question.
Harshleen asks…I’ve always had thick, poufy hair that also frizzes easily. Is there a way or product to bring down the volume and smoothen hair without using a flat iron to straighten?
The Right Brain responds:
Hi Harshleen. Your question reminds us of the one we received from Kenya about which hair products are best for working out. In both cases, there is no definitive technical answer because there are so many different ways to style your hair and so many different product types. that depend more on personal choice not technical stuff. So, just as we did in Kenya’s case, we’ll give you our point of view and then throw it open for comments from the Beauty Brains community.
The causes of frizzy hair
1) The Natural Shape of Your Hair
If the natural shape of your hair has some curl, you will tend to have more frizz. Hair shape is primarily determined by the shape of the follicles that the hair grows out of. There’s not much you can do about this frizz!
2) How You Cut and Style It
Long hair has more frizz from damage. That’s because it’s experienced a lot of brushing and combing that causes it to break and split. Broken hairs tends to spring outward uncontrollably because the proteins in hair get “stretched” when the hair is pulled and they don’t go back to their original shape. A shorter cut can control this kind of frizz to some extent.
3) The Environment
Humidity can get inside your hair and make fine, curly hair fall flat and it can make smooth, straight hair frizz out. (How does that work? The inside of your hair consists of two different protein regions: the Orthocortex and the Paracortex. These areas absorb water differently, so they don’t swell the same. This differential swelling causes the hair shaft to bend or twist to one side or the other which causes frizz. You can’t completely overcome the effect, but a good conditioner can help block the effects of water on your hair. (Look for something with a good slug of dimethicone in it) and then use high quality styling products that are effective against humidity.
Image credit: vitaminsea.typepad.com
Does anyone have any non-flat iron suggestions for frizzy hair? Leave a comment and help out Harshleen!
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I’ve been blessed with fine, straight hair that hardly ever frizzes — except when I let chlorine from swimming every day get to it! I’ve found that using a swimmers shampoo and conditioner (and putting some conditioner on dampened hair BEFORE going into the pool) have pretty much solved that problem for me.
However, in all the conversations about frizzy hair shampoos, nobody hardly ever mentions the quality of the water that is used to wash hair. I’ve noticed that I get a frizz similar to the chlorine frizz if I visit certain areas where the water is hard or has a lot of chemical in it — after a couple of washes my hair gets a kind of dry, coated texture and the ends split and tangle. More like hay than frizz, but still –. Going home and using the swimmers shampoo in soft water seems to fix it. I don’t know what I would do if I lived full time in a hard water area.
Harshleen-You at least have thick poufy hair; mine is thin and poufy and kinky and frizzy and wavy and long. I was using various Hask products (Pure Shine) but I can no longer find the serum at Walmart or Walgreen’s (I’m frugal/cheap). The clerk at Walgreen’s suggested got2b shine serum.
It works perfectly. I am thrilled with this product. My hair looks like shiny spirals and, unlike the Hask serum, I don’t have to use the got2b every day. The only other thing I do with my hair aside from curse at it is to use Curls Lotion when I shampoo (once a week). That’s also a Pure Shine product but it’s still available. Plus I stopped brushing my hair and only smooth it now with a gentle natural-bristle brush.
Now that my hair is so easy to manage, I have the time every morning to apply five coats of mascara to my lashes.
Marly
I have very curly hair as well–it usually falls in ringlets. I highly recommend Lorraine Massey’s Curly Girl: The Handbook. It is definitely worth a read. I took it with a grain of salt (not everything works for everyone), but I did pick up a few pointers that work really well for me. They are as follows:
- avoid brushing and combing when possible. Running fingers through wet, conditioner-saturated hair works really and causes little damage.
- rinse conditioner out, but leave a little bit (esp. near the ends) to keep the frizz down
- don’t blow-dry; blow-drying causes a lot of heat damage and is just an invitation to turn into a puffball
Overall, I find that the less I fuss with it, touch it, and try to manipulate it, the better my hair looks. Good luck
Hello Harshleen!
I have very thick curly hair that tends to friz uncontrollably. Recently I asked my hairstylist for recommendations for a new hair brush. She seemed taken aback. “Why do you need a brush?” Her recommendation was to buy a comb. This simple purchase changed my life. She said my hair would naturally form curls but if I put a brush through it I would separate those natural curls into friz. I bought a very cheap comb with about 1/4″ teeth and after using it the friz is practically gone! Buy a comb and ditch the brush. You will not believe how much difference that will make!
you can visit this website http://www.salonbestbuy.com, I try to buy the re+5 keratin treatment, the effect is so good.