Learning to wear curls while taming them and maintaining their luscious bounce is a huge challenge. Whether you have naturally curly hair or permed hair, or have curled your hair for a special occasion, you need to know how to keep the curls loose, stylish and tame.
The tips and tricks you need to keep your hair curly in heat and humidity are not difficult, and the products are not expensive. You just need to know what to have on-hand and how to use it properly.
Curly Hair Vs. Frizzy Hair in Heat and Humidity
The biggest challenge when the heat and humidity combine to create a frizzy hair day is to care for your hair and find styling solutions that will help hold the curl and beat the frizz.
The Importance of Choosing Proper Hair-Care Products
Dealing with curly and frizzy hair starts before you ever begin to style your hair. For this reason, it is important to choose your shampoo and conditioner carefully.
Pick a shampoo and conditioner formulated to treat curly hair. These shampoos and conditioners will coat the hair shaft without weighing it down, allowing your hair to maintain curl and bounce.
Find gentle shampoos and conditioners. Some of the ingredients I like to see in hair care products include tea tree oil and a light shea butter oil. Avoid heavy conditioners that will only weigh down your hair and prevent the curly look that you want.
It is a delicate balance to condition hair so that it will curl without becoming frizzy in the heat and humidity. You may have to try several different brands before you find the one that is right for you.
Before You Style Your Curls
If you want to maintain your curls in extreme heat and humidity, I recommend finding a hair serum. Serum is generally applied to the hair prior to blow drying and helps fortify the cuticle and hold the shape of a curl, especially curls shaped by hot rollers or curling irons.
Another option for holding small curls is to use hair mousse to scrunch curls. Pick a soft drying mousse. Hard drying hair styling mousse and gel is used for spiking hair and holding stiff, hard-to-create and -hold styles. It does not look good on curled hair. Using a stiff-drying mousse or hair gel may help mitigate the effects of heat and humidity, but you will feel like you have a pile of three-day-old spaghetti on your head.
Holding Curls in the Heat and Humidity
Once again, the most important factor in holding curls is to choose styling products designed specifically to do what you need them to do for your hair. Hairspray that will hold curls should be lightweight at application and offer lasting hold. Such hairsprays are available in a variety of price ranges.
Because your hair is unique, experiment until you find the hairspray that works best for you. Once you find your special combination of hair-care products, stick with it. It’s fine to experiment occasionally. In some cases it can even be beneficial to your hair, but if you find a unique combination of products that work for you, that should be your go-to set for hair care.
Alternative Curling Methods to Mold Curls That Can Take the Heat
Give rollers or a curling iron a try. You can reinforce the size and shape of your perm or natural curl using small- or large-barrel curling irons.
Heat is a double-edged sword when it comes to hair care and hair styles. Heat can produce a lot of damage. When you style your hair while blow drying, it places a lot of wear and tear on your hair.
On the other hand, heat does break down proteins in the hair shaft so that they can be re molded by a curling iron, flat iron or hot rollers.
When you use heat to create curls, use the lowest possible heat setting that still allows you to get results when curling your hair.
Try drying your hair as much as possible using the cool setting on your blow dryer. Save the heat settings for styling your hair. It will help prevent damage and enhance the curl of permed or naturally curly hair.
Styling Your Curly Hair with a Wide-Tooth Pick or Comb
This sounds so old-school. When was the last time you saw a pick or wide-tooth comb? If you are trying to care for curly hair in heat and humidity, it is time to find one. Curly styles don’t need to be pulled and tugged by a hairbrush. It is counterproductive to curling your hair. Use a pick or comb to get your hair in place on both large and small curls.
Carry your pick or comb with you for touch-ups during the day.
Choosing a Style That Enhances Curl
The more you have done to your hair to support a curly hairstyle, the better the style will hold in the heat and humidity. If you want springy curls, you may have to have some dead weight cut from your hair. Growing your hair longer will help stretch the curl in your hair, making each curl-length longer.
All of these things will factor into your hairstyle’s ability to hold curl in heat and humidity.
Curly Hair: A Challenge in the Heat and Humidity
When creating your curly hairstyle, take into consideration the heat and humidity in the environment in which you will spend the day. Allow your knowledge of your day to dictate the use of more or less styling product to hold curls. Every time you can, use the least amount of styling hold product possible.
Go easy on your hair to help maintain strong hair shafts and bouncing curls.
