12 Tips to Prevent Curly Hair from Frizzing in Humidity

By Camelia Smith
Updated June 22, 2023

There are many reasons to love summer: the sun-kissed glow, beach walks on wet sand, icy treats, and music festivals.

As much as many of us love summer, naturally curly hair seems to disagree when the weather is humid, not that we’re fans of the humidity itself, either.

Whenever humidity rises, frizz increases and turns our beautiful curls into an untamed, poofy mess.

So how do you enjoy the balmy days without worrying about frizziness creeping into your curls?

1. Skip Harsh Shampoos

Everyone uses sulfate-packed shampoos until someone tells them to stop; it’s just the way of the world.

Sulfate shampoos are the most available and affordable type, so everyone uses them, but they’re pretty harsh and drying to the hair’s natural oils.

So, to counteract the damage these shampoos cause, switch to sulfate-free, moisturizing shampoos that clean your hair without overdrying it.

However, if you feel that your hair isn’t that damaged or dry, you can pick shampoos that better suit your hair type.

2. Switch to Protein-Rich Conditioners

All hair types need an equal balance of protein and moisture, and you can achieve that by combining your sulfate-free shampoo with a protein-rich conditioner.

While lack of moisture leaves your hair dry, lack of protein leads to breakage, which intensifies frizziness.

So, you need to combat the effects of humidity on hair with a nourishing, sealing, and strengthening conditioner with targeted ingredients.

Don’t forget to keep it on for a few minutes to work its magic.

3. Deep Condition Your Hair

Believe it or not, to fight excess humidity, you need to moisturize your hair.

Why?

Because hair that isn’t well-nourished will look for an alternative somewhere else, which ends up being air moisture. So, you need to keep your dry hair moisturized.

One of the best ways to fight frizz is to deep condition the hair once a week, whether with a store-bought deep conditioner or a Shea Butter treatment at home.

Make sure to focus on the ends to moisturize the cuticle layer and protect it from outside humidity.

4. Rinse Your Hair With Cold Water

Regardless of what you do in the shower, there’s no doubt that you need to rinse your hair with cold water unless you’d like to have humid hair.

Hot water opens hair cuticles and makes them more susceptible to frizz.

So, remember to end your shower with cold water to protect your hair from any damage.

5. Avoid Towel Drying

Drying your hair with towels and rubbing it adds more frizz and breakage than before.

Better alternatives include letting your hair air dry, drying with cotton t-shirts, or blotting it dry with gentle, more effective towels like microfiber ones.

6. Avoid Brushing

The reason why most people brush their hair instead of combing is that it gets the job done quicker.

However, brushing causes breakage to hair cuticles, which ends up causing more frizz.

Instead, switch to wide-toothed combs or finger detangling to keep your cuticles closed and your hair frizz-free.

If the idea of skipping brushing seems too dramatic of a change for you, use your favorite brush but don’t overuse it to minimize any possible damage.

7. Use Anti-Frizz Hair Products

Use anti-frizz hair products, like smoothing serums, humidity-protection hairsprays, or mousses to help your hair stay frizz free throughout the day.

For example, anti-frizz balms are excellent for dry ends and hairlines.

You can smooth your flyaways with dry oils that give you a shiny look without weighing your curls down.

If your go-to look is defined curls, use gels and mousses to keep your curls in place.

There are even anti-frizz sheets to help you on the go.

8. Sleep on a Silk or Satin Pillowcase

Don’t sleep on cotton pillowcases because they rub against your hair strands and cause breakage.

Also, they absorb moisture, which means that you wake up each morning with much drier hair.

On the other hand, silk is gentle on your hair, and its slippery nature ensures a friction-free sleep. Many people wear silk bonnets as an alternative.

I highly recommend the SLIP Silk Pillowcases. They are excellent for keeping your hair smooth and tangle-free overnight.

9. Trim Your Hair Regularly

No, we’re not talking about cutting your hair short; actually, cutting it short and blunt increases frizz.

Instead, work on trimming your split ends once every six to eight weeks and maintaining long, layered haircuts for a tamer and less heavy look.

10. Protect Your Hair

We would tell you to completely avoid heat styling, but we know that most people don’t listen when they desperately need the frizz to be tamed.

So, just try to minimize how often you use heat as much as possible and use a heat protectant beforehand for healthy curls.

11. Avoid Touching Your Hair Too Often

Nothing feels better than running your fingers through your curls and playing with them.

However, too much of that leads to disrupting your hair and transferring oils from your hands to the curls, adding unnecessary moisture and making the hair look greasy.

12. Wear Light Hair Accessories

If you’re having a bad day and your flyaways are out of control, use hair accessories like bobby pins, headbands, and scarves to get back in control.

Another trick is to sport a relaxed updo or wear a hat, and no one will know about the frizz.

What Does Humidity Do to Curly Hair?

So, what’s the relation between air stickiness and our hair?

It starts when water molecules from the air form Hydrogen bonds with keratin molecules in our hair, causing changes and altering hair texture, length, and shape.

This process actually happens each time our hair gets wet, then dry.

However, higher humidity leads to a more dramatic change in in our hair’s shape, which is why hair tends to be excessively frizzy in the summer.

Since every hair shaft absorbs moisture in a unique way, the result is, well, messy.

Is Humidity Good for Curly Hair?

It depends on the level of humidity.

Everyone, and even objects, need a little bit of humidity; otherwise, the atmosphere would be too dry and harmful.

So, a healthy, moderate amount of humidity in hair is definitely beneficial to curls.

On the other hand, high humidity is harmful and leads to unevenness in the hair’s texture and shape.

So, hair humidity is fine when it’s moderate.

Curly hair is beautiful but needs some maintenance in the summer when the humidity goes through the roof.

Most of our tips for keeping frizz at bay can be summarized as moisturizing, strengthening, and protecting the hair while being gentle with it.

All that being said, remember that having a little bit of frizz in your curls after doing everything you can isn’t that big of a deal. That most important thing of all is to enjoy your curls!