Hair, living in Florida

[going gray]

Hello everyone,

Anyone out there also dealing with the awful humidity? I have very coarse hair, the very minute I walk out of the airport, it turns into a haystack. It looks awful!

Would you please post your routine if you also have BAD frizz issues. I have tried numerous products, nothing so far has helped other than a hat! Do wear it up, but at the end of the day that causes headaches, I'd love to be able to leave it down.

Appreciate any advice......thank you.

[arihS]

Hi!

Although I don´t live in Florida, I know how you feel! And at the moment it´s very humid here too, and I too get a lot of frizz...
Unfortunately I haven´t got a solution yet:p Therefore I will be following this thread for sure! Thanks for posting the question!

[arihS]

Hi!

Although I don´t live in Florida, I know how you feel! And at the moment it´s very humid here too, and I too get a lot of frizz...
Unfortunately I haven´t got a solution yet:p Therefore I will be following this thread for sure! Thanks for posting the question!

[Rosa Harris]

I live is Southwest Georgia and spent several years in Fl. The thing that has always worked best for me is a little coconut oil. I know there has to be some better ideas out there - its just always what I have done.

[going gray]

Thanks ladies. Tried a lot of different oils every which way, STILL get the frizzes. Conditioners with & without cons, CWC, you name it I've tried it. I'm the weird one on LHC that has to put her up in jumbo 2" mesh rollers, I use just 6 of them to tame my hair after a wash, which I only do once a week. It works living in Colorado, (my avatar) but when I visit Florida forget it!

Even thought about Brazilian blowout, or whatever it's called, but did enough research to realize, nope forget that!!!

[chen bao jun]

Whenever I go to Florida I do smts with lots of aloe vera gel and I also use aloe vera gel to smooth my hair. I actually like the humidilty for my curls, with the aloe in them, they really pop there.
Its so hot to wear hair down there, though.

[sourgrl]

Born and raised in the sunshine state! The only thing that worked for me was (still is) avoiding all humectants. Cones are helpful too but not as much as avoiding humectants. Glycerin and glycerin based ingredients are especially a No-no for me.

[ErinLeigh]

I live in Ft. Lauderdale and have mega frizz. I moved from Colorado 1.5 years ago so it was quite a change environment wise for my hair.

I do the coconut oil pre wash treatment
co wash and follow with another conditioner
post wash use a little leave in conditioner, drop of oil, and once hair is dry a little nightblooming panacea rubbed between palms and smoothed over hair to hold down the frizz.
(The idea for me is to get as much moisture into my hair so that my hair wont soak up so much from atmosphere. Then I need the occlusives (oil and shea) to seal to slow down the loss and intake of moisture from the air.)

If it gets really bad this summer i may add in my water soluble cones (Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Conditioner and leave in)

[GoldenSilk]

I've lived in Florida all my life. I have a different hairtype, but so far, my best option is to avoid all humectants. I even have frizz issues after doing an SMT, no matter how well I rinse. :(

Unfortunately, this year, my hair has started to get more dry, so I'm having a hard time getting moisture in with all the light products I'm used to. I don't know if stepping up my amount of coconut oil is really helping with moisture or not, but it does visually smooth down the frizz temporarily.

[Wildcat Diva]

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. The humidity will knock you over, for sure, if you are not acclimated. I am used to it, don't know any different. My hair seems to like Nightblooming's Panacea salve to smooth it.

Have you tried mineral oil? My hair does pretty well with that right after a wash. Four drops on palms then spread on wet hair. Only four or five drops at most.

[chen bao jun]

Interesting. Aloe vera is a very serious humectant. I like it in humid weather because it sucks moisture f rom the air into my hair, making my curls pop--I have great curls instead of frizz, then. I hate it or any humectant in dry weather, like where I live in winter, because it sucks moisture from my hair then, making it frizz. This is possibly a hair type difference, that so many of you dislike humectants in humid weather?

[going gray]

Thanks ladies for all the suggestions.

I feel really stupid, there is so much to learn about taking care of your hair type, been on this site for a long, long time & still can't figure out how to deal with it!

And, of course, everyone's hair reacts differently to everything. I am SO confused!

[ErinLeigh]

Interesting. Aloe vera is a very serious humectant. I like it in humid weather because it sucks moisture f rom the air into my hair, making my curls pop--I have great curls instead of frizz, then. I hate it or any humectant in dry weather, like where I live in winter, because it sucks moisture from my hair then, making it frizz. This is possibly a hair type difference, that so many of you dislike humectants in humid weather?

Chen bao jun I like humectants in humidity also. I feel the more moisture I have already in the hair, the less additional it will take once styled.
I always assume I am at near saturation doing it this way if that makes sense. (note: No science in any of this of course, just what I notice)

[Macaroni]

I know exactly what you mean. Everytime I go back and step off the plane, my hair does this:

http://thecommunicatress.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/very-humid-today.jpg

I surrender to the humidity, and style it in a head eating ballerina bun. The humidity does make my hair extra soft, so there's that.

[going gray]

That photo is so cute.

Suppose I too need to simply wear it up & suck it up!

[koolkittychick]

That photo is so cute.

Suppose I too need to simply wear it up & suck it up!

Miami girl here, so I know about humidity! Besides putting it up and calling it a day, I find what works second best for me is using just a touch of serum distributed evenly throughout my hair before styling. Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum works like magic; I can get through the whole day without frizz using that stuff without my hair feeling stiff or heavy--unless I sweat, which is becoming more of an issue as my hair gets longer. Then all bets are off, at least at the back of my neck. Oh well, that's the trade off for living in sunny South Florida! :shrug:

[Syren_Curls]

Thanks ladies. Tried a lot of different oils every which way, STILL get the frizzes. Conditioners with & without cons, CWC, you name it I've tried it. I'm the weird one on LHC that has to put her up in jumbo 2" mesh rollers, I use just 6 of them to tame my hair after a wash, which I only do once a week. It works living in Colorado, (my avatar) but when I visit Florida forget it!

Even thought about Brazilian blowout, or whatever it's called, but did enough research to realize, nope forget that!!!

It sounds like you have tried a lot of things to moisturize your hair and still struggle a bit with this. That makes me wonder whether your mesh rollers may be adding some mechanical damage to your cuticles :-/ Maybe trying these

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001A345PM/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

can help cut down on that, if that's what's happening. Sorry I don't have more to offer :-(

[going gray]

Miami girl here, so I know about humidity! Besides putting it up and calling it a day, I find what works second best for me is using just a touch of serum distributed evenly throughout my hair before styling. Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Serum works like magic; I can get through the whole day without frizz using that stuff without my hair feeling stiff or heavy--unless I sweat, which is becoming more of an issue as my hair gets longer. Then all bets are off, at least at the back of my neck. Oh well, that's the trade off for living in sunny South Florida! :shrug:

Thanks for that suggestion, but I also own those rollers too, my hair takes too long to dry using them........yeah I know.....screwed in having to do it the old way. Only because I want that smoother look & texture. Maybe I just need a completely different way in looking at my hair, I cannot have it smooth going to Florida & that is that.

[wildtohold]

I live in Virginia and do research in New Orleans, so I know about humidity. All I can do is oil my hair religiously, and put it up when it's going to be bad out. Coconut oil works wonders for me, and sleeping with it in oiled braids overnight was useful, too -- I'd get it wet, pop in some conditioner or oil, braid it back, and sleep in it, and in the morning, it usually would stay smoother than not. But when it's seriously muggy, I don't know if there's anything to be done. I just rock the ballet bun and wait for autumn.

[going gray]

You ladies got me thinking my hair simply isn't long enough! It's about 23" so definitely no buns & a puny looking braid, certainly only for indoors. I do that twist with claws & a low pony, & I'm just tired of the look, but stuck with it for now. When you're hair has frizzed out I find it hard to do any of those other chic looking styles.

Perhaps I need to embrace the frizz, just learn to except it & like it. One thing for sure, I am NOT ever cutting it again in one of those short styles that's supposed to be suited for a woman my age!

Thank you all for replying............

[queenovnight]

I live in Georgia, but I was living in Florida for some time last year. Unfortunately, I never found anything to help. Not even oil. My hair just turned into an afro. It looked awful the entire time I was living there Lol. You could try co-washing though! It works in GA. Lol. I never co-washed while living in FL (where the humidity is worse) but it might help!

[going gray]

I live in Georgia, but I was living in Florida for some time last year. Unfortunately, I never found anything to help. Not even oil. My hair just turned into an afro. It looked awful the entire time I was living there Lol. You could try co-washing though! It works in GA. Lol. I never co-washed while living in FL (where the humidity is worse) but it might help!

Yes, that's right oils only make my hair frizzier forgot to mention that. If I use too a leave in my feels lanky & doesn't even dry. I don't have your thickness anymore, you have gorgeous hair! My DH & I are thinking for moving to South Florida, oh, I am hair doomed!!!

[ErinLeigh]

Thanks for that suggestion, but I also own those rollers too, my hair takes too long to dry using them........yeah I know.....screwed in having to do it the old way. Only because I want that smoother look & texture. Maybe I just need a completely different way in looking at my hair, I cannot have it smooth going to Florida & that is that.

Maybe just work with humidity and do some heatless curls or scrunch it and let it be wavy?

Your hair wont be doomed. It will adapt. It only really gets bad in the summer as far as making hair insane and by then it is too hot to wear down anyway (opinion.) The winter will give you great hair plus you wont have the winter time issues of dry hair :)
I had awesome hair when I moved to Colorado for the first time in my life. The dry climate worked with my frizz problems. I was like "hell no" on wanting my hair back in Florida when we decided to move back. This time around though my frizz is not near as bad as I finally learned how to keep moisture in my hair. I cowash now, It makes a big difference. I also will just be wearing it wavy this summer if I want to wear down. No point even bothering trying to blow it out smooth for me.

[Squiggy]

When I lived in New Orleans for several years I had mega poofy hair! Finally I tried co-washing and using some gel on my slightly wavy hair. It helped with the frizz a bit, and really made my waves look great. Sadly, it only lasted for a short while in the middle of summer, because it would just get too hot and up my hair would go into a ponytail! It took a while to figure out what worked, but I did figure it out. You will too!

[alishaxmarie]

I feel like my biggest frizz issues in high school came from being outside before the sun rose. It was so muggy and humid and dew-y. Throughout the day, whenever I would go to the bathroom and wash my hands, I would essentially dry my hands in my hair to get rid of the frizz and it worked fine for me. Now that I'm in college and don't spend any time outside at 6 AM, I hardly notice any frizz at all. It could be from weekly overnight deep treatments with coconut oil or that my increase in length weighed the frizz down but I really haven't had too much of a frizz issue since moving to Orlando from Tampa. I've only ever lived in Florida though and have barely spent any time out of state so that may be part of it. I don't bother with mousses or gels or scrunching either. I just dry my hair with a t-shirt and go. Sometimes I brush/comb when wet but other times I don't. I've been oiling my ends after showers more religiously lately but I haven't had the time to tell if this makes a difference in my frizz/curl since I'm wearing my hair up for a year. Honestly, sometimes simply throwing my hair into a cinnabun for a few minutes eliminates frizz and re-defines my curls so maybe I just have non-fussy hair or maybe I just haven't seen my hair's true potential in non-humid weather?

[going gray]

Maybe just work with humidity and do some heatless curls or scrunch it and let it be wavy?

Your hair wont be doomed. It will adapt. It only really gets bad in the summer as far as making hair insane and by then it is too hot to wear down anyway (opinion.) The winter will give you great hair plus you wont have the winter time issues of dry hair :)
I had awesome hair when I moved to Colorado for the first time in my life. The dry climate worked with my frizz problems. I was like "hell no" on wanting my hair back in Florida when we decided to move back. This time around though my frizz is not near as bad as I finally learned how to keep moisture in my hair. I cowash now, It makes a big difference. I also will just be wearing it wavy this summer if I want to wear down. No point even bothering trying to blow it out smooth for me.

It's kind of really ridiculous but the only part of moving to Florida that REALLY bothers me is my hair, like you wrote, "hell no" moving back. My DH would truly think I was insane if I told him I rather stay in Colorado, little humidity here & my hair looks so much better! After all I am a mature woman, actually considered elderly by the dictionary & I'm long hair obsessed! About the only thing I haven't tried yet was CO wash, I will next time we're down there.

Thank you!

[GoddesJourney]

I have been living in SW Florida for the last three years. I came from Central Coast California, which is a good deal drier. I have also lived in Rio de Janeiro and the climate is similar to here. That said, I always had super frizzy hair (even back home) and the problem turned out to be a combination of my hair hating silicones and me using way too much shampoo.

The silicones thing was a surprise to me since it is supposed to tame and protect hair. However, for some it does exactly the opposite. I find it drying and it causes frizz. Big surprise to me since it coats my hair and used to make me think it made it thicker. Once I started looking at ingredients, I found that pretty much anything labeled "moisturizing" or "extra moisture" or "deep conditioning" on the shelf just means "extra silicone". Good to know. Weaning myself off silicones was not easy because the damaged hair looked worse without being covered up.

The shampoo thing came from me having an oily scalp and thinking more shampoo would fix that. As it turns out it was drying out my scalp which caused it to manufacture extra sebum like its life depended on it. It was also drying out my hair, so I ended up with oily scalp anyway and dry frizzy hair. Double bonus. Yay! Buying into the stretching washes thing wasn't happening for me, but I found that CO washes with cheap, no cone conditioner tamed my hair a bit and at least did not perpetuate the damage issue. I wash like twice a week with CWC method and CO the rest of the week.

In the end, nothing really fixed the already damaged hair, so I could see a clear line between that and the new hair that grew out after I stopped doing what I was doing to myself. I don't really get the frizzy hair thing most of the time anymore regardless of weather unless I just shampooed, which is more of a uniform poofing of hair and less just frizz. The other thing is I had to accept that my hair is awkwardly not straight, wavy or curly but a combination of the three, and behaves best when I just let it do its thing.

Side note: Blow drying seems to help others with frizz but it makes mine ten times worse.

[going gray]

I have been living in SW Florida for the last three years. I came from Central Coast California, which is a good deal drier. I have also lived in Rio de Janeiro and the climate is similar to here. That said, I always had super frizzy hair (even back home) and the problem turned out to be a combination of my hair hating silicones and me using way too much shampoo.

The silicones thing was a surprise to me since it is supposed to tame and protect hair. However, for some it does exactly the opposite. I find it drying and it causes frizz. Big surprise to me since it coats my hair and used to make me think it made it thicker. Once I started looking at ingredients, I found that pretty much anything labeled "moisturizing" or "extra moisture" or "deep conditioning" on the shelf just means "extra silicone". Good to know. Weaning myself off silicones was not easy because the damaged hair looked worse without being covered up.

The shampoo thing came from me having an oily scalp and thinking more shampoo would fix that. As it turns out it was drying out my scalp which caused it to manufacture extra sebum like its life depended on it. It was also drying out my hair, so I ended up with oily scalp anyway and dry frizzy hair. Double bonus. Yay! Buying into the stretching washes thing wasn't happening for me, but I found that CO washes with cheap, no cone conditioner tamed my hair a bit and at least did not perpetuate the damage issue. I wash like twice a week with CWC method and CO the rest of the week.

In the end, nothing really fixed the already damaged hair, so I could see a clear line between that and the new hair that grew out after I stopped doing what I was doing to myself. I don't really get the frizzy hair thing most of the time anymore regardless of weather unless I just shampooed, which is more of a uniform poofing of hair and less just frizz. The other thing is I had to accept that my hair is awkwardly not straight, wavy or curly but a combination of the three, and behaves best when I just let it do its thing.

Side note: Blow drying seems to help others with frizz but it makes mine ten times worse.

GoddesJourney

Thank you for writing & the suggestions. Probably a good idea for me to go back & try different methods again. My hair texture has changed through the years, age, hormones, thinning etc. I do need a new routine.

[GoldenSilk]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the CO washing! I think a lot of my frizz issues were from my hair being too dry at the scalp after shampooing, even though I had stretched washes to every 5-7 days. CO washing, I can't stretch beyond 4-5 without serious greasies, so I have to have more days with wet hair that takes all day to dry. (Hurray humidity again. :rolleyes: ) But it's worth it because it calmed down my scalp and frizz so much.

Come to think of it, that must be why I'm so frizzy today - had to clarify yesterday. :p

[going gray]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the CO washing! I think a lot of my frizz issues were from my hair being too dry at the scalp after shampooing, even though I had stretched washes to every 5-7 days. CO washing, I can't stretch beyond 4-5 without serious greasies, so I have to have more days with wet hair that takes all day to dry. (Hurray humidity again. :rolleyes: ) But it's worth it because it calmed down my scalp and frizz so much.

Come to think of it, that must be why I'm so frizzy today - had to clarify yesterday. :p

GoldenSilk thank you, going to try CO washing alone, maybe that will help. Also going to try to give up those mesh rollers, a complete overhaul is what I need.

[repunzelwannabe]

State Love! Life is great here, but I rarely have a good hair day without a lot of work. I think the water hardness has something to do with my particular problems as well as the staple humidity. The only styles I can really pull off here are pin/headband curls with enough aloe vera gel to make it look "stiff". That's it. The only thing that keeps me from chopping it off is knowing that short hair will frizz even more.
Love this post! (:

[VanillaTresses]

Our water is so hard the shower would have stalactites in it if I wasn't constantly cleaning it with vinegar (if we weren't moving I would have installed a water softener)!! My hair (and especially skin) behaves completely differently when I am in WA state to visit family-- and to be honest I wish I could move there. I am a native FL'ian but seriously I am not built for this heat... my ideal outdoor temperature is in the 50s. Since my hair is relatively straight, luckily I don't have as many problems with the humidity and my hair as the curlies do (my mom has this problem bigtime).

[going gray]

State Love! Life is great here, but I rarely have a good hair day without a lot of work. I think the water hardness has something to do with my particular problems as well as the staple humidity. The only styles I can really pull off here are pin/headband curls with enough aloe vera gel to make it look "stiff". That's it. The only thing that keeps me from chopping it off is knowing that short hair will frizz even more.
Love this post! (:

We visit South Florida a lot & 3 years ago I decided to cut my hair really short. Just like you wrote, my hair still frizzed out, had to use so much product I felt like I was wearing a hat!

Still need to find a routine that helps.

Thank you all for responding.

[Syren_Curls]

GoldenSilk thank you, going to try CO washing alone, maybe that will help. Also going to try to give up those mesh rollers, a complete overhaul is what I need.

Kudos to you for being prepared to make a shift! It's hard to make a change, even when things aren't working as we like. I have been thinking about your earlier comment on your hair taking forever to dry in the other rollers... It would be a bit of an added step but maybe covering them with something absorbent? Like a cut up T-shirt. Or you could try a soft bonnet with a blowfryer on cool setting? Even making a switch to a towel like the Curlease (http://curlease.com/) that would be gentler on your hair anyway (terrycloth towels aren't kind to the cuticle on culies) could help and even speed up the drying time.

Keep us posted! I've wanted to move to the sunshine state since 2002 so I'd love to hear if any of this helps!

[Wildcat Diva]

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I don't really have too many troubles living in high humidity area of the Texas Gulf Coast. Maybe I'm just used to it. Living in a sauna like environment seems to suit my hair. I just noticed two years ago that I'm more wavy/ whurly than I once thought. I don't seem to get much frizz. I suppose I should, with average humidity 77.4%. But I really don't. :shrug:

[LauraLongLocks]

What's humidity?

Just kidding... an Idahoan who hasn't felt humid air since 1989 (when I moved to Idaho from VA)

[Autumn_Fairy]

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I don't really have too many troubles living in high humidity area of the Texas Gulf Coast. Maybe I'm just used to it. Living in a sauna like environment seems to suit my hair. I just noticed two years ago that I'm more wavy/ whurly than I once thought. I don't seem to get much frizz. I suppose I should, with average humidity 77.4%. But I really don't. :shrug:

I thought I was the only odd one thinking that humidity suited my hair. I lived in north Florida for three years. I hated everything about Florida EXCEPT for my hair while there. lol. It was much curlier and so much more body. I guess what everyone else is experiencing as "poofiness" came out as more volume in my case. I only have problems with frizz with second day hair or trying to comb through it too much after its dry, but humidity is the best in my case.

[GoldenSilk]

GoldenSilk thank you, going to try CO washing alone, maybe that will help. Also going to try to give up those mesh rollers, a complete overhaul is what I need.

You're welcome! I really hope it helps! :flower: We have really different hairtypes, and CO washing isn't for everyone, but I do think it helps keep more moisture in the hair, which tends to help waves and baby hairs calm down. Maybe you could try plopping in an old T shirt instead of the mesh rollers? That could help form some nice wurls without quite so many surfaces for the hairs to get disturbed by, and it would help absorb water too.

Yeah, I forgot to mention the hard water too, thanks repunzelwannabe and VanillaTresses. Yet to find a great solution to that, since I didn't have bad hard water until living in this house. I use hard water shampoo as my clarifying shampoo, sometimes do vinegar or citric acid rinses (but I stopped because I felt like they were roughing up my cuticle), and started to clean out the shower head with vinegar. If I weren't about to move to Virginia, I'd buy a shower filter.

ETA: I do overall think my hair likes humidity, and I'd rather be dealing with some cosmetic frizz than have dryness from low humidity that could compromise the hair's strength if not addressed.

[going gray]

Hi ladies,
Thanks so much trying to help me out with this humidity problem. I no sooner step out of the airport terminal & wham, my hair goes wild. I will try CO washing only & using a cotton T-shirt. Now should I still use a leave in condish?

This is really new for me, I am truly a "late bloomer" with proper hair care for my wild coarse porous texture. Add to that I had stopped coloring my hair for 3 plus years & in March dyed it again, stupid mistake, thought it would tame my hair. I was wrong. So now I'm starting from scratch again!

This long hair journal to BSL has always been a dream. But I still want it to look good & of course be healthy. At 67, I am not giving up this time! And as I've learned aged doesn't have a dang thing to do with it!

Thank you all for the support.

[GoldenSilk]

I would definitely still use a leave-in conditioner of some kind, and maybe go full Curly Girl method. I'm no expert on that, though.

I think your hair is beautiful. :flower: From your avatar, it seems like you aren't too far from BSL already! Best of luck to you!

[going gray]

I would definitely still use a leave-in conditioner of some kind, and maybe go full Curly Girl method. I'm no expert on that, though.

I think your hair is beautiful. :flower: From your avatar, it seems like you aren't too far from BSL already! Best of luck to you!

GoldenSilk

You have got the hairstyle that I always wanted, but never took the time to grow out, my hair is hard to manage & then I'd give up. Your hair is simply lovely!

Thank you for the compliment & all your help.