Humidity and hair

[Ophidian]

I just moved to a new house about 15 minutes away from my old one. You wouldn't think this would be much of a change as far as hair is concerned, but my hair has gone from being relatively well-behaved to acting like The Beast overnight. My routine hasn't changed and I'm on the same water source, so I know it isn't hard water or anything. The only difference is that my new house feels a lot more humid than the last one (suspect it has something to do with an old vs. new heating/cooling system but really have no idea why this would be). Hair feels frizzy and dry, and coarse to the touch.

I'm thinking I may need to adjust my routine a little to compensate for this. I am one of those people whose hair behaves better in the winter than in the summer, so maybe I need to focus less on getting moisture in than on sealing in what's already there? My wash routine currently relies pretty heavily on humectants such as honey and film-forming herbs (slippery elm, fenugreek, marshmallow...). This worked great in the dry house but in the humid one I am wondering if it's too much.

Anyway, if anyone who knows more about the dynamics of hair and climate could advise me I'd really appreciate it.

[Aunt Rapunzel]

Your hair sounds like mine: The higher the humidity, the bigger the hair. :) And sometimes I feel like I'm practically body-wrestling it. . . like it has a mind of its own. A light spritz of aloe and water (a lot of times I just use a small amount of straight aloe) makes a huge difference for me. I just stroke it down the length of my hair, and then use a wide-tooth comb for untangling, and then use either a bamboo bristle brush, or a boar bristle. The boar bristles (even with nylon bristles) don't reach my scalp, but it still helps in smoothing, and distributing natural oils. There are lots of people here with far more experience than I have, so I'm sure you'll get more advice, too.

Oh - and one of our members posted that she buys this aloe:

Lily of the Desert Aloe (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HUJK24/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_rqErzbBJ5Y5N8?th=1)

I have a migraine today, so I can't remember for sure who it was...But it's a much better bargain than the aloe I'd been buying.

I also will stroke a little aloe down the length of my hair at night before loosely braiding it for the night. It seems to help so that I don't wake up with HUGE hair in the morning.

[Ophidian]

Good to know I'm not alone in this Aunt Rapunzel :)

I haven't tried using aloe on the length of my hair before so that's definitely something to try

Hope your head feels better soon

[FantasyBoudicca]

I'm a Singaporean, so I'm not sure I'm much use on this thread - I don't really have much of a basis for comparison. For me, I detangle and then use a wooden bristle brush to brush some kind of lotion or cream into the hair, especially the ends, if it's being unruly. I either use a very thin lotion or Nivea Creme, there is no in-between. I'm one of the sods that can't quite get a BBB to work for whatever reason (I'm not using it properly, brush is too dense, etc.) so wood bristle brush it is.

[Cherriezzzzz]

I'd be more concerned about your house growing mold then your hair ;) I came from a humid home to a dryer one. Buying a dehumidifier will solve all your issues. It'll even reduce your heating and cooling bill! And then you are free to continue using the hair care routine that has been working for you :)

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

My hair in winter is more tamed and the curls are loose. I avoid humectant in summer and I deep condition less. As the oil dt's are just too icky on my skin. I have just started using avg which my hair loves; we are currently in winter. Come humid summer I'm not yet sure how my hair will react to the avg.

[Ophidian]

Thanks for the feedback all.

@Kat-Rinne it's interesting to hear that you find your hair easier to manage in the winter too. It seems to be the other way around for many.

@Cherriezzzzz ah good idea. We did some reading and found out that if you set your thermostat to leave the fan on all the time it can increase humidity since it doesn't give the condensation in the unit time to drip down (I'm no heating and air expert but this was my understanding of it). Anyway, we set the fan to auto and that seems to be helping. Hopefully no mold!

@FantasyBoudicca, I do use oil as a leave in, which does help. I've been going fairly heavy on the humectants in my wash routine (mostly herbs and rye flour so I use plant gels like fenugreek, marshmallow, and slippery elm, also honey). I know that these ingredients can give quite different results on the same head of hair depending on ambient humidity so maybe I'm seeing some of that.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

Winter humidity levels are very low here. This could be a factor.

[lithostoic]

Remove your showerhead and give it a deep clean.

[Ophidian]

Remove your showerhead and give it a deep clean.

Can you explain this a bit further? I mean, not how to remove a showerhead and clean it but what you are thinking about the connection between that and hair that freaks out when it gets humid.

[saff.cel]

I grew up in Southeastern Iowa, and I like to tell people I didn't have a single good hair day until I moved away at 15.... permanent fizz halo. For me it turned out to just be a hair health issue. I had long hair (to my hipbones) but it was just because I didn't get it cut: it wasn't a goal of mine, and I know my mom threatened more than once I'd have to CUT IT ALL OFF if she found ONE MORE "rat" at the base of my neck. The longest I've had healthy hair where I live now was bsl, and despite the humid summers (I live in Northern MN), there was no frizz halo. In the winter, it looks like I rolled it up in orange juice cans, flatter than flat. I know thought that I have fine hair and I think a lot of how it behaves in the humidity is down to the texture of your hair. These days mine gets a bit curly during humid hot days, but no frizz.

[Ophidian]

I think I solved my problem! Ever since we fixed the constantly running fan it's been feeling less humid inside the house. My hair is healthy, just have temperamental waves and it's pretty reactive to high humidity. When I asked the question I was thinking I might have to adjust my routine to compensate, but looks like everything is back to normal.