Help? Humid climes wreak havoc (on my hair and regime)

[rubyredslippers]

I’m facing a bit of a hair conundrum, and I figured, why not ask the gurus at LHC?



You see, I’ll be leaving the country for a new job overseas, and the climate my hair has grown accustomed to will COMPLETELY change. While I am excited about this impending change, I know my hair will rebel. Instead of its fairly dry, fresh lakeshore city’s 2a/2b texture, I’m heading towards the land of wildly riotous, seashore’s frizzy halo. And when I say wild, I do mean wild! My medium-textured hair is something that stylists say “holds curls well”, by which I mean, use a curling iron, and you don’t really need hairspray at all, to hold the shape (in current climes). Let it dry in braids and it’ll hold those waves until the next time it’s washed. Try to straighten it and those little bumps that come from tucking it behind the ear can never quite be eliminated. But, let it loose in humidity and it frizzes to high heaven, replete with wispy-curled flyaways.



My current hair regime is Burt’s Bees Pomegranate and Soy shampoo, as well as Giovanni Organic’s Smooth as Silk Conditioner. Some of the conditioner gets washed out, some I’ll leave in. Sometimes I’ll do a deep condition with olive oil, and once and a great while I’ll do a clarifying with baking soda paste or a sulfates-containing shampoo. I am cone-free.

So my question is, does anyone have a new routine or care suggestions to tame the ‘do, despite the amped-up humidity? Something to maintain some sleekness? I really don’t fancy shellacing the whole shebang with hairsprays. There’s got to be a better way!

[spidermom]

Styling gel/creme/mousse might help. Just make sure it's a non-drying formula.

CHI Silk Infusion really helps keep the frizz down for me to a certain extent. For the rest, if it matters, I use pomade/wax/putty to stick down the most stubborn sticky-up hairs.

[Jimothea]

I am certainly not a guru but I'm definitely familiar with humidity issues! Bleh!

Two things I might recommend, though only trial and error will tell if they work for you: 1.) Give your hair as much moisture as possible--at least, this works for my hair...I think it's just a matter of convincing the hair it already has enough moisture, and therefore doesn't need to poof out into the humid air to get more. Leave-ins, deep treatments, you name it. 2.) Perhaps try drip drying your hair untouched? I know that's not usually feasible for daily living....

HTH and congrats on the new job!

[Firefox7275]

You might try CO-washing, more moisturised hair is supposed to frizz less. Also using something to hold the style in and the water out: extra leave-in conditioner, aloe vera gel, flaxseed gel.

[Theobroma]

I second the suggestion to try CO and leave-in conditioner (or light oilings, whatever works best for you). My hair used to be a frizzy nightmare any time I went anywhere near humidity, but now that it's well moisturised from my CO/coconut oil routine my frizz is pretty much completely gone. I never realised how drying shampoo was on my hair until I gave it up and saw the difference!

[spitfire511]

3rd vote for trying out CO here. It's made a huge difference in my hair. My hair is similar in that it will 'hold curl well' and frizz to high heaven if it's not properly moisturized and I hit humidity outside (which is almost every day here in the summer.)

Congrats on the job and move!

[zaramamma]

I feel your pain. Here in NYC, the summer can be one hell hole of humidity!
I massage my hair with just a bit of organic coconut oil and sometimes use Suave tropical coconut conditioner.

[Kaijah]

I've found cowashing and a leaving in conditioner and oil helps add weight and tone down frizz. You can try a hair gel if you like. Something like aloe vera gel or flaxseed gel is light while still helping hold hair formation.

You also have to learn to watch the weather to see when you can/can't use humectants - once it gets really humid where I live, I can't use some of the stuff that works for me in more mild weather without causing horrific poof/frizz. This post at Pittsburg Curly (http://pittsburghcurly.wordpress.com/dew-points/) is really helpful on that.

[Anje]

Some people weather-proof with a nice thick layer of silicones (prevent hair from absorbing more moisture from the humid hair, this is what all the "weather-proof" products on the shelves do), but I'm with all the folks here who say you need more moisture, not less. If your hair is well-moisturized, it won't start trying to suck it out of the environment because it already has what it needs. The result might be a slightly different hair texture (often toward wavier, but with defined waves).

CO washing is what really cuts the frizz for me. Shampoo gives me frizz, pure and simple. It adds a little weight, too, which keeps hair from flying away quite as much (though mine still does). If your scalp can't handle CO, you can always try CWC and dilute your shampoo as much as feasible. Deep moisture treatments on a regular basis (I'm horrible at doing this) can also make a big difference.

[jaine]

I also vote for CO-washing ... amp up the moisture in your hair so the moisture outside won't be a shock.

And drying hair in a smooth bun, with gel, helps me so much. This is the one thing that gets my hair smoother than a professional blowout. It still becomes wavy again in the humidity, but it turns into big coherent waves instead of frizz.

I'm in love with this gel (http://www.maxgreenalchemy.com/item--Scalp-Rescue-Sculpting-Gel--MGASCU.html)... it's pretty much the only styling product I use, to wet-set my hair after every wash and the smooth effect lasts pretty much until the next wash. My location is very humid in the summer but my hair loves the humidity with this routine.