Beat Frizz and Humidity with Pre-Styling Cream
Summertime humidity putting a frizz halo around your sleek styles? When moisture penetrates hair strands, it causes the cuticle protective outer layer to swell and lift which leads to unwanted frizz and flyaways. Prep your locks properly by applying targeted anti-frizz creams before heat styling to keep ambient moisture from raining on your fabulous hair days all season long.
Why Frizz Happens
To understand how to beat frizz, you first need to understand why it happens in the first place. Frizz occurs when the outermost layer of the hair strand, known as the cuticle, lifts up away from the hair shaft. The cuticle is comprised of protective skin-like cells that overlay one another to seal moisture inside the inner structures of each strand.
When the cuticle lifts, humidity is allowed to penetrate these inner layers making them swell and pushing cuticle cells outward. This causes strands to separate from one another and create that dreaded frizzy halo effect around your head!
There are a few key factors that make certain hair types more prone to frizzing in humid environments:
Hair Porosity
Porosity refers to how well hair can absorb and retain moisture. It depends on how tightly packed and sealed the cuticles sit on your strands.
Those with high porosity hair have overactive cuticles that soak up ambient moisture from the air like a sponge. The more open cuticles allow humidity inside, making strands swell and pushing cuticles upward into a frizzy mess at the first sign of moisture.
Low porosity hair has tightly sealed, layered cuticles that keep out humidity. But these strands still react with moisture in the air by puffing up rather than allowing penetration.
Normal or medium porosity hair falls somewhere in between with cuticles that retain an ideal and balanced moisture level.
Curly and Wavy Hair Textures
Texture plays a role too. Curly locks naturally have a more ruffled cuticle structure with more exposed layers than straight smooth strands. This increased surface area makes interaction with moisture more likely leading to swelling and frizzing.
And it’s not just curls. Wavy and coiled hair types encourage added volume, which is partially due to air and moisture exposure around strands. So tighter textures tend to poof up more easily.
Chemical Processing and Damage
Chemical treatments often strip away protective sebum and lipids in hair that seal down the outer cuticle. Color treatments, perms, relaxers, straightening, and bleaching all degrade these fatty acids that waterproof the structure of each strand.
This chemical damage leaves your hair vulnerable to humidity interactions. With the lipid barrier damaged, moisture is free to penetrate and lift already weakened cuticles leading to increased frizz potential.
Pre-Style With Anti-Frizz Cream
With the science behind the frizz, now you can understand why applying targeted anti-frizz creams before heat styling is the number one defense for keeping humidity at bay.
These specially formulated creams provide two key functions:
- They seal down cuticles to provide a protective barrier preventing ambient moisture from getting in and lifting the cuticles.
- The creamy formula smoothes strands and fills in gaps between cuticles and along the hair shaft for dramatically sleeker styles.
Anti-frizz creams and serums utilize beneficial ingredients like silicones, oils, humectants, and polymers that coat strands preventing humidity penetration while increasing shine and manageability.
Key Anti-Frizz Ingredients
Let’s take a closer look at what makes these humidity-blocking formulations so effective:
Silicones
Silicones offer one of the best protections against cuticle lift and frizz. Many anti-frizz products use some form of silicone including varieties like dimethicone, amodimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane.
These ingredients provide a smooth protective film that blankets the hair. This acts like a sealant trapping in moisture from conditioners while blocking ambient humidity. Silicones also provide heat resistance and increase shine.
Oils
Plant-based oils like argan, moringa, almond, coconut, and avocado oil nourish hair strands with fatty acids. This helps replace lipid barriers that keep cuticles flat and tight against the cortex. The oils also impart smoothness and shine while preventing dryness and brittleness that can worsen frizz.
Humectants
Humectants attract and draw moisture into the hair itself rather than allowing ambient humidity to penetrate unevenly. Common humectants used include glycerin, sorbitol, and panthenol (pro-vitamin B5). This provides needed hydration to strands giving them a frizz-resistant swell before heading out in muggy weather.
Polymers
Anti-frizz products also rely on polymers like acrylates or polyquaterniums to form a flexible bonding film over cuticles locking them in place. These compounds create crosslinks between strands for enhanced hold as well as sealing in moisture and keeping humidity out.
Heat Protection
Creams fortified with heat protecting ingredients allow for thermal styling while blocking damage. Keratin proteins reinforce bonds within hair strands making them resistant to breakage while silicones keep cuticles sealed down despite exposure to high temperatures from flat irons, curling wands and blow dry brushes.
When searching for your ideal anti-frizz cream or serum, analyze the ingredient list for targeted compounds like silicones, oils, humectants and polymers that work together to blockade humidity. Also ensure it provides thermal protection if you rely frequently on hot tools.
Pro Tip: Seek out creams and serums that offer both anti-frizz and heat or UV protection to simplify your styling routine. Products like Kenra Defying Cream defend against 450°F heat while blocking humidity and UV rays. Two birds, meet one stone.
Application Tips
When applying anti-frizz styling products evenly distribute from roots to ends before heat tools. Only a small amount is needed. Focus on the most porous and damage prone areas – hairlines, crown, and ends.
Rake cream through with fingers or a wide-tooth comb. Be careful not to overapply or weigh down finer hair. Target just the mid-lengths and ends of thin, straight locks.
Blow dry hair smooth with a ceramic paddle brush to ensure even distribution and penetration of anti-frizz products. Finish with a cold blast to lock in shine and bounce.
Pro thermal stylists recommend alternating the direction of your hot tool passes to get the smoothest, frizz-free results. Curl away from your face on the first pass, then towards your face on the second pass.
Set the temperature of your hot tool to the lowest effective setting for your hair type. Thick, coarse hair can handle higher heat. Fine, damaged, or color treated hair benefits from lower temperatures.
Review Top Anti-Frizz Styling Creams
With an array of anti-frizz creams and serums on the market with varying formulations and price points, it helps to break down the bestsellers targeting humidity protection and heat styling in one.
| Product | Key Features | Price |
|---|---|---|
| It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In Product | lightweight silk & avocado oil, all hair types | $$$ |
| Kenra Defying Styling Cream | argan oil, up to 450°F heat protection | $$ |
| Ouidad Climate Control | shea & glycerin, high humidity resistance | $$$$ |
It’s a 10 Miracle Leave-In Product uses both avocado and silk extracts for smoothing and hydration. The silicone-free formula still manages to seal in moisture while providing exceptional frizz control. Ultralight enough for fine hair yet nourishing for thick manes too. One of the most versatile anti-frizz options.
Kenra Defying Styling Cream utilizes argan oil for hydration along with an advanced styling polymer complex to block humidity penetration. The rich cream provides thermal protection up to 450°F minimizing any damage from hot tools. An affordable option ideal for curly and coiled textures.
Ouidad Climate Control is a premium stylist favorite enriched with both shea butter and glycerin for hydration. The unique Humidity Shield Complex leaves hair silky yet weightless while resisting frizz in even the most humid of climates. On the pricier side but a little goes a long way.
Those are top contenders for multi-duty anti-frizz creams, but you have ample options in various product formats and price points. Continue reading for additional buying considerations when selecting your new humidity-fighting hero.
Buying Considerations
- Hair Type & Texture – Fine, thinner hair gravitates towards lighter serums and mists while thick, coiled hair benefits from richer creams. Identify frizz-prone areas based on your unique hair patter and textures. Apply product accordingly.
- Ingredient Preferences – Silicone-free options available for those avoiding cones. Alternatives rely on plant oils and natural polymers like latex to seal strands. Evaluate ingredient lists to ensure all components are hair and scalp-friendly.
- Added Benefits – Seek out creams and serums providing thermal protection, UV inhibitors, color-safe formulas, etc. to maximize the benefits of your styler. Why not block damage from heat tools AND sunlight in one easy step?
- Your Styling Regimen – Factor in your regular routine and reliance on hot tools or other processing when selecting anti-frizz products. Opt for higher heat protection and nourishing ingredients if you frequently blow dry or flat iron. Prioritize lighter leave-ins for low-maintenance air drying.
- Price Point – As with all beauty products, anti-frizz options range the gamut of high to low budget. Set realistic expectations based on cost, with premium brands using higher grade ingredients and complexes while more affordable alternatives rely on lower concentrations of key compounds.
Doing your homework by identifying areas prone to frizz and finding products aligning to your hair needs and styling habits ensures you pick the right cream to kick humidity and frizz to the curb!
Style Your Frizz-Free Locks
Prepping tresses with targeted anti-frizz creams before heat styling is half the frizz-fighting battle. Maintaining that sleek, smooth finish once you head out the door is the next challenge.
Here are pro tips for keeping your bouncy blowout or cascading curls flawless and frizz-free all day:
Touch Up Flyaways
Carry a hydrating hair serum or oil like Ouidad’s Humidity Gel in your bag for frizz emergencies. A few drops to tame flyaways and refresh flattened sections helps prevent major puff-outs. Alternately, recap a bit of your anti-frizz cream to re-seal strands outside.
Buffer Humidity Before heading into muggy weather, mist an anti-humectant refresher spray like ColorWow Dreamcoat to act like a raincoat blocking moisture infiltration. This keeps your hairdo stabilized in damp conditions.
Don’t Disturb Cuticles
Limit affectionate hair ruffling and backcombing to preserve your smooth seals post-styling. The less you disrupt your hair’s cuticle layers, the longer lasting your frizz-free look.
Beware Hat Head
Ball caps and knitted beanies can disturb cuticles and hair bonds leading to kinks. If rocking hats, allow strands to cool completely after styling then set with a finishing spray before covering up.
Refresh Nightly
Silk pillowcases prevent rough friction and moisture loss as you snooze. To revive flattened sections after sleep, spot treat hair with serums avoiding the roots which can get greasy. Lightly finger fluff and finish with a micro shot of texturizing spray for pillow-proofing.
Shampoo Sparingly To extend the longevity of your sleek and frizz-free styles between washes, only lather up when truly needing a rinse – about every 3 to 5 days. Sulfate-free cleansers retain beneficial oils and anti-frizz actives further.
Mask and Moisturize Repair overworked strands with regular deep conditioning masks and bond-building olaplex treatments. Focus on mid-lengths and ends to keep these drier zones properly nourished and less prone to swelling. Massage nourishing oils like argan into damp hair before styling for compoundedsmoothing and frizz benefits.
Protect From Heat
Limit passes with hot tools by embracing low-maintenance air drying when possible. Always prep with thermal protecting products before exposing delicate strands to high temperatures – no exceptions! A once a week glossing treatment feeds and seals the outer cuticle to make hair resilient.
The Takeaway
In summary, prepared hair is happy hair when it comes to blocking humidity’s unwanted advances leading to frizz. Prepping your tresses properly by applying targeted anti-frizz creams before heat styling keeps unwanted moisture from penetrating strands and marring your fabulous hair days.
These specially designed creams provide a protective shield blanketing the cuticle surface to seal out humidity issues. Key ingredients like silicones, plant-based oils, glycerin humectants, and flexible styling polymers defend strands against lift and frizz.
While price, hair type, application tips, and maintenance tricks can vary, all quality anti-frizz creams and serums hold one common goal: Keeping seasonal humidity at bay and undesirable frizz at a distance!
With this comprehensive lowdown on the how, why and what of humidity-blocking solutions, you can take on summer weather and come out with smooth strands on the other side. No more bad hair days thanks to the creamy creations formulating to fight frizz and flatness from April showers to balmy summer skies and beyond!