Brilliant Frizz-Fighting Tips That'll Give Your Hair Life

by Gray Chapman

Summer beauty campaigns would have us believe that frolicking on a beach or strutting down a city sidewalk in a sundress is all just so effortless. But any woman who’s spent more than a few minutes styling her hair, only to step outside into sweltering, greenhouse-like heat, knows that summer’s elements are like style Kryptonite. Whether it’s heat, humidity or salt water, this season brings with it an array of challenges that can leave even the most carefully coiffed in a limp, frizzy mess. (Isn’t it amazing how heat and humidity can somehow make hair stringy and enormous at the same time? Gotta love summer.)

So, rather than accepting our summer hair fate, we decided to bring out the big guns. We chatted with two super-knowledgeable hair experts—Amoy Pitters ofAmoy Couture Hair, and Misti Dort, stylist at Atlanta’s Salon Red—for tips on how to wear a tousled “effortless” wave in this merciless heat while also battling frizz, dryness and other trappings of summer. Read on for styling tips that address your specific hair type’s needs to thwart summer’s more vexing effects. 

If you have straight hair...

If you have straight hair and you want to prevent the flattened, wet rat look, try preemptively injecting some volume with loose waves, advises Dort. She recommends working in product into your hair while it’s still wet, using products that add texture and have a little hold, like a mousse or surf spray. Then, let your hair air-dry. “Once it dries, go in with a curling iron—either a cone-shaped wand or just the barrel of a regular curling iron—to give yourself a couple more defined pieces,” she says. Lightly spritz with a medium-hold hairspray (“anything heavier will deflate hair through the day”), and prepare to brave the elements in style. 

If you have wavy or curly hair...

You’d think women with naturally wavy hair could just run some gel through their locks and call it a day. When dealing with heat and humidity, though, that’s far from the case. Dort tells us that for women with mermaid hair, summer weather can cause a sort of triangle effect, with frizz targeting hair from its mid-shaft to ends. “In that situation, you’ll want to use two different products to address the roots in a different way than you would the rest,” Dort says. She recommends spritzing roots with a little salt spray. Then as you work your way down to your ends, “use a hairspray that adds texture but has emollients, so that it conditions the hair,” she says. You’ll get that perfectly lived-in look without the dry, dull strands. 

If you have natural hair...

Pitters has styled the locks of Iman, Naomi Campbell, and countless couture runway models— needless to say, this woman knows a thing or two about hair. So, when she gives us advice, we tend to listen. “Exposing styled hair to a hot, humid environment causes the hair’s physical side bonds [read: the chemical bonds that hair is made out of] to break, allowing the hair strands to return to its natural state,” she says. “Naturally curly hair that has been ironed will begin to frizz and slide back into its curly state.” The best way to deal? Keep hair hydrated, avoid extended exposure to the sun, and stay away from using excessive styling products. Some products, however, do help seal the hair shaft to make the hair more resistant to weather’s effects, so look for a humidity-blocking styling cream or oil to prevent frizz.

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