Humidity Will Ruin The Perfect Hair Style
We have all experienced this costal phenomenon. Spent hours getting your hair style just right, step out the door and it is immediately turned frizzing and unmanageable. So what the heck is going on? Humidity that’s what. The high humidity in combination with the high temperatures of the costal climate are the ultimate enemy of the gorgeous hair style.
How Does Moisture Create A Frizzy Hair Style
Although it doesn’t make much sense at a first glance, the moisture content in the air is actually making your hair frizzy. But when we take a look at what is really going on, it makes perfect sense. Armed with knowledge we can begin to combat the South Texas Frizz.
Osmosis is the real problem. Osmosis is the movement of “water” across a semi-permeable membrane from an area of high concentration of “water” to an area of low concentration of “water.” The inside of the hair shaft generally has less water in it than the air on a high humidity day. This makes the hair shaft an area of low concentration of water and the air an area of high concentration of water. The water will move from the air and into the hair shaft as a natural process. Remember from our article “Anatomy Of A Hair Shaft” that each hair shaft can absorb up to three times its weight in water. Meaning that cortex of the hair shaft will readily absorb water when exposed to it. As the hair shaft swells up from water absorption, the cuticle will begin to flair out. On a microscopic level this will cause the individual hair shafts to be kind of bushy, clumping and sticking together. Over plump and flared up, a hair style cannot hold under these conditions.
Add to the mix high temperatures and the effect of the humidity will be even faster. Heat naturally opens the cuticle and allows the humidity to enter the cortex even faster, but that’s not all. An increase in the temperature of the humid air will increase the pressure that air is under which will in turn increase the pressure exerted on the semi-permeable membrane. In essence higher temperatures will force the water into the cortex even faster than on a cool day.
Dry or damaged hair can compound these problems. As discussed in our article “An Inside View Of Damaged Hair” the cuticle or protective barrier for the cortex is broken or worn away. This exposes the cortex to the open air. If the cortex has no defense against the humidity, then the effect of the humidity will occur much faster. In the case of dry hair, remember our enemy osmosis. If the area of low concentration of water is really low, the water will move into the hair shaft that much easier.
So How Do You Combat Humidity
The first and most important step is to consult with your stylist to make sure you are using the best hair care regimen for your hair type. If you have frequent problems with humidity and frizzy, unmanageable hair chances are that you have dry hair. Using the proper cleansing and nourishing products are an important step to combating humidity.
Bonacure Color Save Spray Conditioner
Next, make sure that you are using the right styling products. When styling, your first step before blow-drying or air drying your hair should be to apply a leave-in conditioner. A leave-in conditioner is the first step to creating a barrier around your hair that will prevent not only styling damage, but also help to keep the environment out of the cortex of the hair. There are many types of leave-in conditioners and both price and performance influence the decision on which one to buy. Dragonfly Hair Salon recommends Bonacure Color Save Spray Conditioner by Schwarzkopf. We have loved this product for the last 10 years because of the outstanding performance it offers adding to hair health.
If you have thick and full bodied hair or if you have frequent problems with frizzy hair, avoid using volumizing products. These products are great when used to add volume to fine hair types, but not so good when trying to combat humidity. These products are designed to swell the hair shaft, adding to the volume and body of the overall hair style. If you are trying to stop or minimize the effects of humidity, starting out with a swollen hair shaft will only aid humidity in devastating your hair style.
Joico Humidity Blocker
Finally, use an anti-humectant product. Anti-humectant products are designed to create a moisture barrier on the hair shaft that prevents the moisture from penetrating the hair shaft. They also help to keep the hair shaft smooth by keeping the cuticle smooth which helps to prevent the cortex from being exposed to the environment. The are many of these products on the market. Look for words like humidity blocker, humidity control, anti-humidity or anti-humectant. Dragonfly Hair Salon recommends Joico Humidity Blocker. This product is the ultimate in anti-humidity performance, unrivaled by any other product we have ever used. There is nothing on the market currently that even comes close.
Remember that hair health is the first and most important step to defeating humitiy and having gorgeous manageable hair that will hold the styles you want it too.