There’s nothing worse than seeing flyaways and frizz after you’ve gone to the trouble of straightening your hair.
Before you become frustrated and give up hope to fix it let me tell you it is possible to reduce frizz after straightening natural hair.
With the right tricks, you can protect and define natural hair long after heat styling for frizz-free days ahead.
So, how can you do it? It’s a mix of using the right tools, products, and techniques. But first, you’ll need to identify the reason behind the frizz after straightening.
What Causes Frizzy Hair After Straightening
Every strand of hair has a protective cuticle around the shaft. A healthy cuticle is flat and smooth, nurtured by natural oils produced by the scalp.
Heat tools can actually warp and damage the little protective layers on the hair shaft. If you straighten your hair with high temperature or rest the flat iron on sections too long it can burn or damage your hair.
The damage happens underneath, but shows itself through frizz days later. It’s like a slow leak weakening your smoothness!
Humidity is also responsible for frizzy hair after straightening. As the hair becomes damaged and dry, it allows moisture to enter the strand’s shaft causing swelling, changing the shape, and resulting in frizz.
If you’re using chemical straighteners, these can weaken your hair over time, leading to frizz and damage.
High porosity hair tends to absorb moisture quickly but also loses it fast, leading to frizz. This can be a natural characteristic of your hair or a result of damage.
Factors like using lower-quality straighteners or skipping protective products before straightening your hair also contributes to post frizzing.
How to Reduce Frizz After Straightening Natural Hair
Reducing frizz after straightening natural hair involves a combination of preventive measures, proper straightening techniques, and aftercare. Here are some effective strategies:
1. Straighten Your Hair Properly
The fight against frizz starts with the straightening process. You don’t have to forego all heat styling. However, you have to do it the right way.
Improper heat styling will ruin the cuticle of the hair’s shaft, meaning you’ll have frizz from the get-go.
Always use a heat protectant before straightening your hair! Heat protectant helps safeguard the hair’s cuticle against damage and will prevent frizz, keeping your tresses healthy long term.
Use a flat iron with adjustable temperature settings. Straighten your hair at the lowest effective temperature to prevent excessive heat damage. Don’t keep the straightener over your strands for long.
When drying your hair, start by focusing on the roots. Then, blow-dry in a downward motion to the ends of the strands using a brush.
Opt for a flat brush instead of a round brush. A flat brush allows you to detangle hair without causing breakage, which worsens frizz.
Again, you can use this tool, but you have to use it the right way. If you have curly hair, get a curly hair straightener with adjustable temperatures.
2. Use a Repairing Oil
So, what about keeping frizz at bay after straightening?
Whenever you brush your hair afterward, apply a reparative oil like extra virgin olive oil, avocado, etc., focusing on the ends of the strands. Use your hands and fingers to massage the product into the ends.
Opt for lightweight serums with moisturizing ingredients like Argan oil. The serum helps close the cuticle of the hair shaft, keeping moisture from getting into the strands and minimizing frizz.
3. Wrap Your Hair at Night
The friction of your pillowcase when you toss and turn in bed at night can roughen the hair’s cuticle.
Wrap your hair gently in Bantu knots or pin curls at night and wear a satin sleep cap. You’ll have a gentle wave and more volume in the morning—and zero frizz!
4. Protect Your Hair at the Gym
A sweaty workout can leave your strands soaked in salty moisture and lead to frizz. Protect your hair by wearing a cotton headband to soak up the sweat at the gym.
If you want to take it to the next level, you can wrap it like you would at night.
5. Fight Humidity
Humidity can quickly ruin your straightening job. Anti-humectant products are essential for preventing hair from absorbing excess moisture, especially in humid conditions which can cause frizz.
They work by forming a barrier around the hair shaft, maintaining the hair’s natural moisture balance and preventing swelling and frizz.
Common types of anti-humectant include anti-humectant pomades, anti-frizz sprays, hair waxes, and leave-in conditioners for detangling and smoothing. Repairing oils are also anti-humectant.
It’s important to choose products based on your hair type and to balance them with hydrating products to maintain healthy hair.
6. Keep the Heat Away
Once you’ve straightened your hair, don’t subject it to more heat styling. Wait until your next straightening session.
While a flat iron might temporarily tame frizz, at this point, it will do more damage to the cuticle—meaning more long-term frizz.
7. Extend Your Look with a Dry Shampoo
Your straightened hair will only last until your next wash. If you’re constantly washing and re-straightening your hair, you are subjecting it to more heat than might be healthy.
Prolong the lifespan of your hairdo by using dry shampoo. Dry shampoo soaks up excess oils at the scalp and adds volume to your look.
Apply it at the roots and use your fingertips to distribute it throughout the scalp. Using dry shampoo usually buys you an extra couple of days before you have to wash again.
8. Wash Your Hair Less
Washing your hair frequently after straightening can cause frizz. So try to limit washing your hair two times a week.
But that doesn’t mean you will only shower a couple of times per week! You can still bathe as usual. Just use a shower cap to protect your hair.
So, getting a frizzy hair is common after straightening natural hair. Follow the above tips to make sure you win in the fight against frizz.