Why Is My Curly Hair Frizzy?

Frizz is not a hair type, and it is not a flaw in your curls. It is what happens when individual strands leave the group. A defined curl is a bundle of hairs lying in the same direction and bending together. When some of them lift away, catch the light separately and wander off on their own, you see frizz.

So the useful question is never how to get rid of frizz. It is what is separating the strands. There are only a handful of answers, and most frizzy hair is suffering from two or three of them at once.

1. Your hair is dry

This is the most common cause by a distance. Dry hair has a rough, raised cuticle, and it will take moisture from wherever it can find it, including the air. On a humid day, dry strands swell unevenly as they absorb water vapor, and the curl pattern breaks apart.

The fix: more conditioning, not more styling product. Use a richer conditioner, add a leave-in, and deep condition weekly for a month before judging the result.

2. Your stylers went on too late

Curls form in clumps when hair is soaking wet. If you towel your hair first and apply gel ten minutes later, the clumps have already separated, and the gel simply sets the frizz in place.

The fix: apply products to dripping wet hair, in the shower if you can. This single change resolves more frizz than any new product. The sequence is in The Wash Day Routine.

3. You are not using enough hold

Moisture makes curls soft. It does not keep them together. A curl cream on its own will look defined while wet and drift into frizz within hours, especially on wavy and fine hair.

The fix: finish with a gel or mousse, and use more than feels natural.

4. You are touching it while it dries

Every time fingers pass through drying curls, a clump is divided. Do it a dozen times in an hour, as most of us do without noticing, and no product can compensate.

The fix: hands off until your hair is completely dry. Then scrunch once to soften the cast.

Frizz is rarely a product problem. It is usually a timing problem.

5. Friction

Terry towels, cotton pillowcases, scarves, coat collars and hoods all rough up the cuticle and pull strands out of their clumps. Frizz that is worst at the back of the head and the nape is almost always friction.

The fix: blot with a microfiber towel or a T-shirt, and protect your hair overnight.

6. Buildup

A film of old product, oil or hard-water minerals stops moisture getting into the strand. Hair that is coated behaves like hair that is dry: dull, rough and frizzy, however much conditioner you apply.

The fix: a clarifying wash. See Product Buildup: Signs and Fixes.

7. Damage

Bleach, color and heat leave gaps in the cuticle that will not close. Damaged hair frizzes because its surface is permanently uneven.

The fix: protein to patch the gaps, regular trims, and patience while healthier hair grows in.

Frizz that is normal

Some frizz is not a problem to solve. Short new hairs along the part and hairline will stand up, because they are too short to join a curl. A soft halo at the crown is typical of healthy curly hair, and the perfectly smooth curls in advertisements are usually the work of a stylist, a ring light and a great deal of gel.

Where to start

If you change only one thing, apply your stylers to wetter hair. If you change two, add a gel over whatever you already use. Give each change three wash days before deciding whether it worked; hair responds slowly, and a single good or bad day tells you very little.