frizz Archives - Wavy Hair Care

Wavy Hair & Hair Oils

August 4, 2023 by Emily Evert 1 Comment

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Do I Have To Use Hair Oil When Following The Curly Girl Method?

Using hair oil is not required in the curly girl method. Many oils are permitted in the curly girl method though. So, they’re an option, but not a requirement.

What Is The Purpose Of Using Hair Oils?

Hair oils are used to condition/soften the hair, add shine, lock moisture in and block out humidity out, or help break a gel cast.

Hair oils have two main purposes. One is to help soften the hair and make it more manageable. Many people think of this as ‘moisturizing’ the hair, but oils don’t actually hydrate the hair. They do make it feel softer and more manageable though. This can assist with making detangling easier, and it can just make your hair physically feel better to the touch. They sometimes also produce a slightly shiny look which people like for aesthetic reasons.

The other reason for using oils is to lock moisture in, and humidity out. Many hair oils create a really fine seal over the hair, which can help keep water and conditioning ingredients inside of the hair to keep it from getting dry or feeling rough. They also can lock humidity and other things out of your hair strands. If you live in an area with really high humidity, you may notice that your hair gets really frizzy if you go outside when its humid. This is because high humidity conditions can cause your hair to try to pull in too much water from the air, which results in frizz. Using a hair oil can help stop humidity from entering your hair, and help avoid that frizz.

Important note: Using hair oils on their own will not make your hair more moisturized and in most cases, will actually dry your hair out more! It’s a common mistake for people to use hair oils on their dry hair to try to moisturize it.

A third reason within the curly girl method world in particular, is to break a gel cast.

Should You Use Hair Oils If You Have Wavy Hair?

How To Get More Defined Waves In Naturally Wavy Hair

October 28, 2022 by Emily Evert 1 Comment

What Makes Hair Look Defined?

Before we get into how to get more defined waves, let’s talk about what ‘defined waves’ even means! It is a phrase that can be confusing and sometimes misused. For example, I’ve seen people use defined waves to mean “tighter waves” which is incorrect.

Defined waves are basically well-clumped waves. You could think of it as having waves that are “outlined” well. If someone has well-defined waves, you could use two fingers to pick out one curl from their hair, or you could go around their head counting how many individual curls there are.

Well-defined naturally wavy hair has…

Less frizz
Natural definition or hold (not fluffy or poofy)
Visible curl clumps
Separated, individual waves.

Ways to get better definition in naturally wavy hair

Wet Frizz In Wavy Hair

March 29, 2022 by Emily Evert 4 Comments

What Is Wet Frizz?

Wet frizz is when hair is frizzy while still wet. Rather than forming “clean” curl clumps, the curl clumps will have strings of hair sticking out. A small amount of wet frizz is normal, but having a lot of we frizz can be a sign that your har isn’t getting what it needs.

If your hair is really frizzy while wet, it will likely dry very frizzy, too. If you struggle with frizz and that frizz is present even when your hair is soaking wet, your core issue may be wet frizz rather than regular frizz.

What Causes Wet Frizz?

Wet frizz can be caused by a lack of moisture or conditioning, product build-up, having high porosity hair, flash drying or moisture overload.

If your hair is frizzy while it’s wet, it’s usually lacking moisture and needs to be better conditioned.

In some cases, wet frizz may be caused by build-up. If your hair has significant build-up, it may disrupt your hair from clumping “nicely” in its normal way.

High porosity hair is more likely to experience wet frizz due to the raised cuticles making nearby hairs tangle rather than align together. If you’re new to the concept of hair porosity, I’d recommend checking out my blog post how to determine your wavy hair type.

For some people, moisture overload can include wet frizz. If your hair feels really soft (almost mushy?) and has lost its ‘strength’, gotten very poofy/fluffy or lost its regular definition, and your curls are looser than usual, these are signs of moisture overload and you may benefit from doing a protein treatment.

Flash drying causes wet frizz for some. Some people have hair that responds poorly to certain ingredients. If you find that your hair is soaking wet, and you apply a product and your hair instantly frizzes up while feeling like it got drier – that’s flash drying. In this case, you’ll need to learn what ingredient your hair has flash drying from and avoid that ingredient in your hair care products.