weather need not wreck your day

By Joy Ross CONTRIBUTOR

It’s hard to believe it’s the icky, sticky time of year already! All of a sudden, all my clients are complaining about their hair either being flat, no matter how much they use mousse and blow dry, or that no matter what they do their hair just gets bigger and fuzzier.

Welcome to Southern humidity. Honestly, the only type of hair that behaves in this climate is naturally curly hair – or maybe permed hair. The less you do the better it looks.

For the other 95% of us, here are some tips and tricks to make your style last longer without having to stay in the air conditioning all day. (That’s the only foolproof solution, unfortunately. Just remember you are not alone.)

The No. 1 reason your hair will get flatter or bigger, depending on the hair type, is that it isn’t completely dry. I would say a good majority of the female population begin styling their hair too soon after washing, thinking that it will stay better, and quit styling when it feels dry. This is the primary reason I hear people say, “I spend so much time on my hair and 15 minutes after I’m done it looks like I didn’t do anything.”

Styling your hair when it’s wet will NOT make it stay better. The hair holds moisture you can’t feel, and our salty air adds to this swelling of the cuticle of the hair. The last bit of moisture that you don’t feel will make all your styling efforts useless.

If you want volume, put mousse on your roots only. Especially on the top and sides parallel to your cheeks/eyes. This is where you want fullness. Then blow and blow your hair in all directions, opposite the way it wants to go. This will set your roots up and away, giving you more fullness and volume.

Keep doing this until it feels dry (this is key). At this point is when you take your brush, and again blow/style your hair. This last step will set the style and get the hidden moisture out of the hair.

Now remember, it will stay longer and better but nothing is going to stay if you’re golfing or on the beach.

The final step should be an oil or laminate-based product, used very sparingly to put a barrier on the hair to prevent the salty, moist air from penetrating the strands and wreaking havoc on the style.

If your hair is naturally wavy, curly or just gets that halo of frizz, the theory above applies. You need smoothing cream of any sort on the length of your hair while damp. This will help the strands stay smooth. Then blow and blow, mostly down, to coax the hair to stay closer to your head.

It still needs to feel dry before taking your flat brush to smooth style it.

I am never opposed to hot tools. If you have the dexterity to use a flat iron, hot rollers, curling iron, etc. do so for added security and stability of your hairstyle. If you use the tools properly and use good products to keep your hair healthy, rather than stripping it, all these tools are very helpful. I hope these tips make you happier with your hair even in this yuck.