Winter is a rough time for hair. Unless you are lucky enough to live someplace warm and delightful, all that cold, dry air is probably giving you a serious case of wispy, static-filled winter frizz.
Winter frizz is especially a problem because it comes into play just when we’re all most likely to be wearing hats because of the cold. Hats are great, but not if you ever plan on taking them off without looking like you just licked a light socket.
But luckily, hair technology has come a long way. Here are some reader-approved tricks for battling sticky, frizzy hair in the winter:
Heather suggested using a finishing cream but just applied it to the ends of the hair to keep them smooth and un-frizzy without weighing hair down too much.
John Frieda’s Frizz Ease collection has a finishing cream for straight hair and one for curly hair, both of which people seem to love. The line, and others like it, are available at the drugstore, so it won’t break the bank.
Sarah, on the other hand, suggested Organix Coconut Water Oil, which is a nice midway point between full-on coconut oil, which can be heavy for fine hair. It moisturizes and hydrates without leaving a sticky film or residue.
And even though it’s not technically designed as a frizz-fighting product, Label M’s Shine Mist does a great job of calming winter frizz anyway.
And, of course, if that all fails, there’s always the option of just using this time to try to get really good at doing those tricky crown braids. If anyone needs me, I’ll be practicing in the bathroom with this YouTube hair tutorial:
What Is The Best Product For Dealing With Winter Frizz?
Winter is a terrible time for dry, frizzy hair. I feel like I walk around most days looking like Einstein and shooting off sparks any time I touch knitwear. It gets stuck in my lipstick and drags traces of scarlet across my cheeks. It’s a disaster, and it doesn’t look all cute, and punky like the hair of the stock photo model featured above–I don’t even know how the stock photo above counts as “frizz.” That hair looks like Courtney Love circa Celebrity Skin, and I’ve been trying to make it happen on my own head since 1998. Mine looks more like Yahoo Serious–to use another dated, 90s reference–or a long-haired cat that hasn’t been brushed recently.
(Related: What Is the Best Red Lipstick?)
Since there’s nothing we can do about the weather, the only possible save is to find a hairstyle or product that will get us through February, or maybe even March.
I’ve tried leave-in conditioners and coconut oil. The conditioner did not work well enough. The coconut oil was way too much. For me, the problem might be that my hair is pretty fine and wispy, so any product that softens enough to fight frizz and static also weighs it down too much and just makes it look greasy. (How do I have hair that is both greasy and dry? My head contains multitudes.)
I had some reasonable success with a silicone-based shine serum. It did mean I had to wash my hair more often than I might otherwise need to, but it did keep my ends down instead of straight up and shooting off sparks.
Honestly, I’ve just given up and am wearing a hat until after the first thaw. But maybe you have found something that actually works. What products do you like for fighting winter frizz?
Do you have a good solution for staticky winter frizz? Let us know in the comments.