Curly hair can handle a lot weather-wise. In the heat it just gets curlier, if it’s cold it keeps your head warm, and if it’s raining outside, well a bunch of curls don’t need a brolly like straightened hair or a high maintenance blow-dry. In most instances, just leave them alone and they’ll wiggle their way back to former glory.
Humidity, however, is a curly girl’s kryptonite and every summer waves of all kinds – my own included – triple in volume and frizz. I've learnt some lessons in my time – including the fruitlessness of a defuser, that a side fishtail cannot control roots, that conditioning spray doesn’t touch the sides, and that a carefree bushy ponytail ends up wearing me.
So from experience, here's how to deal when humidity is through the roof.
Plait halo
You may not have realised it back in the noughties when even girls (and boys) with naturally straight hair owned a pair of GHDs, but being the owner of naturally curly hair has some serious blessings. One of those is the ability to get away with haphazard hairstyles, because messy curls are bloody sexy. This is why no curly girl should fear the plait halo; it’s a style that gets more dishevelled and beautiful throughout the day, plus it’ll keep your hair from turning into a giant bush upon your head.
How to:
As is the case with most curly hairstyles, preparation is key.
This look is easiest to achieve with tangle-free hair, so if your curls are a couple of days old, start by washing them with a great conditioning treatment like the Dove Regenerate Rescue Creme Mask (£6.99). This’ll also make your hair heavier, weighing down the curls and helping to prevent frizz.
Brush with a plastic, wide-toothed comb when wet (Boots, £1.79), apply some rich serum (Kerastase Elixir Ultimate, £37) and allow your hair to dry naturally, every now and then going back and giving it a quick comb to prevent knots.
Once dry, your hair is ready for a plait halo. There are tonnes of tutorials on YouTube, but if you have long hair and want an easy ride, just part it down the middle, form two plaits at the top of your neck and pull them up and around your head, weaving and securing the ends beneath the opposite plait.
@lordemusic
Low bun
A low bun ( chignon, please) on a bad hair day is the oldest trick in the book. And a bonus to this style is that your hair is out of your face on a hot day.
How to:
This look is so easy. Start by pulling dry hair into a tight, low ponytail and securing with a thin hair elastic. If you have frizz at the roots, tame it by combing through some good hair wax – Fudge Urban do a great one called Rocker Wax which has a nice shiny finish. Next, smooth your pony down with some serum or oil, twist it round your finger so it’s nice and tightly wound and use another hair tie, a scrunchie or some bobby pins to secure it in place. Finish with a layer of good hair spray – Redken’s Control Addict spray (£13) is strong and incredibly good, so apply with caution and only when you’re done tweaking.
Side note: wax can be a pain to get out of hair, so when it’s time to wash it, start with dry shampooing – applying your shampoo to dry hair without water – before washing it properly. It helps the shampoo cling to the wax and will get all the product out.
Photo: GETTY
Two braids
A 2-for-1 look, because sleeping in these means waking up the next day with a load of '70s crinkle curls of the exact same size.
How to:
If you’re used to french plaits, it takes a minute to change your method to make them weave outwards, so they sit on top of your head rather than flat, but persevere.
To get your Dutch braid just do the same left-to-middle, right-to-middle method as you would a french plait – the only difference is you take the middle strand over the outer strands, rather than under.
If you want super sleek braids that keep your frizz completely under control, then pay attention to the roots. Use some oil – in truth any will work, but coconut oil obviously smells less suspicious in a hugging situation than the sesame seed oil from the kitchen cupboard. I recommend the Boots coconut body oil (£2.54) having panic-used it once when I ran out of all other options. Apply more than you usually would (around a 2 pence piece sized amount for mid-lengths) to towel-dried hair and let it dry naturally before braiding. Don’t ever put heat on your hair when it’s oiled up, it’ll sizzle like a sausage. Your hair will look a little greasy but this won’t matter once it’s braided. If your plait gets frizzy during the day, just rub a little oil in your hands and apply to the braids to smooth them out. Easy.
Photo: GETTY
Half bun
A half-up-half-down ponytail is only going to add volume and escalate the situation, so instead, section off the top half of your hair, tie it and wrap the ponytail tightly around the hair elastic to make a swirl-shaped bun (Google ‘tiny snail shell’ as a reference.) All you have to deal with now is the curls you’ve left down. (Unlike Ariana here, we prefer au naturel on the bottom.)
How to:
Diffuse your hair with a curl defining mousse – Boot’s essential curling mousse is cheap (£1.49 so spend the extra money on a desk fan!) and brilliant – to keep your curls under control and hold their shape. The mousse should hold that small lower-section of your hair in its curly place, and if humidity goes really crazy then your hair will only get half as big so absolutely nothing to see here folks. Keep the top half of your hair pulled back and twirled into that tiny humidity-safe bun. (S)nailed it.
Photo: GETTY
Baby hairs
Humidity will make those tiny corkscrews around your face extra curly and this is a seriously beautiful thing. If you can’t deal with handling your whole mop, you can still make the most of the one gift humidity gives us and draw attention to your little baby hairs – they’re far easier to handle.
How to:
Wet your front curls with warm water and twist each curl around your finger. Next, take a little dab of nourishing curl cream like the Moroccan oil curl defining cream (£24.75) and do the same again, coaxing the curl to define it, before leaving to dry naturally. Only having to deal with tiny curls at the front is so much easier than the whole head.
Photo: GETTY
Hair horns
A bit different, but if you’re a lemons into lemonade kind of person then taking the opportunity to wear humidity hair horns is a good idea! Khloe Kardashian posted a photo of this look on her instagram the other day and, against all odds, it looked great. Don’t panic, 1998 Gwen Stefani did it first.
How to:
Unlike the bun, this look is fine with a little sprinkling of humidity frizz – make them too sleek and you’ll run the risk of looking like a shiny robot.
Part and tie your hair into two high pigtails and brush out any knots. Then, to get the pointed ends, place your index and middle fingers on either side of the hair tie and wrap the pigtails one at a time tightly around your fingers to help form the shape. When you’re near the end of the pigtail, take it back down to the base of the horn, so that it’s thicker at the bottom, and pin it in place. Give it a spritz with some hairspray – Redken is perfect here.
@khloekardashian
Brazilian blowdry
It’s an extreme solution, but if you want your hair permanently smooth and protected from humidity then go get a brazilian blowdry. It’s perfect for serial straighteners – plugging in and ironing will take a fraction of the time – and if you still want your waves, this treatment doesn’t get rid of them. Instead, a brazilian blowdry softens and tames your curls to a more manageable, less Knot City state.
How to:
How does it work? Getting a Brazilian blow-dry at a salon basically consist of a specific shampoo rinse followed by a leave-in treatment, which is applied to the hair and sealed with straighteners. The hair is then rinsed, conditioned and blow-dried. There are a couple of variations, but all treatments last for around 14 weeks. It can be expensive (prices range from £75 depending on your hair length) but Rush currently have an offer for Brazilian blow dries every Wednesday or, if you want to treat yourself, Beauty Editor favourite Hershesons will give you a ‘permanent blowdry’ for £250.
Photo: GETTYLike what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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