After a salon refresh, the hair tends to fall effortlessly into place. All going well, the result is smooth strands that bounce with every step, yet still manage to stay impeccably styled. However, when the good hair day has come to an end, this salon gloss can be particularly difficult to maintain with flyaway hairs to tame. Often times, no matter how frequently the hairs are patted down or coated in hairspray, the efforts made to tame flyaways are done in vain. So what are they and how can they be rid of sans-salon?
Here’s Christophe Robin’s guide on how to tame flyaways.
What causes flyaway hair?
Firstly, what causes flyaway hair to begin with?
There are plenty of factors that can cause flyaway hair, but the primary one is damage. Damage, whether it has occurred from heat or chemicals, often reveals itself in the form of unruly strands. It can be a key sign that the hair’s health needs restoring and rehydrating. The other causes of flyaway hair include high humidity levels, friction, and buildup.
Humidity means that there is water vapor in the air. Therefore, when the hair strands are dehydrated, the water molecules enter the hair strand and bind to the proteins inside. This leads the hair to take on a different shape than usual, resulting in flyaways and different textures. Healthy, hydrated hair, however, is less affected by humidity.
Moving on to friction, which is often caused by rough towels and neglecting the hair of gentle care. Rubbing the hair in the opposite direction of growth with a towel can ruffle up the cuticles along the hair and increase staticity.
Finally, product buildup is the culprit for many hair woes, including being one of the causes of flyaway hair. When the hairs cuticles are filled with product, it can weigh the entire head of hair down and prevent that smooth, clean feeling and appearance.
Therefore, flyaway hairs can unfortunately occur to any sort of hair type. Having said this, although external factors such as the weather remain out of the realm of control, there are plenty of ways how to tame flyaways and prevent them from venturing away from where they’ve been styled.
How to stop flyaway hair
To stop flyaway hair there are a few simple yet effective steps that can be taken.
- Add moisture to the haircare routine. The hair should be hydrated, especially in humid conditions. If the hair has enough moisture within, there’s simply no room for it to absorb any extra from the external water vapor in the air.
- The second step is to avoid friction as much as possible. Replace harsh cotton towels with soft micro-fiber ones and instead of rubbing the hair dry, try the heatless drying method, plopping.
- Give the hair a break from heat styling and if the blow-dryer is non-negotiable, use a heat protecting elixir beforehand both to stop flyaway hair and protect from damage.
- Seal the cuticles of the hair for a smoother finish. This can be done in two ways: rinse shampoo and conditioner with cold water and if blow-drying, point the nozzle of the hair-dryer downwards for a smooth, glossy effect.
- The final step how to stop flyaway hair is to cleanse the hair of buildup. Use a weekly detoxifying scrub to draw out impurities from the hair cuticles.
