How To Treat Your Dry & Frizzy Hair

As much as we’re all about embracing natural frizz, sometimes it’s nice to have the option to wear your hair without it. 

In order to treat frizz, it’s important to understand what causes it. The majority of frizz is caused by lack of moisture and hydration in the hair, cocktail this with humidity that you’ll inevitably face throughout the warmer months, and you have a one way ticket to difficult to manage frizzy hair. 

Why does the increased humidity make a difference? 

If your hair is already lacking in moisture and hydration and the air around you is humid, which means it has a lot of moisture in it, it’ll cause your hair to reach out and attempt to take the moisture from the air - creating frizz. To take it one step further, what causes your hair to lose its moisture in the first place? When hair is dry and damaged the hair cuticles will open, much like a pinecone. Whereas happy, healthy hair will have cuticles that lay flat. 

When the hair has open cuticles like this, making it rough and prickly, it means that the moisture can escape through those openings. It also allows for that humid air to enter the hair shaft via the opening causing the hair to swell and change shape, those changes create frizz. 

Are some hair types more prone to dryness and frizz than others?

Of course genetically we can be more prone to frizzy hair than others, usually this will be because of our hair’s natural texture. For example, curly and coily hair types tend to be drier naturally, leaving it more prone to frizz than someone with genetically poker straight natural hair. 

However anyone can get frizzy hair, even if it’s naturally straight. 

Aside from the factors we’ve already discussed, there are of course a few other reasons as to why we can find ourselves fighting frizz all Summer long. 

We know by now that colouring and bleaching your hair can cause chemical damage; any products that are high in ammonia will have a damaging effect on the hair as they strip away the natural oils that occur on the scalp and through the lengths. 

Damage caused by hot tools is another well known culprit, along with overwashing your hair and not protecting it from abrasive fabrics such as towels, pillows, hoods etc. 

You may not know that washing your hair in very hot water can also cause frizz as it stresses out your hair and scalp. When your scalp is stressed out it doesn’t produce those all important natural oils that keep both your scalp and hair hydrated, therefore making it dry - and by now we know - dry hair = frizz! 

Now we have a better understanding of what frizz actually is and what some of the causes are, it's time to delve into some of the remedies and preventive measures you can take to eliminate and manage frizz, particularly throughout the Summer. 

Meet your hard working, anti-frizz hero - The SILKE London Hair Wrap. 

This mighty haircare ally conditions and protects your lengths against the nightly friction of bed linen against our hair cuticles that causes frizz and bed head that's exasperated in hot weather! Worn nightly, your hair cuticles glide smoothly against the 100% silk, eliminating the friction that causes your cuticles to stand on end and create frizz. Instead The SILKE Hair Wrap smooths your cuticles flat so they reflect light and shine, locking in that much needed moisture. 

This gliding motion also works to re-align cuticles that have ‘frizzed up’ and reshaped from humidity throughout the day - even if you’re going to bed a frizzy nightmare, you can wake up a silky sleek dream by simply cocooning your hair in the 100% silk Hair Wrap. 

 

Worried about wearing something on your head at night in the heat? Don't be! Silk is remarkably different to other materials - it's a natural, ancient fabric that’s heat regulating and the only material that allows your skin to breathe, so you'll remain cool all night no matter the temperature.

Not only is the Hair Wraps’ surface completely smooth, but it's far less absorbent than other fabrics too. It won’t strip away the precious moisture and naturally nourishing oils from your hair like cotton and satin does. Eliminating dry, brittle tresses this summer.

Major bonus - you'll wash your hair a lot less too. As your hair is encased, the SILKE Hair Wrap encourages your natural oils to spread evenly from root to tip - oils are no longer concentrated at the roots so greasy hair days are few and far between. This can also help to avoid unnecessary stripping of the natural oils and stressing out of your scalp under overly hot water. 

If your hair is in desperate need of an extra boost of hydration, our co-founder, Maria Sotiriou, who has over 37 years of experience as a hairstylist, has some amazing tips to try out this Summer. She explains: 

“Whilst I’m not a fan of ‘goo hoarding’, I like to utilse a combination of conditioners, hair masks and leave-in products in my routine when mine, or my clients hair, really needs it. I have mixed Mediterranean and Caribbean heritage, so my hair can always benefit from extra hydration as it’s prone to frizz! 

What is the difference between conditioner, hair masks and leave-in conditioning products?

Conditioner is a light nourishing cream applied straight after washed soaking wet hair, it is formulated to smooth down cuticles and detangle quickly and efficiently even when diluted and leaves behind no residue. As I only wash my hair once or twice a week, I’ll reach for a hydrating conditioner every time! 

If I want something a little more hard working I’ll reach for a hair mask. I love a mask as they have a high concentration of hydrating ingredients that are able to penetrate the internal area of hair. This is why the instructions will require the hair to be clean and towel dried, and for the product to be left on for at least 15 minutes or more. Always adhere to the timeframe stated on your products, even though it’s tempting not too! 

Once your Hair Mask is  rinsed off the cuticles will be very hydrated, lay flat and smooth, so lock in the hydrating nourishment of the mask right inside the hair where you need it. It’s because of this deep penetration that Masks have longer lasting results. I also personally always advise a deep oil treatment pre-hair wash, I like to choose an option with minimal and natural ingredients. On my hair wash day I’ll apply an oil treatment liberally to my scalp and hair, taking the time to massage the scalp to get the blood flowing and cuticles stimulated. I’ll leave this in for a few hours, or all day - bonus points if you wear it to the gym as the natural heat generated at your scalp will assist the oil treatment to penetrate even further! If you don’t have time to create natural heat in the gym, simply warm up your oil treatment with your blow-drier before you’re ready to rinse it out. One thing to remember is you should always be double shampooing during your hair wash, much like a double skincare cleanse, but it’s really vital to do so post-oil treatment to get all of that residue out. 

Lastly, leave-in conditioners are designed to smooth down cuticles and keep the hair supple. They are the most lightweight of all conditioners and generally come in a spray formulation. They dry off completely without leaving a white cast or heavy matt feel and look, so are the easiest to utilise into your routine if you’re in a pinch for time. I like to opt for a leave-in conditioner that also has heat protection to make that extra step in my routine work for me!” 

How can I prevent hair drying out and becoming brittle particularly in the sun or on holiday?

When it comes to traveling and holidaying in the Summer, it’s trickier than ever to keep your hair routine in check, your hair protected from the different environmental elements, and keep it in optimum condition to eliminate frizz. It’s never been more important to select hair care products that require minimal effort and deliver maximum results! 

One of those products in our SILKE London Heatless Curler Kit - designed to travel, it comes in a chic travel case and includes everything you need to create the perfect, bouncy curls with little effort and most importantly, no heat. 

As we learnt earlier, frizz can be caused by using too much heat on your hair and therefore causing damage - skip the heat completely and pop in our Heatless Curler Kit, either for a few hours, or overnight. The Kit is made from 100% silk, just like our Hair Wrap, so it gives back to your hair and slides in and out with ease; unlike its abrasive heatless curl counterparts such as a bathroom robe belt or socks! 

Use the Heatless Curler Kit to style your hair post-hair wash, and then as and when in between washes to top up your curls as you go. No need to reach for the heated tools every day to tweak your styling. 

 

Maria says: “My best piece of Summer hair advice is before you go out, thoroughly wet your hair and squeeze out the excess water with your hands before applying a thick leave-in hair mask or hair oil all over your lengths. Tie all your hair up into a loose bun or ponytail, if you have long hair always opt for loose braids, and repeat the process throughout the day if needed. Lots of hair masks and leave-in treatments now have built in UVA and UVB protection, so extra points if you use one of those as the sun’s rays can cause colour fade and damage to your hair without you knowing! 

I love to pair this method with heatless mermaid waves which are so easy to create by braiding your hair overnight, securing with our SILKE London Hair Ties and then popping a Hair Wrap over the top. If I’ve been wearing my hair in mermaid waves and applying a leave-in treatment throughout the day, I’ll top up the look with liberal amounts of hair oil in the evening for more of an editorial wet look - this saves on washing your hair and it can benefit from even more moisture and hydration!” 

Maria also recommends: “Wear a scarf, hat, or SILKE Hair Wrap when you’re at the beach or pool to avoid getting your hair wet as much as possible! Aside from this, it’ll also act as a physical barrier against the sun’s rays. 

I’ve also swapped out all of my old hair ties and replaced them with SILKE Hair Ties which are made from 100% silk. Putting your hair up and taking it back down is inevitable throughout a hot day, no one wants hair on the back of their neck when the temperature rises! By keeping a SILKE Hair Tie on my wrist I can take my hair up, down, and back up again without causing any unnecessary snapping, snagging or kinks, not only does my hair look great, I’m skipping that extra frizz inducing damage caused by abrasive regular hair ties.” 

The SILKE Hair Ties also come in a huge range of colourways from classic black and champagne, to Summer appropriate pastels and rich jewel tones, they’re just as gorgeous on your wrist as they are in your hair! 

 

There you have it, follow those simple steps to treat your hair with ease this Summer and look smooth and shiny whilst doing it! 

Love, SILKE xo