How to Prevent Frizzy Hair.

How to prevent frizzy hair… sigh. It’s the question I get asked the most, but also one of the things I personally struggle with the most. If you’re a regular reader in these parts, you are probably well aware of my blow out addiction. My hair is naturally very unruly, with a tendency to fluff up  and get frizzy the second it gets humid out. Even when I do get a blow out, or blow out my own hair, it can easily turn into a hot mess if I’m not careful. And summer is the absolute worst. No matter how hard I try, if I don’t take extra care, boom – POOF.

Luckily, I’ve accumulated quite a bit of experience attempting to control my hair and today I’ve teamed up with Living Proof (they make some of the BEST frizz prevention products on the market… I’ve been using their styling cream for years and added a few new products to my arsenal this month) to share a few of my favorite ways to tame the mane.

First and foremost… my hair always looks its best on the second day. For that reason, if I blow out my own hair, I’ll do it at night so that it will flatten out a bit by morning. After blowing it out, I’ll use Living Proof’s Perfect hair Day overnight protector and pull it up into a high bun. A hair stylist once told me to pull it up so high that I look ridiculous, loop it around a few times, and secure with a fabric hair tie (like these from emi-Jay.) This technique works like a charm. Your significant other might look at you kind of funny, but you’ll wake up with perfect hair… sleek + smooth, with loose waves. #worthit

Another key thing: Hairspray is 100% critical when it comes to resisting the humidity and preventing frizz. I really don’t know why I resisted using hairspray for as long as I did. I actually didn’t buy my first bottle until a few years ago, believe it or not. I’d stick to shine sprays + serums, or the occasional styling cream. I associated it with big hair — and sticky hair… no thank you! The key is finding the right one.

Living Proof recently launched their new Humidity Shield, and this stuff is gooood. It’s not in the least bit sticky, but it seals the hair off, preventing frizz and puffy hair. Throughout our tutorials, Jay has stressed the importance of using the direction of the spray to get the results you desire. As I desire sleek, shiny hair without added volume, I spray straight down the shaft of my hair, scrunching at the ends to keep the natural wave. If you’re looking for more volume, spray into the root, scrunching a bit to create texture. (I do this when my hair is feeling flat after a few days as a second step after dry shampoo.)

On that note, the overnight perfector that I mentioned earlier is one of the most genius products I’ve ever tried. I don’t know what it is, but it leaves hair so shiny. I don’t just use it at night, but also in the mornings to leave my hair smooth + shiny. It’s not just for blown out hair – it works great on air dried hair, too. I discovered this one via Lucky Magazine a few months back… Jean Godfrey-June swore it left her hair as if she’d just had a fresh blow out, so I needed to try it. Her beauty column has long been my favorite party of Lucky Magazine… her reviews never lead me astray. This one was spot on… this stuff perfects your hair, leaving it super shiny and bouncy.

One more critical tip, as my girlfriends are always asking me this one. The gym! I get SO sweaty during spin class, but can have my hair looking just fine within twenty minutes of walking out of class. The first part of this is with what I do before/during class. I pull my hair into that same (ridiculously high) pony, and then use a second elastic to secure it into a bun. This keeps it from budging during class. A ponytail is suicide for your hair — it will dangle down and get sweaty with the rest of you. During class, as I sweat, I try to remember to just towel off my hairline as we go. During Soul Cycle, we get tiny breaks, so this isn’t terribly hard to do. It sounds high-maintenance, but I’m constantly wiping my face anyway, so I just try to get my hairline as well.

Once I finish class, if I’m showering, I leave my hair up in the bun, and wrap my hair in a towel. I’ll get out of the shower, change, and then take my hair down. I spritz just a little bit of the humidity shield into my hands, and run my fingers along the flyaway sections at my hairline. I blast it with the blowdryer (maybe just 30-40 seconds), and apply the smallest amount (about a dime size) of styling cream to the middle + ends of my hair… and I swear, you would never know that I’d just had a crazy workout.

Since I always think it’s fun when other bloggers (or celebs, in Us Weekly) spill out their bags and to show us what’s inside, I thought it would be fun to do the same. I carry two small bags inside my gym bag… a larger one from Persifor, and a smaller one from Truffle.

Inside my larger pouch I keep…

• Living Proof Humidity Shield (root touchups) + Styling Cream (to seal split ends and revitalize my ends. After a workout, my hair can look a little ratty… this smooths things out.)
• bareMinerals Complexion Rescue and Brush (this is the best, I especially love it for after the gym because it’s so light, but still evens out my complexion.)
• Tata Harper Replenishing Nutrient Complex (This is like a multi vitamin for your skin. It leaves skin fresh and dewy, capitalizing on that post workout glow!)
• Le Labo Fleur d’Oranger (the prettiest orange blossom fragrance)
• Origins Original Skin Serum (this goes on before the Tata Harper… it evens out my skin tone and leaves it super soft.)

Inside my small clear pouch I keep…

• Benefit Roller Lash Mascara (adds major curl!)
• Benefit Gimme Brow (the quickest brow fix. It tints, tames, and adds volume in one easy step.
• Cynthia Rowley Mini Sticks (blush + bronze duo)
• Cynthia Rowley Highlighter (I dot this in the corners of my eyes + on my brow bones.)
• Eye Cream+ Chapstick
• NARS  lip pencil in “Dragon Girl…” a great blue red.

*I also pack deodorant but forgot to shoot it… ha, ha…

And since we were shooting at home obviously I needed a Tyrion pic, duh. But to sum things up… the key steps here are while you blow out + style your hair, at night before bed, and at the gym. If you take extra precautions during all three times, you’ll win the war against frizz.

photography by Lydia Hudgens.

Created in partnership with Living Proof.