How to eliminate or reduce frizz from my wavy hair

[pentangles]

I used to always wear it up or braided so that I didn't have to think about it, but it is to shoulder blade length now and I love my wave pattern and would like to wear it loose.

I usually air dry, treat gently and just use some very light leave in conditioner. It was ok for a few months but has recently started to frizz. It is like the waves separate and puff up. It might be the weather or the humidity at home, but it's getting on my nerves.

My hair is healthy, uncoloured and soft. It has a lot of body but is also fine and it is somewhat porous.

It doesn't like products much so gels and mousses make it look weighed down or stringy. I also tried curly girl for a few years and it made me look awful, as my hair really like silicones!

Any other ideas? With all respect, please don't suggest more CG, I don't want to force curls that aren't there and I am fairly low maintenance. If I don't use shampoo my hair is flat and lifeless.

Could diffusing help or would it go more poofy?
Have tried oils and they just don't do anything. It is good if I dry in a braid but still puffs out later. I really don't want to have to blow dry it straight!

Oh, I have also recently tried washing in distilled water - the frizz was worse if that's even possible, lol. I live in a moderate to soft water area so no idea what's up, but we do get a good bit of chlorine smell to it.
I am otherwise healthy and nails and skin are good.
I know frizz is natural and not a sign of unhealthy hair, but I would love to tone it down just a bit.

Hmmm I'm not much help as I use gel and mousse and need a really strong cast!
I do shampoo though, definitely not curly girl, I follow curlmaven for her advice

There's quite a bit of advice here which isn't curly girl

curlmaven.ie/hair/fine-hair/

You could try a foam? Giovanni do one called air turbo charged
Problem is you are going to need product to hold it together which creams won't give you and they're often too heavy for fine hair

Frizz Ease serum or Redken frizz dismiss.

John Frida Frizzease through the bottom half! It changed my life when that was invented! 🤣
I use it on the bottom half of my hair otherwise it looks too flat!

I use it whether I blow dry it straight or just the diffuser on it!

Thank you for replies!

Weirdly the curly girl stuff is a disaster for my hair, it seems to prefer the opposite of most of those methods and products. It does need something very lightweight. The frizz is like a soft film on the outer parts of my hair, as if it separates and forms a soft mass.

Some months it just magically goes away, it does seem to be linked to environment as when I was travelling around Scotland, even in the rain it was awesome!

Will try frizz ease as not used that since i was in my 20's.
I am so surprised the distilled water didn't work tho, lots of people say it does. I have very strange hair

@spikefaithbuffy I tried so many gels and mousses over time.The curl creams and gels that are popular just made my hair stringy or sticky,, even when used minimally. I have tried so many things, like a scientist in a lab, and it never works aaaagh! Will look into foams..

You could try
Treluxe serum (can use on wet hair or a tiny bit over dry)
XHC serum is one I've used over dry hair that's really lightweight
Umberto giannini do one as well

My hair sounds like it’s really similar and I recently had a treatment using the Alterna Caviar range - it genuinely left my hair in much better condition for weeks. You can buy the oil capsules (“intensive ceramide shots”) online but I haven’t tried using it at home.

I’ve also had some partial success with the Kerastase overnight serum.

Mine sounds similar to your hair. What I do is wash and condition with a very nourishing shampoo and conditioner, air dry, put in plaits overnight then the next morning gently brush and spritz with plain water in a spray bottle, scrunch all over then allow to air dry (while I drive to work), don't brush again, et viola perfect waves and minimal frizz. It's the water spray that does the trick. (I only wash my hair twice a week but spritz with water and scrunch each morning)

I have curly hair and only realised it in the last couple of years! Mine is also ridiculously fine and I don’t suit any of the curly girl advice or products. I don’t do anything bar 2 things - after I wash my hair I don’t use a comb or a brush through my hair, the curls are there already. I just part my hair with my fingers. Then I use something which I scrunch into the curls I haven’t found a holy grail yet but that’s it. I don’t use a hairdryer or anything else on it and my hair looks curly. I think frizz is very hard to get rid off if you have fine hair but my hair looks pretty good.

My hair is thick but I've been embracing the waves for some time now. My top tips:

• use a sulphate free shampoo and conditioner but use a clarifying shampoo and deep conditioner every 6-8 washes

Use the bounce curl brush (watch you tube/ instagram videos on how to use it)- it really helps Use a lightweight gel like umber to giannini jelly- apply a small amount with wet hands. I usually use a bit of Pantene waves mousse too but I have lots of hair. Let air dry or diffuse then scrunch out the crunch from the gel with your hands- if there's a bit of frizz you can use a tiny bit of oil (if gel is used sparingly there will be little crunch) If your hair is fine I wouldn't use anything leave in or creams of any kind as they'll probably be too heavy. Once dry I recommend trying not to touch it much, if at all. If you have a Denman brush you can use this to form amazing curls rather than waves- lots of videos online too.

Doe sound similar, although recently adding any kind of water or spritz makes more frizz. I am sure it is our house as it gets very humid in the back part where I work. I noticed such a difference when traveling, it even looked good after rain!

Plaits usually work for me, too but look like fuzz this past few weeks. Nothing has altered hormonally (I am past meno by a few yrs) and this does seem to happen periodically, so why I suspect environment not health.

Gosh it's a pain isn't it? I blow dried it straight last week and just didn't like it. I love the waves so much and am determined to solve the puzzle.

Everyone who has commented, thank you I will check out those suggestions online and do some research. Sadly I can't afford to spend too much at present.

I have similar hair to you and always let it dry naturally.

To be honest it's just a matter of trial and error. Just recently I have been using elvive glycolic gloss which really does tame and add shine. After towel drying I use something like Aussie SOS super serum. It doesn't make my hair feel greasy and people often comment how shiny it looks.

Ouai curl cream is expensive but definitely helps with frizz

@DarlingCoffee ?
ive heard good things. ok for fluffy waves though?

I'd try a sea salt spray if you haven't already; can be out in wet or dry hair, and the salt should make it wave rather than frizz.

@pentangles yes, it’s good for taming fluffy curls and doesn’t weigh your hair down as much as others I’ve tried. A little amount goes a long way so while it’s expensive it should last a while.

Came on to say frizz ease serum but first posters beat me to it. Also try a diffuser, really easy and quick to dry on my long wavy frizzy hair

Your hair sounds similar to mine although mine is also colour damaged. The only thing that has finally worked for mine is at home keratin treatment- I've been using Answr. However when you do it, you have to blow dry your hair and then straighten it so you would lose your waves. The treatment does then last a couple of months but every time you wash your hair you are supposed to blow dry it again. It's working for me as I don't mind having it straight. I also use the Shark hairdryer with an attachment that smooths and defrizzes your hair and that works wonders!

The frizz ease leave in conditioner is good too, and I like a tiny bit of coconut oil on my ends.

Good luck finding something that works for you!

My hair also gets weighted down too easily by things. Two things. When I visit soft water areas my hair becomes really tame. But also aveda botanical shampoo and conditioner are the best I've found for my hair and frizz management. I can even now brush my hair between washes.

I have fine hair my solution was to use Boucleme curling gel and a Dyson diffuser - no other hairdryer works. I now have volume and no frizz. It took a good two years and lot of different products to find something that worked.

My hairdresser said my hair would frizz if I just sprayed water on it as it would act like a humid room. Instead he suggested scrunching with wet hands. Although it takes longer to dry it it seems to work

A trick someone gave me years ago is to spray a little hair spray onto your hands and then gently smooth it over your hair. It's what I do whenever I go into London as my hair tends to frizz on tubes etc.

some great ideas here, thankyou everyone.

The hairspray thing is interesting, will try that, nothing to lose!

Just an update for anyone interested.

I decided to go back to doing exactly what I was doing in Scotland too see what happened. I had only a tub of head and shoulders with me and a small amount of regular conditioner when hiking.
So I did that and let it dry in two twists, was ok.
Refreshed this afternoon with patting tap water onto it as a PP suggested.
This time it dried with around 60% less frizz!

So it seems my hair currently doesn't want much product at all, simple washing and drying, and patting with regular water.

I wonder if there are more frizzy wavies/curlies who use a lot of stuff and the stuff is making it worse???

Mine wants all the product, it's no wonder people struggle with wavy or curly hair because it's all so different
This is mine with no product, and after styling (it was cut in between these pics)