Curly Hair Care & Products to Use According to the Weather

Most of my curly hair journey, post understanding my hair, was in Mysore and Bangalore, both of which have very good weathers. They are neither too humid nor are they too dry. They are neither too hot, nor are they too cold. So I always had amazing wash days using most leave ins and gels. The weather is just right for the best looking curls.

My hometown is in Kerala, which is very humid most of the year around. Whenever I visited Kerala, my hair would start behaving weirdly – it would go puffy, limp, flat and straight.
A year ago, I moved to the Netherlands and that was a whole different story. The dry, cold weather made my hair rigid, crispy, frizzy and lifeless.

Bottom line is that too little humidity in the air causes hair to lose moisture to the drier air. Too much humidity in the air causes hair to absorb all that moisture and get frizzy and undefined.

Having spent considerable time in all these places with varied weathers, I have more or less figured the kind of products and ingredients to use, and the kind to avoid.

There are various articles with dew points as the reference, which are a great resource for those wanting to know more about how weather impacts your hair.

• Dewpoint below 10°C (50°F ) – Dry Weather
• Dewpoint between 10-15°C (50-59°F) – Comfortable Weather
• Dewpoint above 15°C (60°F) – Humid Weather

I have found them to sometimes not work for me for 2 reasons –

1. During the warmer summer months here in the Netherlands, with a comfortable dew point, I’ve noticed that I still cannot use gels like I used to back in India.
2. Dew point can vary considerably within a day, so it is difficult to base a wash day depending on that.

What I’ve figured is, it is best to look at the general climate of the place over a period of months or weeks and pick products accordingly. Instead of going by numbers of dew points or humidity, go by how your hair responds or generally by how you yourself feel about the weather. For eg. Netherlands is mainly cold and dry – so my routine is majorly the one for cold and dry weathers (even if it rains for a few days in between). Kerala is quite hot and humid – so my routine is majorly for humid weather even if there’s a dry day every now and then.

Curly Hair Care & Products to use for Humid Weathers

Hair tends to go puffy, limp, flat and looser because of absorbing moisture from the air.

Left – Used only a cream. Resulted in elongated, lack-lustre, puffy hair. Right – Used only a gel. Resulted in tight, defined, shiny curls.

1. Use a good hard hold gel. Use a good hard hold gel with strong polymers like VP/VA copolymer, Polyquats etc. Check this for more such polymers – Ingredients to Look for in a Hair Gel. Look for products without glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol, as they can absorb too much moisture from the hair.

Glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free hard hold gels for curly hair

• L’Oréal Homme Strong Hold Gel
• Jessicurl Spiralicious Styling Gel
• Aussie Instant Freeze Gel
• Set Wet Gel
• Kinky Curly Curling Custard
• Giovanni Strong Hold Styling Gel
• Ouidad Advanced Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel

2. Skip using a leave in. If you must use one, look for glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free products.

Glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free Leave in conditioners for curly hair

• Kinky Curly Knot today
• Camille Rose Naturals Coconut Water Leave-In Treatment
• As I Am Moisture Milk Daily Hair Revitalizer
• Camille Rose Naturals Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

3. Don’t leave in your rinse out conditioner in your hair.

Rinse it off completely. I wouldn’t worry about glycerin in your rinse out conditioner as long as you rinse it out completely.

Curly Hair Care & Products to use for Dry/Cold Weathers

Hair tends to be rigid, crispy, frizzy and lifeless.

Left – Used only a gel. Resulted in crispy, unruly curls with no definition. Right – Used only a cream. Resulted in well defined, soft curls.

1. Use a good quantity of leave in conditioner. Look for glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free products as they can suck out moisture from your hair.

Glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free Leave in conditioners for curly hair

• Kinky Curly Knot today
• Camille Rose Naturals Coconut Water Leave-In Treatment
• As I Am Moisture Milk Daily Hair Revitalizer
• Camille Rose Naturals Aloe Whipped Butter Gel

I wouldn’t worry about glycerin in your rinse out conditioner as long as you rinse it out completely before applying the leave in.

2. Skip using a gel.

If you must use one, look for ones with film formers like Flaxseed, Aloe Vera, Marshmallow Root etc and avoid polymers like PVP, VP/VA copolymer, Polyquats etc.

Glycerin, propylene glycol and sorbitol free Custard/Gel for curly hair

• Kinky Curly Curling Custard
• Cantu Custard
• Homemade Flaxseed Gel
• Pure Aloe Vera Gel

3. Deep condition whenever possible

Deep conditioning adds moisture and flexibility. Check this post for more details – Deep Conditioning Curly Hair

Curly Hair Care & Products to use for Comfortable Weathers

Used both cream and gel

When the weather is neither too dry nor too humid, go Crazy! Haha, but seriously – you can experiment with many products and combinations. Try using both a leave in and gel. Try using just a leave in. Try using just a gel. See what you like best. Glycerin shouldn’t be a concern 🙂

Source – Science-yhairblog – Autumn to Winter Hair and Humidity