Started CGM for Wavy Hair: But Frizz Won’t Go!

Wavy hair is special and needs ‘extra‘ care. That’s a common sentiment every curly-wavy blogger that I follow seems to share.

But hear me out, please. There are many wavies who write to me that ‘extra‘ is never enough for their hair. You seem surprised, let me share their ordeal.

Wavies have tried it all: But frizz won’t go?

• Sulfate-free shampoo – check
• Silicone-free conditioners – check
• Rinse with cold water – check
• Plopping hair – check
• Styling on damp hair- check
• Scrunch out the case – check, check
• Experiment with techniques, methods – that too, check
• But they wake up to find frizzy hair!
• And then they feel, CGM doesn’t work for wavy hair?

If you are one of those wavies, read on.

Think Frizzy is Dirty?

Lorraine Massey says that “Frizz is a curl waiting to happen.” But girl, haven’t we all been waiting too long for that @#$damn frizz to blossom into a curl, maybe a faux curl even?

For years, you have marveled at silky, smooth, straight texture of hair that the Salons painstakingly set for you. And all those unending advertisements on TV, newspapers and billboards showing girls with swaying hair as light as the wind made it worse and you thought you had to comply. But let me remind you that was all in the past, right. You are reading this post today because your hair has been fried, dyed, dried…died (pun intended) because of using texture-altering chemical treatments and the associated battle thereof with dry scalp, brittle hair, horrifying hair fall and less- to-no hair growth for months.

Psst…I have gone through a similar journey, read how I started my natural hair journey here,

But CGM should solve all hair problems, right?

The whole point of following the natural hair journey, via the Curly Girl Method (CGM) is NOT to find a magical cure to all your hair problems. No, there is nothing like a set of CG products that will set things right. It is called a “method” mainly because it is a process of restoring your hair and scalp health, so that your hair can follow its natural course of maintenance and growth.

It is about accepting and embracing your hair – curls, waves and frizz.

Decoding frizz…

So here are a few things you need to know about frizz in general.

Hair getting frizzy, is it natural?

Yes it is! Your hair cannot be a collection of carefully-crafted curls or waves all the time. Hair is meant to move and touch surfaces, get crushed against the couch or pillow, or stretched while pulled into a ponytail, etc. and lose it pattern. This is functional frizz. This is natural. It is simply a form of expression of that lock of hair at that point in time.

A little frizz is okay, but what about a lot of it?

A lot of frizz happening on our hair is our own doing. Of course, one has to consider humidity and dew points that can cause hair to become frizzy. But we are never satisfied with how our hair looks. If we have a decent wash day aka defined waves, we want more volume. We scrunch and scrunch, ahem, till we get frizz. Excessive anything can cause frizz – excess volume, excess styling, excess products, excess scrunching…you get the idea.

Hair looks good on wash day, okay on day 2 and frizzy on day 3,4…?

Your hair is super moisturized on the wash day. But as it dries up, it becomes defined (forms curls or waves) and expands. While this happens, if your hair has enough products in it, adding a little water (refresh) gives you that “okay” hair. If your hair feels dried up on day 3, 4, it could be lacking moisture. It can either absorb moisture from air or release it and get frizzy. Hence it is important to understand humidity and dew points while styling hair.

What should I do to ensure that my hair gets enough moisture?

I hear many wavy girls say, “styling on wet hair does not work for me!” If you know your hair so well, then style as per your hair or as per the instructions on the product. But wet styling adds moisture and most CG products get activated with water. But to ensure that your hair is getting enough moisture, incorporate a deep conditioning in your wash routine. This is a must for beginners #newbiecg. Use a deep conditioner to add moisture once a week or in alternate washes. Once you understand your hair properties, you can modify this or even stop using a deep conditioner if you use protein:moisture balanced products, but this is only for advanced CG followers.

#chitratips Did you know, Curly Girl: The Handbook recommends: “Always condition before and after using shampoo” for wavy hair? So, you now know why wavy hair needs that ‘extra’ moisture.

Frizz hair after drying is understandable. But my hair looks frizzy even when wet?

Ah, what you call as wet frizz is actually called as “hair webbing”. If you feel that your hair strands stick together and don’t clump well, it could be because of less hydration. This can be simply solved by a good CG conditioner. Again The Curly Girl Handbook recommends that you DO NOT rinse out the conditioner completely, instead leave some of it in your hair. Here, Squish to Condish (STC) helps ensure that there is adequate hydration in your hair, and prevents the wet frizz condition.

But, my frizz is only on the crown. What do I do?

This is called, “Halo frizz”. Regular scalp massages – at least, twice a day with just a few drops of oil will help. Hydration with the right deep conditioner that can be applied at the roots can reduce the frizz at the crown. Also, choose the right products to style your hair. Avoid anything that can dry your hair or cause frizz near your crown.

My hair looks like a poofy, frizzy mess in the morning!

I told you functional frizz can happen because of hair brushing against surfaces. Imagine this happening through the night as you rub your head against your pillow. If it is a smooth surface like satin/silk, your hair strands don’t get pulled out. If it is a cotton one, your hair loses all its moisture and becomes frizzy. It’s best to avoid this by sleeping on a satin/silk pillow or pillowcase. Better still, cover your hair in a satin/silk bonnet that will prevent it from brushing, this will even retain your curl/wave pattern intact.

CGM routine seems so overwhelming. Can I just stick to shampoo & conditioner like when I had straight hair?

NO! CGM Purists will scoff at this idea. But they mean good, I assure you. On some days, read once in a new moon :), you can get away with just cleansing and conditioning. As in using shampoo – rinse out conditioner – leave-in conditioner. But depending on the humidity and dew point, you do NEED a soft-hold gel or hard-hold gel to keep frizz at bay. Don’t worry about your hair feeling ‘crunchy’, the gel cast disintegrates as your hair dries up. You can smooth a little oil over your waves and et voilà! Non-frizzy, defined waves!

#chitratips Remember to read up about how products with humectants (Glycerin, Honey, Aloe Vera, Panthenol or Vitamin B5) can help you prevent the ‘poofy’ hair!

Try not to do these things to avoid frizz:

1. Don’t go overboard with your curl cream or hard-hold gel to get lasting texture. Excess products = excess buildup and your hair can neither absorb/release moisture and that can cause frizz.
2. Don’t use a regular cotton towel, the one that you use to dry your body to dry or plop your hair. And don’t even try to use a terry cloth towel, that is a frizz-multiplier. 
3. Don’t try to break your hair clumps after drying to add volume. This method works only for your curly-haired friends. If you separate the clumps, you end up disturbing the wave pattern and add frizz.
4. Don’t touch your hair every now and then while drying, however tempted you are to correct it. You are disturbing your gel cast and inviting frizz.
5. Don’t think that your damaged ends will completely revive with CGM. Sorry, this doesn’t happen. The damaged ends prevent the hair strands from clumping and hence need to be cut off.
6. Don’t pull your clips (root clipping) from your hair. Same applies to hair scrunchies. The more you tug your hair, the more you are tousling your hair and disturbing its natural pattern…leading to frizz.
7. Don’t be in a hurry to dry your hair. If air drying, turn your head gently and let the hair slide on each side. If diffusing, choose low-medium setting of heat and low-medium setting of air. High heat or air can dry hair faster causing major frizz.

Break away from the fixation that hair needs to look shiny, nicely set, and manageable always. Frizz is here to stay. Frizz is as much a part of your hair as your waves and curls are. In fact, frizz is volume for wavy hair.

So, let’s adopt the mantra: “Frizz is natural!”

Have I been able to change your thoughts on frizzy hair? Would love to hear your comments, please leave a note below.

Thank you for reading.