Taking care of frizz-ness

For our sixth-grade science fair, my best friend made an award-winning humidity meter using a strand of her own hair. Though my curls regularly predict the weather with reasonable accuracy, I’d never put them to such good use—till now. Behold my thoroughly unscientific study of the market’s latest frizz fixers. (NB: I have fine hair that wilts easily. More robust mops may respond differently to the following.)

Joico humidity blocker (4.1oz for $15 at senseofbeauty.net)
A humidity blocker? Not so much. This spray left my locks feeling crunchy, and I had a crown of craptastic fluff around my forehead. Ick. The fresh, citrus-floral smell lifted my mood a little, though.

Hair Rules leave-in conditioner (8oz for $20) and wavy mousse (7.5oz for $18.50; both at hairrules.com)
I tried this grapefruit-scented duo on a dreadfully humid week. My hair was soft to the touch and impressively smooth, though I wished my curls were a tiny bit better separated.

Ouidad Climate Control gel (8oz for $22 at ouidad.com)
This gel was impressively unsticky. My corkscrews felt natural and were fairly well-defined, but looked a tad weighed down.

Pina Curlada Curly Cocktail (Innersense Quiet Calm Curl Control, Alagio Crazy Curl Enhancer Balm, DevaCurl Set It Free Spray, Curl-Ease towel, $59; all at naturallycurly.com)
The texture of my hair dictates that I almost never use more than two products on it at a time. Not surprisingly, this prepackaged potion overload gave it that stiff, wet-all-day look that Eurotrash dudes covet. Admittedly, my locks seemed curlier than usual—which may have been due to wrapping them in the crazy-fast-drying Curl-Ease towel when I stepped out of the shower. So I’d be willing to give them a try again. Individually, that is.

Miss Jessie’s Quick Curls (2oz for $9 at missjessies.com)
As promised on the bottle, this light, citrus-scented cream gave me nice “mermaid” curls (i.e. soft and loose)—though upon closer scrutiny they were quite a bit fluffier than Ariel’s.

Dep Gel Control #9 (16oz for $4.19 at Duane Reade)
A small dollop of my staple cheapo gel gives me nicely defined curls that are shiny and not too heavy. The trick is to use enough to minimize frizz but not so much that your head looks like a sopping-wet mess. And yeah, fancy hairstylists have a conniption when I tell them it’s what I use, but that’s part of the fun.

DIY solutions

Kattia Solano, owner of Butterfly Studio (149 Fifth Ave at 21st St, 212-253-2100)
"I am big on mixing avocado oil, coconut oil or almond oil into existing styling products, because these oils are the most conditioning. I usually add three drops of oil per dime size of product, mix it in my hands and apply to the hair by hand. You can pick up the oils at a health food store."

Ouidad, owner of Ouidad Salon (37 W 57th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-888-3288; 846 Seventh Ave at 54th St, 212-333-7577; ouidad.com)
"Soy protein powder mixed with water strengthens hair, adds body and promotes scalp health. Mix it into a paste, apply to freshly shampooed hair, leave on for 15 minutes and rinse thoroughly."

Anthony Dickey, founder of HairRules (hairrules.com)
"A great preshampoo treatment for softening coarse, wiry, spongy textured hair is olive oil or castor oil. Leave it in for an hour before shampooing and conditioning, then style as usual."