You know the drill. I leave the house with my hair looking like a vision, step outside, and within approximately 37 seconds my whole head has tripled in size. Welcome to humidity hair, the bane of every curly, wavy, and honestly just about every hair type’s existence the second the temperature creeps up. If this feels personal, that’s because it is.

The good news? Humidity hair isn’t some unsolvable mystery. It’s actually pretty simple once you understand what’s happening up there, and even simpler to manage once you have the right routine in place. Whether you’re heading into a sticky city summer, packing for a tropical getaway, or just surviving the school run in May, here’s how I keep humidity from running the show.

So, What Exactly Is Humidity Hair?

Humidity hair is what happens when the water molecules floating around in the air decide your strands look like a comfy place to move into. When the air is thick with moisture, your hair soaks it up, swells, and lifts the cuticles. The result is frizz, puffiness, loss of definition, and that lovely “halo of fluff” we all know and hate.

Here’s the thing that took me ages to accept: humidity doesn’t ruin your hair because the weather hates you. It ruins your hair because your hair is thirsty. Dry hair pulls moisture from the air like a sponge, and the drier your strands are underneath, the worse the frizz. Curly and wavy hair is especially prone to this because the natural oils from our scalp struggle to travel down the twists and turns of our strands, which is why The Science Behind Curls plays such a massive role in all of this.

Honestly, I spent years blaming the weather before I realised the problem was my own routine. Once I accepted that humidity hair starts with dryness, not with the air, everything changed. Fix the dryness, and you fix about 80% of your humidity problems.

How to Tame Humidity Hair (My Actual Routine)

1. Start with Moisture, Always

If your hair is properly hydrated from the inside out, it won’t be so desperate to grab moisture from the air. This is the whole game. I use a deep conditioning mask once a week (minimum), and on top of that I apply a leave in conditioner to damp hair every wash day. Look for Vegan and Cruelty-free curl loving ingredients like aloe vera, avocado oil, and shea butter. Dry, brittle strands absorb humidity like they’ve been stranded in a desert. Well hydrated strands? They’ve already got what they need and turn the air away politely.

2. Use a Product with Film Forming Ingredients

This is the secret weapon nobody talks about enough. Film forming ingredients create an invisible, breathable layer around each hair strand that blocks humidity from getting in. PQ11 and hydroxyethyl cellulose are two of my favourites. They sound like lab experiments (they basically are) but they’re plant based, gentle, and they genuinely work. My Volume Spray is packed with both of these ingredients, which is exactly why it works so well in humid weather. It locks in moisture, blocks the air from sneaking in, and gives me serious volume without leaving my hair sticky or crunchy. A few spritzes before I leave the house and my strands have an actual shield to hide behind.

3. Rinse with Cool Water

Hot showers feel incredible (especially after a long day at the beach), but they’re a disaster for humidity prone hair. Hot water lifts the cuticles wide open, and open cuticles are basically a red carpet for humidity. I finish every wash with a blast of cool water to seal everything flat. It’s not the most glamorous 30 seconds of my day, but my hair is noticeably smoother afterwards.

4. Swap Your Towel (Please, Just Do This)

Cotton towels are rough, abrasive, and they lift the cuticles you just spent 20 minutes trying to seal flat. My Microfiber Towel is made from 100% microfiber, which means it dries your hair fast and closes those cuticles before frizz has a chance to set in. It’s soft, lightweight, and doesn’t rough up your strands like a cotton towel does. I keep one at home, one in my beach bag, and one in my suitcase whenever I travel. If you’re only going to change one thing about your humidity routine, make it this. There are so many benefits of a microfiber towel beyond just frizz control too.

I will genuinely die on this hill: if you’re still drying your hair with a regular cotton towel in humid weather, you are fighting a battle you’ve already lost. Switch to microfiber. You will not look back.

5. Hands Off, Seriously

Every time you touch your hair while it’s drying (or after), you’re introducing friction, breaking up your natural pattern, and inviting frizz to the party. I know it’s hard. I’ve been known to fiddle with my curls through an entire Zoom call. But the less you touch your hair in humid weather, the better it will look. Style it, leave it, forget about it.

6. Embrace Updos on the Worst Days

Some days the humidity is just beyond what any product can fix, and that’s fine. On those days I throw my hair into a loose bun, a slicked back pony, or a low twisted updo. It protects the strands from absorbing more moisture, keeps everything out of your face, and honestly looks amazing with hoop earrings and a sundress. Think of it as a holiday mode hairstyle.

What Not to Do

A quick list of things I’ve tried so you don’t have to. Please, for the love of your strands, don’t air dry in humid weather if you can avoid it (your hair stays wet longer, absorbs more moisture, and the result is almost always a frizzy mess). Skip the heavy oils in humid climates, too, because weighed down hair is a special kind of sad. And don’t reach for anti frizz serums full of drying alcohols and silicones, which are great for a quick fix but wreck your hair long term.

Humidity Hair Is Manageable. I Promise.

Look, humidity will always be a thing. You can’t outrun the weather, and as much as I’d love to move somewhere with a permanent 40% humidity level, it’s not happening. But with a proper hydration routine, film forming products, a microfiber towel, and a little patience, you can absolutely take humidity hair from catastrophe to “oh, she’s actually giving beach waves”.

Whether your version of summer is a city heatwave, a week in Greece, or a drizzly European May that thinks it’s the tropics, your hair deserves a routine that works with the weather, not against it. Grab a good moisturising routine, ditch the cotton towel, and let your curls do what they were always going to do beautifully anyway.