What Causes Frizzy Hair? Common Causes and Tips for Smooth, Soft Hair!

What causes frizzy hair varies depending or your hair type, but can generally be categorized in four specific areas:

• Excessive dryness (lack of moisture)
• Chemical (coloring, straightening, perms, relaxing, bleaching)
• Environmental (sun UVA/UVB, chlorine, contaminants)
• Heat damage (flat irons, rollers, curling irons, dryers)

What is Frizz?

It goes without saying, but frizz means different things to different people. More commonly frizziness refers to split-ends, flyaway (static electricity), crinkling, dryness and lack of control. As mentioned above, these symptoms are caused by drying of the follicles or some type of damage that has left follicles broken or weakened.

If you experience frizzy hair (and are tired of it!), the good news is that it can be fixed. The key to getting back to a normal, smooth, healthy and natural look is to figure out what is causing it and to stop it from happening (simple enough, uh??). Figuring that out is usually not very difficult.

Moisture & Proper Care are Key!

When it comes to smoothness, softness and control, moisture is a key element. Too much exposure to sunlight can sap moisture from the hair and scalp. But sunlight is only a tiny fraction of the problem. Other things can dry out the hair and make it split and fray.

One of the most common culprits is the use of harsh products. Chemical treatments can sap moisture, strip away protective oils, and cause follicles to become brittle. Overuse of chemicals or coloring through regular treatments can lead to this problem. Among the worst chemicals are those that contain alcohol, since alcohol dries hair out the fastest.

Heat can also cause hair to become frizzy. How many times a week does a person use a curling iron? Is blow drying a daily occurrence? Does that person use a flat iron to style her hair? If the answer is yes, then a reason for frizz has been identified. Heat dries like chemicals do, and can lead to brittleness and breakage as well.

Brushing or combing too often can lead to split ends. When the ends split, they cause the hair to look frizzy. Of course it is important to comb one's hair, but doing it excessively can lead to this problem.

Thinking "inside out" is best for smoothness!

While the external treatment of hair can lead to it becoming frizzy, much of hair treatment begins within the body. A healthy diet with a full range of vitamins and minerals provides the body with everything it needs to protect follicles from the inside out. Without a good diet, money spent on other hair products may be wasted.

Consider the difficulty people have these days when it comes to eating a good diet. The modern life is a hurried one, and when people are moving at a pace to keep up with it, they often don't eat properly. Taking the time to eat healthy often isn't an option.

Fortunately, vitamins that help hair, like A, B complex vitamins, C, and E are available in supplement form. A good vitamin supplement is easy to find, and they will definitely help keep a person's hair in top condition. Most of these supplements also contain other minerals and nutrients that are important for inside out hair care.

A Couple of Tips

Though it may be a change from your normal routine, here's a couple of ideas we recommend; and while these recommendations are helpful, you can choose each as a daily regimen, weekly or when things really get out of hand.

1. Use an "anti-frizz cream" before styling - most have ingredients that smooth ends, soften roughness and add moisture - helping repair and recover from excessive dryness
2. Avoid chemical treatments for several months (at least). Average hair grows 6-8 inches per year. Giving your style a break from damaging treatments is one of the best things you can do.
3. Trim the ends - while many think this is an "ole wives tale", it does help. Similar to a braided line unraveling, split-ends can work their way up the follicle strand making a bad situation worse.
4. Air dry - blow dryers and other heated styling tools can strip moisture increasing the risk of breaking, splitting and dryness.
5. A couple of other products to consider: Spray-on Detangler - these products can help strengthen, detangle and help avoid breaking, snapping and tearing - best used with a wide-toothed comb; Thermal Protector - great for use with flat irons, curlers and curling irons. Most have light silicone-type formulas that keep hair from sticking to heated tools while adding shine and smoothness. They also have some light-hold hair spray qualities.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7146262