Summer and humidity make taming frizzy hair and flyaways that much harder, especially when you’re all about that sleek life.

While some days you might gladly embrace your natural frizz – and even opt for a more effortless, heat-free hairstyle– other days you just want something (anything!) to tame your frazzled tresses.

So if you want to win the battle against frizz, try these sleek solutions:

Avoid sulphates

It all starts in the shower, so choose your shampoo carefully. Fighting frizz is all about maintaining moisture, so it’s a smart idea to steer clear of sulphates – which have a reputation for stripping and dehydrating strands. Instead, look for products with silicone and glycerin to help combat frizz and create a protective coating, as well as oils like argan oil, avocado oil, coconut oil and camellia oil.

Wash hair less often

We can hear the complaints already… but listen up, washing your hair less often lets your natural oils come through to combat frizz. But really, it’s all about balance – washing your hair too often will only strip the hair of its natural moisture, and not washing enough will either make hair look really flat and greasy or cause a build-up of product and oils. It all depends on your texture, but give your hair time to adjust.

Mask weekly

Set time aside to apply a treatment at least once a week to help moisturise and seal the hair shaft. If your hair feels like straw, whether it be from the sun, sea or your straightener (we’re all guilty), giving your hair a little extra TLC will do the world of good. Below are our top picks.

TRY: KMS TAMEFRIZZ Smoothing Reconstructor, $33; L’OCCITANE Aromachologie Intensive Repair Hair Mask, $46; LUSH Jasmine & Henna Fluff-Ease, $33.90

Don’t towel-dry

For the curly-haired among us, not towel-drying has a similar logic to not brushing your hair when wet. Ruffling wet strands straight from the shower won’t do much good, as it will only rumple the hair’s cuticle and encourage frizz. If you’re prone to towel-drying, instead gently squeeze out the water and wrap in a microfiber hair towel – it will dry your hair fast without the need for vigorous rubbing.

TRY: Aquis Lisse Luxe Hair Turban, $47

Air-dry to a point

If you’re going to blow-dry, it’s best not to start with soaking wet hair. Using a hot dryer on hair straight from the shower will not be doing your mane any favour. Those with straight or wavy hair can get away with air-drying until at least half dry and then using a dryer to finish off.

Style with caution

Using heat tools can eliminate frizz (like when you use a hairdryer with a concentrator nozzle to get cuticles to lie flat) but when used long-term and too much, this will only lead to damage and ultimately create more frizz. Do yourself a favour and use a smoothing heat protectant before heat styling to not only moisturise the strands but avoid all that damage. But if it’s too late, there’s a mask to treat all types of damaged hair.

Oil up

No mane is tamed without a trusty hair oil to coat each strand, offering extra hydration to keep things looking sleek. But use them with a light hand otherwise you could end up with a far-too-greasy mop. Conquer frizz with this line-up made especially for thick and frizzy hair.

TRY: John Frieda Frizz Ease® Strength 6 Effects™ + Serum, $19.90; L’Oréal Paris Elvive Smooth-Intense Anti-Frizz Serum, $11.19; Ouai Hair Oil, $43

Words: Emma Gordon
Photos: Clara Pafundi for Miss FQ issue 2, 2018

This article originally appeared on beautyheaven.