16 Simple Techniques to Tame Flyaway Hair

When it comes to hair care woes, flyaways and strays are about as annoying as it gets. These little unruly strands caused by hair breakage and new hair growth can be hard to tame and difficult to style. If you're fed up with wispy baby frizz and flyaway hairs that stick out, you’ve come to the right place. From the must-have hair products and tools to the right hair care routine, we’re telling you how to fix frizzy hair and tame flyaways for smoother strands.

Flyaways are little unruly strands of hair that stick up instead of lying flat against the rest of your hair. Flyaways are the result of damaged, broken hair or new baby hairs growing in. Flyaway hairs are somewhat resistant to heat tools and since they’re shorter and finer, they also have less weight than the rest of your hair. This can make the little rogue hairs hard to disguise or coax into a hairstyle, creating frizz.

Although the primary causes of flyaways are hair breakage and hair growth, the following can increase susceptibility to flyaways:

• Heat styling — Excessive heat styling with blow dryers, curling wands, and flat irons makes the hair brittle and causes hair breakage at random places. These broken strands create flyaway hairs.
• Chemical damage — The same goes for chemical styling treatments like color and highlights, perms, and relaxers.
• Split ends — Split ends are a physical condition caused by dryness and these can also cause your strands to flyaway
• New hair growth — The growth of new baby hair strands around your hairline can stick up, giving you a frizzy hair look.
• Static — When negatively-charged electrons fly off your hair, leaving your strands filled with positive charges that resist each other (or static hair as it’s sometimes called) flyaways can occur.
• Humidity — Frizz and flyaways also happen when the level of humidity in the air is greater than the level of water in your hair. Humidity goes into your hair and rearranges the bonds inside each hair fiber, turning smooth strands into chaos. 
• Dryness — When hair is dry, it absorbs any excess moisture from the environment leading to flyaways.
• Product buildup — Product build-up coats your hair so it can't get the moisture it needs. This leads to dry hair and flyaways.
• Poor hair hygiene — Not washing your hair enough can also lead to flyaways. Any kind of buildup on your scalp (product, dirt, cells) will coat your scalp causing surface frizz and flyaways.

These are the best products, tools, tips, and tricks to help you keep flyaway hair at bay.

Since dryness is one of the primary culprits behind flyaway hairs, you must moisturize your hair properly. And the best way to do this is by using a moisturizing shampoo. 

Adding a leave-in conditioner and hydrating hair mask to your hair care routine is another easy way to prevent flyaways and nourish and strengthen your hair. Even those with super-fine hair can benefit from a hair mask as long as the product is thoroughly rinsed out following the treatment.

Combs with dense teeth or brushes with dense bristles create friction between your hair and can cause hair breakage. By using a wide-tooth comb to detangle, you’ll prevent hair breakage and future flyaways.

Wet hair is fragile, and using a rough material like cotton to dry your hair can cause severe damage. Instead of cotton towels, try using microfiber ones to wrap your hair up. They drastically reduce the number of strays along your hairline.

When it comes to the best hair products for minimizing flyaways, it’s important to cater them to your hair texture. Someone with thin, straight hair doesn’t need a styling product as rich and heavy as someone with curly hair. Try matching the weight of the product to the texture of your hair for fewer flyaways.

Heat styling is useful for sealing cuticles and preventing flyaway hairs, but used excessively it also creates more flyaways. If you must use curling irons or a blow dryer when you get your hair wet, prep with a heat shield for hair to protect your strands. Follow up with an anti-frizz oil right away to help re-infuse some much-needed moisture into your hair.

Hair serums are an instant fix to most hair problems, flyaways included. An anti-frizz serum can help you in reducing tangles and hiding visible damage like split ends.

Wondering how to get rid of static hair quickly? Try the dryer-sheet hack. Just rub a dryer sheet over the flyaway hairs, brush, and voila! Smoother strands!

Split ends and damaged hair cause flyaways. Trimming your hair is the best way to deal with this. Regular trims prevent breakage and encourage hair growth. Trim half an inch off the bottom of your hair every four to eight weeks.

If you can’t tame your flyaways, hide them with braided hairstyles. In addition to braids being easy hairstyles for windy days, they work for any occasion and disguise unruly flyaway hairs. When braiding your hair spritz your palm with a small amount of hairspray and run it over the surface of your hair. This will smooth any strands sticking out, without making your hair sticky.

Sleeping on a silk pillowcase or wrapping your hair in a silk head scarf before bed reduces the friction between your strands and your pillowcase. This stops your strands from becoming frizzy and unruly while you sleep, so you’ll wake up with smoother and more manageable hair.

There’s something so French girl chic about textured wispy hairs sticking out around a classic ponytail or ballerina bun. If you're dealing with baby flyaways around the hairline, try embracing it. Hairstyles like a top knot, messy pony, and beachy waves work well with wisps, so let a few flyaways do their thing!

Smoothing your hair with wet hands can flatten the flyaways, just make sure you are not overdoing it.

Brush flyaways with a clear mascara or brow gel to make them disappear. This type of brush is the perfect applicator to slick back flyaways without dousing your strands.

After styling your hair, mist a brushable hairspray onto the palms of your hands. Before it has time to dry, swipe your hands over your hair, focusing on the frizziest spots.

Lip balms and lotions also work to tame stray hairs. Use your fingers to apply a small amount only to the areas that need it. Don’t go overboard, or you may end up with greasy hair.

These tips and tricks will help you tame flyaways, but it’s important to know what’s causing them, so you can prevent them. Be gentle on your strands and use only high-quality hair care products from Davines. Our formulas use natural ingredients, and are made with renewable energy and packaging that minimizes the environmental impact. Our hair care isn’t just good for your hair, it’s good for the planet. 

by Jaclyn LaBadia, featured contributor

Photos by @goldandglowco