Hot weather and humidity are probably two of the things I dread most as a curly girl. Since I discovered the curly girl method nearly two years ago, I’ve started to understand more than ever how the change in temperature impacts my hair. Living in London means humidity is always in the air but it feels worse in the summer.
Glycerin has a lot to answer for!
What is glycerin
Glycerin is one of the most important and widely used ingredients in skin and hair care. It’s water-soluble, colourless, and an odourless humectant. Humectants are made to “pull” moisture into the hair and retain it. So glycerin attracts moisture to the hair, and on very humid days too much moisture can be attracted to the hair causing frizz and lack of definition. The opposite happens with low humidity, very dry days, where the air is drier than the hair.
How do you know if the humidity is high or low? These days most weather apps list the humidity percentage or the dew point. The higher the dew point, the more moisture is in the air.
Who knew looking after curly hair would be so complicated! It’s all about finding the right products suitable for the weather conditions where you are, and changing your routine according to them.
The past couple of weeks the weather has been really hot in London and I’ve had to slightly adapt my curly girl routine to suit the humidity. Because glycerin is such a popular ingredient in beauty and haircare, most curly girl approved products contain it, so it’s a bit tricky to find products that don’t.
I’m sharing my current routine below
Quick and easy routine for hot and humid weather
- Faith in Nature Jojoba Conditioner – I co-wash with this conditioner, which is really light and smells amazing. Faith in Nature conditioners are all glycerine free and most of them are curly girl approved -I believe the pomegranate & roibos product is the only one not approved as it has a drying alcohol. They are cruelty free and contain only natural ingredients. You can also save on packaging by buying their recyclable 5 litre refills. As I am co wash coconut co wash is my other current favourite glycerin free co-wash.
- Jessicurl Too Shea Moisturizing Conditioner – Jessicurl products are not by any means cheap, so it’s great that you can buy miniature sizes before committing to buying a full size bottle. It doesn’t only contain shea butter but also jojoba and avocado oils. My hair gets worn down easily and I was initially worried the shea butter would be too heavy, but it’s actually been ok and Jessicurl has become one of my favourite brands.
- Pantene Defined Curls Mousse 5 – Before I discovered the curly girl method my only styling product was mousse. In fact, I’ve used this mousse for many years without knowing it was not too bad for my hair. I don’t use mousse too much these days, and if I do, it’s usually underneath gel
- Jessicurl Spiralicius gel – This gel is my favourite curly girl method styling product. I feel it gives me great definition and holds my curls for longer. My new favourite gel, this doesn’t contain glycerin so it’s great for hot and humid days. I’ve only recently found out that it has a very small amount of a drying alcohol, which makes it not 100% curly girl approved. But seriously, this is so good that I will carry on using it, especially when the weather is hot or when there is a lot of humidity in the air.
This is my quick and easy curly girl method routine for hot and humid weather – three or four products that don’t contain glycerin. I’m trying to keep the routine simple and not use too many products, especially when the weather is hot. This is how my hair looks at the moment after using glycerin free products.
Glycerin Free products
These are some other glycerin free products
Aussie Instant Freeze Sculpting gel
Camille Rose Naturals coconut water leave it
Camille Rose Butter Gel Twisting butter
Curls blueberry bliss curl control
Kinky Curly Knot today leave in conditioner
Product’s formulation changes from time to time, so make sure you double check the label to see if glycerin hasn’t been added.
You can read all my other curly girl method posts here
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