How to Get Rid of Poofy Hair

Do you have unruly hair? Many people do, thanks to dry air, humidity, and lack of proper hair product use. There are many products and styling rituals that will help to tame the poofy hair, including straighteners, flat irons, oils, waxes and cremes.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Moisturizing shampoo
• Deep conditioner
• Styling product (containing a creme or an oil)
• Curling iron or flat iron

How to Get Rid of Poofy Hair

1. Shampoo hair with a moisture-rich shampoo. Follow with a matching conditioner. Generally, hair becomes poofy because of a lack of moisture in the hair's shaft. This can be from overprocessing, over washing, or living in a dry climate. Try to wash hair every other day or every three days. This will allow the natural oils from your scalp to nourish the hair shaft without being washed away.
2. Use either a hot oil treatment or a leave-in conditioning treatment once a week. This will help nourish your hair and combat the dryness that is leading to the poof.
3. Wrap hair in a towel after washing to absorb excess water. Do not rub hair with a towel, as this aggravates the hair shaft and leads to frizziness in the hair. Allow the towel to soak up water for several minutes.
4. Apply your anti-frizz product while the hair is still damp (some products differ in when you should put them on your hair, so make sure you read the individual label). For most salon-quality products, you only need about a dime-sized amount for short hair, and a quarter-size amount for longer hair. Rub product between hands before applying to hair. Work from the back of the hair to the front, and from the ends to the roots, otherwise excess product near the roots can result in a greasy look.
5. Style the hair after the product has been worked into the hair shaft. If you intend to straighten the hair, use either a ceramic curling iron or straightening iron. These seem to work the best without damaging your hair. If you are using a round brush with a hair dryer, make sure you use a natural boar's hair brush, which will help with distributing the hair's natural oils throughout the shaft and keep it from becoming poofy.
6. Smooth a silicon-based finishing creme or oil on the hair after styling to weatherproof the hair and keep it under control throughout the day. This will help hair look smoother and not allow excess moisture into the hair shaft, which would cause poofiness.

Tips & Warnings

• Shampoo poofy hair with moisture-rich shampoo and conditioner.
• Don't shampoo every day.
• Apply a heavy creme or oil at least once a month (twice a month in winter and in dry climates).
• Get haircuts on a regular basis. This will help eliminate the frayed ends that are leading to much of the dryness and the poofy hair.
• Blow-drying hair before adding any product to the hair will cause it to poof more.
• Don't blow-dry hair on a very hot setting. This will cause hair to lose even more moisture.
• Don't color your hair a lot. The use of chemicals will dry out the hair shaft, leading to more frizzy hair.