Frizz is the tabloid scandal of the curly world—entirely normal, yet often treated as a technical failure that needs a “fix.”
As dumb luck would have it, most of us view frizz as a blank and spooky disaster rather than a study in tonality. Frizz can stem from many workday habits: weather, damage, buildup, or simply your natural texture reaching out for moisture. It’s like orthochromatic film that has been exposed to too much humidity—it loses its definition and becomes a ruddy mess. You need a technical shift to assuage the insecurities of your curls, moving from fighting frizz to understanding what your strands are actually asking for.
The prep is your best insurance. If your hair is frizzy because it’s thirsty, you need a “Flexible Greasepaint” approach—deep moisture that fills the gaps in the cuticle. If it’s frizzy because of buildup, you need a reset to clear the surface layer that cracks and looks dirty. Mind the resistance when you style; overhandling wet curls creates streaking in the pattern. By using a “slick lip coat” of sealer and letting your curls capture the glow of incandescent bulbs without constant touching, you can maintain a studio-endorsed profile. Something I think we’re all still kind of into.
—Lauren Maas