I have fine hair, which means I’m stuck in a constant catch-22: smooth it with a rich cream or oil, and it falls flat by noon; skip the smoothing, and the first hint of humidity leaves me with a halo of flyaways. Add hot tools, hard water, and a forecast that can’t make up its mind, and my strands find endless new ways to rebel against me. As it turns out, the very thing my hair seems to crave can also be its undoing.
Once styling, color, or friction roughs up the cuticle, it lifts, soaks up water from the air, and swells in protest. Vogue’s Favorite Products for Fighting Frizz in Fine Hair: Best Shampoo for Frizz: Redken Frizz Dismiss Shampoo, $30 Best Primer: TRESemmé A-List Collection All-In-One Style Primer, $12 Best Heat Protectant: L’Oréal Paris EverPure Moisture Heat Protectant Spray, $18 Best Blow-Dry Mist: R+Co Bleu Smooth and Seal Blow Dry Mist, $66 Best for Humidity: Amika The Shield Anti-Humidity Spray, $32 Best Serum for Damaged Hair: Kérastase Première Hair Repair Serum, $44 Best Budget Mask: OGX Repair & Protect Bond Protein Repair Treatment Mask, $10 The good news? Smoothing fine hair no longer means sacrificing volume.
Today’s anti-frizz formulas are lighter than ever, from sulfate-free shampoos that cleanse without stripping to featherlight leave-ins, heat-protecting mists, and bond-building treatments that strengthen strands from within. And they’re worth keeping on hand well past summer, since autumn’s cranked-up radiators and crisp, dry air bring their own brand of static. Ahead, the frizz fighters, celebrity hairstylists, colorists, and a trichologist swear by fine hair, along with my own take on each, from drugstore steals to splurge-worthy picks.
Best Shampoo: Redken Frizz Dismiss Shampoo Why We Love It: Achieving a beautiful, smooth blowout starts in the shower with your shampoo. Wash day sets the tone for everything that follows, and this sulfate-free shampoo makes a strong case for starting smooth. It cleans without that squeaky, stripped feeling you can get from salon-grade shampoos.
Hairstylist Taylor Murphy recommends it to curly clients for smoothing without weight, while celebrity hairstylist Emaly Baum reaches for it when humidity spikes, in addition to working in a clarifying shampoo once a week or every few washes to keep buildup at bay. Celebrity hairstylist Mike Martinez’s rule of thumb for the perfect clean? Hair should feel clean, not scrubbed with dish soap, and leave behind enough slip to make detangling painless.
Editor’s Experience: Going back and forth between Paris and New York means my hair is constantly adjusting to new water and new weather, and this is the shampoo I reach for when my strands are a little frazzled from the hard water in France. After a few washes, my hair felt softer and easier to detangle, and my curls held up noticeably better on humid days. —Valeriya Chupinina, contributor Key Ingredients: Babassu oil Size: 10.1 ounces Love It Leave It Sulfate-free and color-safe, smooths without weighing hair down Doesn’t leave hair feeling hydrated Best Conditioner: Ouai Fine Hair Conditioner Why We Love It: Small likes that this sulfate-free formula cleanses features hydrolyzed keratin that strengthens fragile strands, and lightweight chia seed oil that smooths the cuticle without flattening fine hair, which makes detangling and styling easier, too. The result is weightless, all-day volume that mimics that of hair on the much thicker side, and hairstylist Becca Kraeger swears by it for adding fullness and bounce to natural curls without weighing them down.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
