This is your hair.
This is your hair with a sealer.I know for a fact that many people out there use oils and butters religiously because to seal in moisture as well as combat over-hydration caused by high dew points and humid temperatures. The truth is that I never use a sealant. Ever. I find that many oils and butters are way too heavy for my fine, low porosity hair. Shea butter sits and leave hair boogers. Oils leave me greasy stranded and crunchy. I tried for a while to force the sealers, but after a couple of ruined pillows I decided to let them be.
Then it dawned on me, that perhaps I don’t need the anti-humectants not because they don’t work for my hair, but because they don’t work for my climate. For better or worse, San Francisco is temperate; there is no heat here, just a foggy, costal mediterranean climate that’s never too warm or cold all year round. It might sound nice (and it is), but when July is one of the coldest, grayest months of the year, it can really grind your gears.
When considering hair products and regimen, it is crucial to consider the climate in which you live to determine products with the best possible fit for your unique hair needs. According to an article by the Curl Chemist on NaturallyCurly:
Curly hair seems to really thrive in moderate climactic conditions, and dew point ranges of approximately 35°F to 50°F seem to be optimal….When the dew point for your area is at 60°F or above, it might be a good idea to apply some product with anti-humectant properties.
Sounds about right. The average dew point in SF is about 48, which is right in the range of not needing an anti humectant. This weekend I’ll be traveling across the country to Florida to check out the CurlyNikki meet up and covering the Premiere Orlando show for NaturallyCurly.com! I’m very excited for the trip in general, but also to give anti humectants another chance and do some real-time So Fine field research in while I’m on the ground where it currently reads as having dew points in the upper 70’s! Stay tuned for the results to see if its me or the weather!
thanks for this. im having issues tryna figure out what to do with my hair since we moved to the deserts of Doha in the Middle East. Temp gets very hot…its already averaged 110F these days. Outside is just slightly humid, and inside is air conditioner all the time. My skin and hair are suffering from extreme dryness that i havent got a handle on yet. I'm trying the steam room for my hair..did it once and didnt notie anything so great- had a henna condish mix in…anyway… thanks for this. if anyone has any tips on good hair products for a super dry climate please let me know
I work with the weather. I love the fluffy fros I get with braid outs. With that said, I find that sealing the whole hair strand with oils/butters is too much for my hair. The most I can do is seal my ends.
I live in the Bay Area, too. It is nice to read an article I can relate to on this topic.
I live in the SF Bay Area (Oakland). Thanks for posting an article for those of us who do NOT live in high humidity climates.
This article was posted at the right time. I'm in Florida, the dew point here is usually high. I usually seal, but my question as a new natural is, How often should I moisturize and reseal? And How? I was wondering if I have sealed once will it block out the attempts to moisturize a few days later?
thnx for this, I live in the bay area (berkeley) and i seem to only be able to use oils to seal my hair -which is pretty fine as well-when im doing twists
when i did an oil rinse with coconut oil…it was just crunchy on the 2nd day (im going to experiment more with that but this info is super helpful)
instead of focusing so much on curl types 3a,2a we should focus more on dew point and temp in our regions and what styles to use from there, and pay attention to things like overly-porous, thin or thick strands 🙂
I checked the dew point where I'm at www.wunderground.com. It's definitely different and much lower than the actual current temp.
The dew point here in Houston is 69F! Lawd!
I use coconut oil in the summer, but not a lot of it – don't want fried hair! Since I wear my hair out 99% of the time, I use gel to combat the humidity.
Does Dew Point = External temp? Because the way I'm understanding is if it's around 60 degrees out, no sealer needed. Is that incorrect?
I use EVCO or Jojoba to seal. They are both light enough that they don't weigh down my fine strands 🙂
I found a solution – humidity=twist or braids.
NO ______ outs for me. If out then afro and maximize the frizz.
Thanks for all this brilliant info, it really helps me understand how to keep my hair on point! Another thing I'm so confused with is what's a moisturizer & what's a sealer sometimes people call Shea butter both and coconut oil both as well. I'm so confused.
Also I've been hearing a lot about Cassia henna that does the same as regular henna but doesn't color your hair. I'd love to learn more about this from CN because I'd love to try the benefits of henna but don't want red hair.
Thanks CN for all the work you do!
Shea butter and castor oil are natural anti-humectants.
The dew point yesterday was in the high 60s… I used Qhemet's Cocoa Ghee to set and sealed with a little Aveda Anti-Humectant (which is castor oil based) and by the end of the day, my hair looked awesome! It was definitely a little frizzier, and a little bigger, but the definition was still there. I was truly impressed, because usually my dry twist-outs don't last but an hour in humidity.
So, how we need to watch the weather before we apply product. It actually makes sense though. Do you know of any natural anti-humectants?
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