Frizzy Hair After Showering? You’re Probably Making These 4 Mistakes

For many guys, poofy hair is a tradeoff for clean hair. You feel greasy and grimy so you hop in the shower and scrub everything away—but when you look in the mirror afterward you’ve got a head of dry, poofy, frizzy hair.

What gives?

Wet hair is weaker than dry hair, so chances are your bathing habits (or the hair care products you use in the shower) are to blame for your post-shower poof. Let’s take a look at four common mistakes that cause dry, frizzy hair and how you can tame your mane.

1. You Use Harsh Shampoo

Sure, traditional shampoo that you find at the supermarket cleans your hair—but it comes with a hefty cost. If you scan their ingredient lists, many shampoos contain harsh chemicals that strip your hair of its natural oils.  

Some red flags to look out for are parabens and sulfates. These are common culprits of hair frizz, a dry or itchy scalp, and excess oil production.

So, what kind of shampoo should you use instead of that neon-colored goo you’ve used since middle school? To be honest, you don’t need shampoo at all. We spent years formulating the Alternative Shampoo Magic Mud by Modern Mammals and the Shampoo Light Bar. Both leave your hair fresher and cleaner than before but without the negative effects of shampoo and conditioner.

As GQ said, Modern Mammals “straddles the line between shampoo and conditioner,” but it’s actually neither. Unlike traditional shampoo (which strips your hair clean) or conditioner (which coats it), Modern Mammals washes away sweat, grease, and dirt while refreshing your hair back to its natural state.

We said goodbye to parabens and sulfates so you could say goodbye to flakes and frizz.

2. Your Water Is Too Hot

Steamy showers are relaxing, but they can also wreak havoc on your hair. Hot water melts away your natural hair oils, leaving it dry, brittle, and frizzy. Excess heat also lifts your hair cuticles, the outermost layer. When that happens, the cells separate and the cuticle layer can’t seal itself—another cause of frizzy hair.

Fear not, you don’t have to take ice-cold showers every day. Just finish up with a quick cold water rinse in the sink afterward.

“Washing your hair with cold water helps with closing your cuticle after the wash,” Florian Hurel, a celebrity hairstylist, told Vogue. “This also has the added benefit of helping, along with your hair care products, to make your hair look strong and shiny, and who doesn’t want that?”

Pro tip: cold showers can also boost your immune system, soothe your skin, increase circulation, and reduce fatigue—not to mention you’ll save on your hot water bill! 

Now that you know what to do during your showers to prevent frizz, let’s explore some hair care mistakes guys make after they step out of the shower.

3. Your Towel Is Too Rough

Even with top-notch products, you can get frizzy hair after showering if you use a regular terry-cloth towel to dry off. 

“If we use a regular towel to dry [hair], the grooves of the towel become aggressors to the cuticle of the hair,” says hairstylist Isabella Vasquez. “Towels absorb all the moisture from our hair when what we want to do is absorb the excess water without stripping it of the moisture that helps the hair from becoming frizzy.”

If you’re looking for a quick hack, dry your wet hair with a cotton t-shirt.

“Because t-shirts do not have rough grooves like a towel, the flat surface allows water to sink in and slides over the hair instead of roughing it up,” explains Vasquez. 

If you’d rather not use t-shirts to dry your hair, we don’t blame you. Instead, grab a microfiber towel (they’re pretty cheap on Amazon). These are ideal for reducing the friction that causes frizz, especially for guys with curly hair or wavy hair.

If you don’t have time to air dry your hair, use an ionic blow dryer. Unlike regular hair dryers that blast you with heat, ionic dryers extract water from your hair with a magnet. You can also use a diffuser attachment, which moves the air evenly around your hair rather than concentrating it on one spot.

4. You Use the Wrong Styling Tools

Your hair is very fragile when it’s wet, don’t brush it right after you get out of the shower. This can lead to split ends, breakage, and (you guessed it) frizz. Boar bristle brushes are especially problematic for wet hair since they don’t distribute sebum well (that’s the stuff that lubricates your hair follicles). 

Instead, use a wide-tooth comb. This will detangle your wet hair without pulling apart the strands or causing excess friction. 

Prevent the Poof—for Good

As you can see, you don’t have to choose between clean hair and frizzy hair. With a few tweaks to your hair care routine, you’ll have a healthy, natural flow after every wash. That starts with making the switch to Modern Mammals. Our anti-frizz formula will make you wonder why you ever wandered down the shampoo aisle.

Got a friend with frizzy hair? Send him this article so he can join the frizz-free movement!