Get Rid of Flyaway Strands

Hair with flyaway strands
Photo: Depositphotos
Q: My hair is long and straight, but there are a lot of flyaway strands. How can I get rid of these flyaway strands without spending a fortune on products?
 
A: Ok, the first thing we need to do is to determine whether the hairs to which you are referring are flyaway strands or if you are talking about split ends. I don’t mean to imply that you don’t know what you mean, but I’ve encountered far too many people who have called me asking for an appointment to deal with flyaway strands, and I discover that they’re dealing with split ends.
 
Flyaway strands are pretty simple to describe. They are strands of hair that won’t lie flat alongside the other hairs of the head. They may be of a different texture or simply seem to be more stressed or roughed up and thus stick out from the style. It may even be a result of fine hair being affected by static electricity.
 
Split ends on the other hand are notable for the fact that they generally appear in the lower portions of the hair’s length. This is because a split end is caused when the hair literally splits at the ends of the hair. In some cases the entire length of the hair can split into two halves, or into multiple sections in some cases. With split ends, the ends of the hair tend to appear diffuse and frizzy.
 
Dealing with split ends and flyaway strands are in some ways similar. You want a product that will coat the hair shaft and help to keep the hair lying alongside the other hairs of the style. With split ends the goal is for the product to help bind the fragmented hair strands back into one strand. (Bear in mind; you won’t be able to heal the split, just keep it “glued” together while healthy hair grows out.) In both cases, you want a product to help create that smooth, healthy look for your hair.
 
You can generally accomplish this by adding a product to your routine. My favorite product for this situation is a smoothing serum or anti-frizz serum. This should be applied to the hair after towel-drying it and before it is blow-dried/styled. If there are flyaway strands after the hair is dried you can use an additional dab of serum spread over the fingers and smooth the surface to flatten the flyaway hairs.
 
You should also remember that this can be aided and made more effective by not drying the hair fully with a blow dryer. Just use the dryer until the hair is MOSTLY dry and allow it to finish drying on its own. This helps prevent over-drying the exterior layers of the hair and reduces the instance of flyaway strands.
 
You can also use a light misting of hairspray to flatten flyaway strands. Just spray the hair lightly and gently pat the flyaway hairs into place. This method often requires frequent retouching throughout the course of a day.
 
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See also:
 
How to get rid of static hair
 
What split ends look like
 
How to repair split ends
 
What can I do with my flyaway and flat hair?
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