How to Smooth Hair Against Frizz: 8 Helpful Tips

Leaving the salon after treating yourself to a fresh, smooth hairstyle is invigorating. You walk out feeling like a completely changed person. Every hair strand looks and feels ten times smoother than when you walked in.

If you’re asking yourself, “Why is my hair so frizzy?” you may also be wondering if it’s possible to replicate that salon-perfect smoothness from the comfort of your own bathroom.

In short, the answer is yes. With the proper products and techniques, you can achieve sleeker, healthier, smoother hair. This guide addresses how to achieve smooth hair with 8 of the best tools and tips to add to your haircare routine.

What Does Smooth Hair Feel Like?

One of the key indicators of healthy hair is when it’s smooth to the touch. As someone vying for healthy, vibrant hair as opposed to frizzy hair, you might wonder:

What Should Smooth Hair Feel Like?

It’s not the same for everyone, but generally speaking, you can expect smooth hair to feel:

• Soft when you touch it
• Sleek and easy to run your fingers through (without running into tangles)

How to Smooth Hair

Whether you recently peeked in the mirror and noticed more frizz than usual or you ran your fingers through your hair and it didn’t pass your “smooth” test, there are easy ways to smooth your frizzy hair.

If you’re curious about how to get rid of frizz, consider adding these eight tips to your haircare routine to guide you to sleeker and smoother strands.

#1 Rinse with Cold Water

Many of us enjoy a hot shower at the end of a long day to rinse away the day’s challenges—and bask in its successes. Although that reassuring flow of warm water feels fantastic to your mind (and scalp), it may not be doing your hair any favors against frizz (at least, not if you’re using hot water the entire time).

Instead, try focusing the hot water at the beginning of your shower to open up your hair cuticles. This can help your shampoo and conditioner better penetrate your hair so they can cleanse, moisturize, and detangle it.1

After you’ve lathered up with shampoo and conditioner, adjust the water to a cooler temperature to help close the hair cuticles and seal in the moisture to smooth your strands. This can also help decrease the likelihood of frizz during the day.

#2 Choose the Right Shampoo

At the most basic level, the purpose of shampoo is to cleanse your hair of oils, sweat, and product buildup.2 But because every hair type is unique, not every shampoo is created equal. What works for your friend’s curly locks might not have the same effect on your straight, fine hair, for example.

To give your tresses the formula they need to reach their smoothest potential, it’s essential to use a shampoo made for your hair type:

• For thick or curly hair – If you have thick or curly strands, it’s often more challenging for their natural oils to keep your hair adequately hydrated from root to tip. A smoothing shampoo is an excellent option that’ll give your hair that extra conditioning (aka the moisture, shine, and buttery soft feeling).
• For fine hair – Fine hair, which is the most fragile of all hair types, is weighed down more easily by moisturizing shampoos.3 Instead, try opting for a volumizing shampoo that gently cleanses and gives your mane a fuller appearance without weighing it down.

#3 Commit to Proper Conditioning

Conditioners serve a crucial purpose in your hair routine. In addition to giving your hair a sweet post-shower scent and providing much-needed moisture, they can also:2

• Seal your cuticles
• Minimize frizz
• Increase shine and smoothness
• Improve the overall manageability of your hair

In order to reap the benefits of your conditioner, it’s helpful to abide by these helpful do’s and dont’s of proper conditioning:

• Don’t apply conditioner to your scalp. Your hair creates natural oils at the root to hydrate your hair from the scalp downward.
• Do apply conditioner evenly to the ends of your hair (or for longer hair, from the middle of your hair shaft and downward).4
• Don’t wash a conditioning hair mask out immediately.
• Do let a conditioning hair mask sit on your hair for 5-10 minutes so that your hair can absorb the moisture from the ingredients.

#4 Choose the Right Conditioner

From smoothing and hydrating to light and balancing, there is a wide selection of conditioners to choose from. But like shampoo, it’s important to choose a conditioner formulated specifically for your hair type.

We’ve compiled a quick cheat sheet to help you find the right conditioner for you:

• For fine or oily hair – If your hair retains natural oil easily, consider using a light conditioner that doesn’t contain too many heavy-duty moisturizing ingredients, such as avocado oil, argan oil, or glycerin. Instead, conditioners labeled “volumizing” or “balancing” typically offer enough hydration without weighing down your hair.
• For thick, coarse, or curly hair – Unlike fine hair, many other hair types benefit from “smoothing” or “moisturizing” conditioners—and the occasional deep conditioner. A moisturizing conditioner can help boost the shine and smoothness of your waves, curls, or coils.

#5 Establish a Careful Grooming Routine

Aside from shampooing and conditioning your hair, what can you do to create a haircare routine that benefits your hair and bestows you the smooth hair you’re after?

After cleansing and moisturizing your hair, try adding these simple steps to your grooming routine:

• Detangle your hair with the Living Proof detangler to minimize breakage and eliminate knots.
• Massage your scalp between hair washes to help stimulate your hair follicles, remove dead skin cells, and promote healthy hair growth.5

#6 Be Cautious with Heat

Although our hair straighteners, blow dryers, and curling wands help us achieve the style we desire, they can also impart damage to your hair in the long term.

For smoother hair, consider these tips when using hot styling tools:

• Incorporate a heat protectant hair spray into your haircare routine before using styling tools on your hair to protect each hair strand from heat damage (which can lead to frizzy hair).
• Set your heating tool to a lower temperature of 180 to 280 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid split ends and breakage. Thick or coarse hair may benefit from increasing the temperature to approximately 300 degrees.
• Use a satin pillowcase or a satin overnight bonnet to extend your relationship with your smooth hair (and help avoid frizz as you move around at night).
• Use a Smoothing Styler including our No Frizz Smooth Styling Spray, No Frizz Smooth Styling Cream, or No Frizz Smooth Styling products, each formulated for different hair types and to enhance frizz control, leaving your hair with a smooth, shiny, and manageable finish.

#7 Avoid Chemicals

There are some ingredients that may improve the quality and health of your hair, like plant oils and aloe—and then there are harmful ingredients that can leave your hair lackluster.

When shopping for haircare products, consider searching for ones that avoid the following chemicals, as they can potentially strip your hair of its natural oils, cause buildup, or cause brittle, dry hair:

• Parabens
• Silicones
• Sulfates
• Phthalates

#8 Trim Your Hair Regularly

For consistently soft and silky hair, you might want to call up your stylist and pre-book a trim for the foreseeable future.

How often is ideal? If you have longer hair, you can have your ends snipped approximately a quarter to a half inch every 3 to 4 months. For shorter hair, consider trimming every 6 to 8 weeks.

Hair Products for Smooth Hair

Trimming your damaged or dull hair and using cold water to rinse your tresses is only the beginning of your journey to silky smooth hair. The next step includes incorporating certain haircare products into your weekly routine.

Take our hair quiz to learn more about your hair type. And if you’re tight on time for your regular haircare routine, we’ve got hairstyles for frizzy hair you can try.

Hair Masks

Using a hair mask can diminish frizz and provide you with the silky hair you thought you could only achieve on salon days. 

Our deep moisture hair mask provides maximum moisture to your mane and offers maximum frizz protection. Learn more about how to use a hair mask to keep your hair cleaner for longer (so you can go longer between hair washes—a double win for keeping your hair moisturized and smooth).

Anti-Frizz Products

If you’re looking for haircare products made with frizz (or lack thereof) in mind, consider anti-frizz products like our No Frizz Smoothing Style Cream or our lightweight hair oil.

These products are the go-to option for days when you’re looking for some added moisture but don’t have time for a full hair mask. Your hair can happily soak in the extra nourishment which can help your hair hold up against humidity—a main cause of frizz.

Hair Repair Treatments

Unbeknownst to many of us, simple habits like brushing your hair while wet or drying your tresses by rubbing them with a towel can cause damage or increase frizz.

Thankfully, you can repair damaged hair with our Triple Bond Complex product. Used weekly, this bond builder can help add smoothness and shine while also making your hair 8x stronger* and less susceptible to damage from everyday wear and tear.

You may also consider opting for another hair treatment for damaged hair, the Healthy Hair Perfector, to restore your hair’s outermost protective layer and provide your tresses with a smooth look and feel.

*Against grooming breakage vs untreated

Smooth and Strengthen Your Hair with Living Proof

Achieving smooth hair may be easier said than done. But with a few aptly-selected haircare products with the right ingredients, you can achieve salon-worthy smooth hair every day of the week.

While we can’t ensure you’re using cold water to rinse your hair, our hair products online can provide you with the care your hair needs. Whether your tresses are straight, curly, coily, or somewhere in between, our innovative products are designed and tested by innovative scientists to help you achieve real, lasting results. 

Want frizz-less shiny hair? Shop our entire collection of Anti-Frizz hair products and discover the silky smooth hair waiting for you.