4 Tips From Pro Hair Stylist Danny Jelaca to Tame Your Mane

Danny Jelaca, owner of the boutique salon Danny Jelaca in Miami Beach’s swanky South of Fifth neighborhood has four tips on how to beat frizzy summer hair.

1. Tame Your Mane: Fighting Frizz from the Inside Out

Unfortunately, heat from some of our best styling tools can cause the worst damage over time and this combined with the sun’s heat can really take a toll on tresses.  I suggest stepping back from tools and improving the overall texture of hair first. Both myself and Meredith Texeira, the lead smoothing treatment expert in the salon, have a new favorite solution— Cezanne Perfect Finish, a 100% formaldehyde-free keratin smoothing treatment that infuses and locks key ingredients (e.g., sericin, a silk protein) into the inner hair shaft, thereby replacing lost and damaged protein mass and leaving hair stronger and impervious to frizz. Unlike other treatments, the Cezanne system softens curls without breaking chemical bonds, giving it enough body to be styled curly OR straight, with less time and effort.

Another great product, particularly for fine hair is Shu Uemura’s Satin Design White Tea Polishing Milk, which adds weightless moisture to hair while counteracting humidity and frizz.

2. Sun Protection Isn’t Just for Your Face

The sun can be incredibly damaging to your hair because it breaks down keratin, stripping away moisture and leaving hair more brittle and susceptible to breakage.Don’t leave the house without applying a finishing product that contains sunscreen or UVA/UVB protection filters; reapply throughout the day, as often as you would apply sunscreen to your skin.  Protect your hair and it’s color (and your face) with a hat or a lightweight scarf.  For long hair, consider a leave-in conditioner (such as Cezanne’s Leave-in Crème Conditioner) and pulling it back into a chic braid to limit sun exposure.

3. Restoring Moisture from Root to Tip

Deep condition hair with a nourishing mask for about 5 minutes, 2-3 times a week or you could leave on overnight if you need deeper conditioning.  My “go to” splurge solution is the Leonor Greyl Masque Quintessence – Deep Repairing Mask for Damaged Hair, which can moisturize and regenerate even the driest, most damaged hair. If you don’t have a mask and want to go DIY, I recommend using coconut oil, which is incredibly moisturizing and smells amazing. If you are experiencing split ends, before leaving the shower, keep a small amount of conditioner on hair ends and wrap a towel around. Leave it on untouched to soak for about 10-15 minutes to absorb as much moisture as possible.

4. Horrendous Humidity: Updos to Beat the Heat

If all else fails, work with the texture instead of against it.  Try a twisted updo that embraces some of the frizz.  Spritz hair very generously with a beach or texture spray, such as Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray, to rough up the cuticle and create gritty texture that you can twist into a simple chignon with staying power.

Danny’s photo by Tommy Chung