Let’s talk about flyaway hair. We all get them and they can be so aggravating to control and distracting in photographs. Who wants a close up with their hair standing on end? I know I don’t. We all want to put our best foot, uh face, forward for pictures, right? So, read on to learn some tips and tricks for preventing flyaway hair in photos.

And, I will be honest, yes, hair flyaways can be fixed in Photoshop through post-processing, but it can be an arduous task. In which case, often only the most distracting strands get removed in routine editing. So what if there were some tricks to prevent flyaways to really get that pristine polished look? Well, there are a couple of tricks that I am excited to share with you today.

Everyday Tricks

I’ll be honest, I am not a hair dresser and typically do not style my hair on a day to day basis. My hair routine is usually: wash, brush, go …! However, for nice occasions or for photo sessions when I want to kick it up a notch and just look, well, my very very best, I break out the curling iron or the flat iron. As mentioned, I am by no means a hairdresser or an expert on hair so to write this article I did a little research… gotta love Google and Pinterest! Reference links below if you want to check out some additional articles on this topic.

Interestingly enough, to control flyaways it’s not just about what you are doing the morning of your session but what you do on a daily basis as well as well as how you do it. Hmmm … now we are talking prevention.

Flyaways are defined as hair that is dryer, damaged, broken, and shorter than the rest of the hair. A little static electricity and these little hairs are standing on end. So to prevent flyaways, first we need to prevent dry, damaged, broken hair. Below are some general day to day to tips:

• Use a moisturizing shampoo and conditioner that is designed for your hair type.
• Protect you hair from heat damage
  • Use a silicon-based styling product like mousse or pomade not only to assist in holding your style but also to form a barrier between your air and the heat.
  • Try using your hot tools on a low setting and increase the temperature only as needed slowly.
  • Do not use a hot tool on wet or damp hair.
• Use a brush with natural bristles instead of plastic to avoid breakage
• Use a brush when your hair is mostly dry or a wide tooth comb when wet to avoid breakage

Before the Session Styling Tricks

It’s always a good idea to think ahead and be prepared, right? So here are some tips and tricks you can do when primping the morning of your session to help prevent those flyaways!

• Use an ionizing blow dryer or hair brush. Since flyaways can be caused by static electricity, these ions can neutralize the positive charge.
• Use hair wax, or pomade to gently smooth the hair down and give those loose hairs some additional weight. Be sparing as you don’t want to look greasy or that you have a lot of product applied. You want to look naturally perfect.
• Spray your hair brush with hairspray and brush through your hair.

During the Session Quick Fixes

So flyaways may not be able to be prevented entirely especially in an outdoor session where wind is a factor. Here are some tricks you can do immediately before your photo session and even during the session as a quick touch up.

• Use a specialty flyaway product on problem areas, such as John Frieda’s Touchup Flyaway Tamer – this is a little bottle that looks like a mascara container with a brush that even looks like a mascara brush that you can apply to those problem areas and it’s small enough to carry in your purse.
• Bring a toothbrush and a portable can of hairspray. Spray the toothbrush and smooth down any of those problem areas gently.
• If you don’t have either of the above ideas on hand, or in purse, another trick is to apply a very small amount of hand lotion and gently smooth over your hair, and last, in a pinch a little bit of lip balm can also work.
• Last, a dryer sheet can also work to smooth down flyaways since often the reason flyways stand on end is due to a little static electricity.

I hope these pointers help give you that flawless look in all your pictures and if you have anything else to add or any favorite products to share to help control those pesky flyaways, please comment below!

Additional Resources / Reading:

Hair Romance: How to Tame Fuzzy Flyaways
The Derm Blog: What causes Fly-away Hair and How Do You Stop it?
Byrdie – Beauty Solutions: How to Tame Unwanted Flyaways
The Daily Makeover: How to Control Flyaway Hair for a Fuzz-Free Do