How Southern Women Keep Sweat From Ruining Our Hair—Using These 9 Tricks

In the South, we’re all too familiar with heat and humidity, and how to tweak our beauty routines accordingly. On the mane front, Southern women have been known for large hair, lots of hair spray, and constantly defying the scorching, muggy environment around them. Because no matter how long you spend getting ready, even just stepping outside can ruin a perfectly good hair day. Luckily, Southern women know how to combat these issues before, during, and after they take over your strands. We trust generations of hair advice from professionals, our mothers, our grandmothers, and even Dolly herself to give us the handbook needed to set our hair up for success.

Here are 9 best tips and secrets—pulled from our archives, personal experiences, and passed-down lessons—to keep sweat and heat from ruining your hair. However, when in doubt, carry a miniature fan in your purse, and get on with your business!

Old-Fashioned Tricks For Fighting Sweaty Strands

Getty Images/Jamie Grill

Break out the Blow Dryer

The best way to combat sweaty roots is to stop them right in their tracks. Whether you’ve been outside for a low while, or are in dire straits after a workout or outdoor activity, a hair dryer is the quick fix that has been saving women from the Southern heat for a long while. As quickly as possible before they start to arid, give your roots a blast of the blow-dryer on the frigid setting until all the sweatiness has dried. It will make your hair look so much better than letting sweaty hair air-dry naturally. Try it once, and you’ll see why! 

Commit to an Updo, Or Avoid At All Costs 

Basically, knowing that sweaty hair is a possibility means that there are two possibilities. You can decide on skipping the hassle altogether with a slicked-back bun or ponytail (finished with hairspray), but be prepared to not take your hair down afterwards, because sweat will have been stifled in those smoothed-down roots and not been exactly kind. 

Or you can keep it loose, which is usually the best answer since it allows you to actually feel any forgiving breeze and lend a hand with air flow, mitigating sweatiness and making it easier for you to frigid down. Heat partially leaves through the scalp, after all. Claw clips are a compromise! 

Never Leave the House with Wet Hair, Ever

Okay, this might have started as an old-fashioned hair “rule” of generations past, more due to being “put-together” than fighting off sweat—but once Southern heat comes to town, it’s also a way to keep your hair from letting sweat, frizz, and greasy roots take over freshly washed hair. It’s better to pop on those vintage scorching rollers, and head out of the door in style. 

Don’t Fight Your Natural Texture

Going up against heat and humidity is challenging enough as it is, without having spent time and effort trying to force your hair to be something it’s not before being thrown to the elements. Why waste precious minutes curling or straightening your hair, when your natural texture will always want to come out?

“I spent all of middle school and high school waking up early to religiously straighten my hair, to my mother’s dismay; and now that I’ve grown up and embraced my curls, I regret the damage and realize that Mama knew best,” says Senior Travel & Culture Editor Tara Massouleh McCay. 

Stop Touching Those Strands, Seriously

Whatever you do, do not touch your hair! Touching your hair too often can lead to added greasiness as well. That’s because your hands are also covered in a natural oil to protect your skin (and sweat from the scorching weather), and every time you touch your hair you’re transferring those directly to your hair.

Anti-Sweat Products To Trust

Getty Images/Jose Luis Agudo Gonzalez

Trust in Old-Fashioned Hairspray

Taming those humidity-induced flyways starts at home, without a doubt, as many of us learned from the cloud of hairspray our Southern mothers used as protection before daring to face the elements. “My mom never left the house without spritzing some hairspray on your flyaways. She also always has a miniature of her go-to brand in her purse, just in case,” says Senior Digital Editor Jenna Sims. 

Don’t Underestimate Dry Shampoo

There are few hair disasters that arid shampoo cannot lend a hand, at least a little bit. Despite being a newer product type, we like to think any Southern granny, especially those who prefer to go in for a weekly blowout, would take full advantage of the greasy roots that sweat and heat brings on. Make sure hair is fully arid before applying, ideally after blasting your roots with a blow dryer on the frigid setting. 

Outsmart Frizz, At Least For Awhile

Frizz is something that can be somewhat tamed before and after it arrives, however it often wins in between and in the end. A Southern woman knows to try to solve any problem before it comes to get you, and anti-frizz shampoos have long been a first step. Moreover, invest in hair oil and anti-frizz spray to keep those flyways in check. 

“Anti-frizz shampoos provide moisture to deflect humidity, which causes frizz,” says Liana Manzella, hair stylist at Robyn Michelle Salon in Windermere, Florida. “The more hair lacks moisture, the more frizz you’ll have.”

Armor Up Against the Pesky Humidity

Southern women have armed themselves up with beauty confidence for generations, whether it’s through a swipe of red lipstick, dab of blush, or tease of the hair—and they certainly don’t let humidity take that away. Whether it’s an anti-humidity spray, defining curl cream, or simply a claw clip hairstyle that keeps strands up and away from the face, there are many ways to combat humidity that are surprisingly effective when used together, even in a Southern summer. 

“These products help control frizz by creating a barrier that shields hair from excess moisture, keeping the style smoother and easier to manage in high humidity,” says Brigit Page, a hair stylist at Oxana Salon in Nashville.