Fabulous FRIZZ

The WAR on FRIZZ is over. Here, how LEARNING to EMBRACE your HALO of FUZZ is the secret to SEXIER SUMMER HAIR.

- TIA WILLIAMS

Frizz was my number-one enemy. I grew up thinking it was something to fight, like forest fires and the patriarchy. Frizz was too spontaneous, too uncontrollable-and worryingly influenced by the slightest suggestion of moisture (perspiration, humidity, a faulty shower cap). When I wore my natural coils, I wanted each curl to mimic a perfectly defined spiral of fusilli pasta, not tufts of cotton candy! Any serum, spray, or cream labeled "frizz-fighting" had my immediate attention.

Until the pandemic. Like everyone, I had nowhere to go and no one to see, and thus my multistep frizz-fighting regimen slipped. I let my curls live. I allowed frizz to happen. If my hair felt like erupting into a halo, so be it. I even started manipulating the frizz, scrunching it up with my fingers and creating cloudy fuzz-on purpose. The experimentation was fun, and I realized my big, bold, unstructured hair was chic.

I'm not the only one to reject frizz's bad reputation. Celebs like Tracee Ellis Ross, Zendaya, and Sarah Jessica Parker walk red carpets adorned with fabulous fluff. At Tom Ford's Spring 2023 show, models wore fuzzy hairstyles that recalled the maximalist glamour of early-'80s It girls. The thing is, frizz makes a statement: This woman-and her hair-cannot be confined, ignored, or shamed..

"It's a confident hairstyle," says hairstylist Kendall Dorsey, who creates bountiful natural looks for celebrities like Yara Shahidi and Kelly Rowland. "When you embrace frizz, it says that you're liberated, that you've stepped into the softer area of life."