These ingredients are used in many products that are designed for dry, damaged hair. While they can be beneficial in certain circumstances, weather an humidity in the air can cause less than desired results.

In low-humidity situations, such as a cold, dry winter air, there is often not enough water in the air for the humectant to attract to the surface of the hair. In this type of climate, you can only hope that moisture is not evaporated from the hair into the environment. Also, under these circumstances, there is some risk of the humectant actually removing moisture from the cortex of the hair itself, creating the problem it was intended to prevent.

That tells us that in dry climates it is important to use conditioning products which rely on strong moisturizers rather than traditional humectants.

In high-humidity conditions, such as the summer, there is a high amount of moisture in the air. This can be very harmful for curly hair. If curly hair is dry and damaged, it is very porous, and easily absorbs water from the air. In highhumidity situations, this can cause curly hair to swell so much that cuticles are raised, making the surface of the hair very rough and dry. The cuticles can then become entangled with cuticles of the surrounding hairs and create a huge, tangled mass, which is prone to breakage. Also, curly hair swollen by excess water can lose its curl pattern, creating the dreaded summer frizz.

As you can see, products heavy in humectants will only aggravate problems with humidity-induced frizz. Some humectants can also leave your hair feelingsticky when they become saturated with water. In tropical and subtropical climates, it is essential to maintain well-moisturized hair that is in good condition (which will be less prone to absorbing water from the hair). But it is preferable to use products containing fewer humectants or humectants with less hygroscopic capacity.

Due to the limitations of humectants in extreme weather conditions, it is evident that these ingredients probably function best for people with curly hair that live in moderate climates, with temperatures and humidity in the medium range.

Glycerin in the most commonly used humectant. Honey is another Humectant that can be used on hair. Glycerine and Honey both can not be applied directly to the hair. They must be combined with water. 1 part Glycerine or Honey and 3 parts water.