How To Keep Your Flyaways Managed, According To A Hair Stylist

Whether you have tight curls or fine, straight strands, flyaways are a part of everyday life. The short hairs can often appear along your roots, at the crown of your head, and even through your lengths and layers. While flyaways are a normal occurrence, there are ways to manage them. Refinery29 Australia spoke with Abbey Maxwell, owner of Sydney salon The Maxwell Collective, to learn what causes flyaways, how to minimise them, and what actually works when you want a smoother hairstyle.

Flyaways are defined as short, wispy strands of hair that can stick up from the rest. They can be caused by breakage or when your new healthy hair regrowth hasn’t caught up with older (longer) strands.

Hair breakage usually comes down to three culprits: mechanical, chemical, or thermal damage. Mechanical damage happens when hair gets stressed through rough brushing or combing, sleeping on wet hair (which stretches more and snaps easily), or tossing and turning on friction-heavy fabrics like cotton or linen. Chemical damage comes from overdoing it with dye or bleach, while thermal damage can be caused by using a hair straightener, curling wand, or blow-dryer without any product protection.

While you can’t "fix" broken hair strands (they just has to grow back), figuring out the source of your breakage can help to minimise it in future. Rather than singeing the fine hair down in protest (and causing further damage), here’s how to protect and style your flyaways.

If you’ve ever tried recreating an ultra-sleek salon blowout at home, you’ll know the frustration of ending up with hair that’s fluffy, frizzy and full of flyaways. “If you find you can never get that silky smooth hairdresser blow-dry, using lower heat, adding heat protection like a leave-in moisturiser or a serum into your routine will help those flyaways stay where they are supposed to,” says Abbey. According to the stylist, lower heat helps to keep breakage to a minimum, and the protective products work to hydrate hair.

Products such as ELEVEN’s Hydrate My Hair range use hydrolysed soy protein to strengthen and condition your hair, while cucumber extract and hydrolysed quinoa work together to repair and protect damaged hair. The Hydrate My Hair Moisture Shampoo helps to control frizz before you go in with the styling tool.

Meanwhile, ELEVEN’s hero product, the Miracle Hair Treatment is a leave-in conditioner that helps to control frizz and flyaways, strengthen fragile hair, prevent split ends, protect against hairstyling, and more. By moisturising and protecting your hair from heat damage, you can help to prevent the breakage that causes flyaways.

According to Abbey, there are a number of hairstyles that can help to keep flyaways down — just make sure you’re using gentle hair accessories that don’t snag your strands. “Slick back buns or ponytails will keep [flyaways] down and tightly tucked in where they should be, along with braids and half-up styles.” Working with your hair type and texture can help to keep those pesky flyaways tucked and smoothed.

When you pair a protective hairstyle with hydrating products, use less heat and avoid chemical damage, you’ll find your hair and flyaways can look sleeker and a little more just-stepped-out-of-the-salon-worthy. Beyond the sleek, polished look, these small additions to your routine can help to strengthen your hair from root to tip.