I Trialled 5 Frizz-Beating Techniques In Asia And It Was Truly An Experience

My hair has never been more dead than this very moment.

I'm Michelle and really, the only time I've ever had naturally ~smooth hair~ was when I was a kid and my half-Asian genes decided to push through.

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Now, I'm no longer a child, and as you can probably guess, my hair just isn't straight and silky anymore.

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Look, it has seen better days.

So when I went on a trip around Asia I thought, why not turn myself into a guinea pig and try out some frizz-beating techniques while I'm in one of the most humid places on earth.

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I used an anti-frizz serum, a leave-in conditioner, a hairspray and toothbrush hack, some sea salt spray, and tried washing my hair without conditioner.

Before I started with the five techniques I washed my hair and let it air dry to see just how they would all compare.

1.

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I decided to start with something I was sure would work — an anti-frizz serum. I hate the feel of serums because my hair tends to get really oily very easily, so adding more oil to it seems stupid. It did end up pretty oily and the sweat of the night made it dry pretty frizzly, but not too much more than it normally does. Really, my hair seemed fine with it in, and when I got home after getting really, really drunk it didn't look too bad when you compare it to the other techniques. Although, 2 a.m. drunk-me in a 24-hour roti stall thought that it looked horrendous at the time.

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2.

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I started off really hopeful on day two because my hair actually looked decent after I got out out of the shower. Putting the leave-in conditioner, while strange in concept, actually made my hair feel really soft, smooth, and moisturised. Normally when I wash my hair with shampoo and conditioner it just instantly feels dry in five minutes, so it was a pleasant change. However, after about six hours, my hair wasn't really frizzy per se, it was more bushy and dry. Though, to be fair, I did spend the day walking around in the sun and sweating bucketloads so that may have affected it in the end. In the scheme of things, the leave-in conditioner was just... fine.

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3.

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So this hack requires you to get a clean toothbrush and spray hairspray directly onto it so you can use it as a comb to tame your frizzy hairs. But really, this whole concept is just damn stupid. First of all, hairspray will always make your hair feel disgusting. Secondly, I have way too much hair to be spending an eternity trying to brush it with an itty-bitty toothbrush. And lastly, I'm an idiot for even thinking it might work. All this "hack" did was make my hair a hard-to-comb-through mess that was really heavy, very dry, and somehow even oiler than I could've ever imagined. Yet, it was still not the worst of the lot.

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4.

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Now this, THIS was the dumbest decision I've ever made, and I make a lot of horrid choices in my life. The idea is to wash your hair, spritz some sea salt spray in it, scrunch it up and hope the wind and elements are kind to you. But after nine hours, I literally could not comb my hair. Whatever I had managed to comb looked like hay, and I spent a good 30 minutes trying to wash out all the knots. Frizz was now the least of my issues, and trying to keep my hair on my head was top priority. This by far was the absolute worst of the lot, by about six light-years.

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5.

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OK, so on day five I caved. I had to straighten my hair in an attempt to look at least semi-decent for one day on this trip. Washing my hair without conditioner, while faster, just felt really strange. Like forgetting to put on underwear in the morning, it just didn't feel the right. By the end of the day, my hair wasn't straight anymore and it was a little frizzy, a little boofy, but I felt it looked the best of them all. Maybe the no conditioner worked, or maybe it was because I straightened it or perhaps it was because it came right after me going through hell and back the day before with the sea salt spray.

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— Don't test five products on holiday, it makes your bag really heavy and spillage is inevitable.

— Using no conditioner is best to fight frizz but it probably isn't an effective long-term option.

— Straightening your hair really helps fight frizz or at least helps the frizz form in a decent-looking way.

— Stay the fuck away from sea salt spray. Seriously. It's demonic.

Michelle Rennex travelled on Contiki’s Bangkok to Singapore trip. Contiki provided all hotel, airfare, and associated tour costs free of charge. BuzzFeed writers did not guarantee coverage.