'Oh, the Humidity!' What's a Girl to Do? Win with the Hair that Won't Compromise

I was recently traveling and stepped off the plane into a sea of steamy, hot, wet air.

Sure, it's great for your skin and your hair, too, but humidity can also make your locks incredibly hard to manage. There are lots of specialized products on the shelf, some of them very expensive, for hair care in humid climates, and they do work ... to an extent.

I have this bit of advice: Make it easy on yourself. Pick your battles. Don't expect to win this one, at least not without a healthy dose of compromise. Your hair isn't going to look like it usually does. Do your best, then have fun.

Let's say you have naturally curly hair. High humidity is probably going to make it even curlier and probably frizzy. My advice is to put a humidity resistant gel or mousse in your hair after shampooing while it's still damp, scrunch it up, let it dry (as much as it's going to in humid conditions) and call it good ... Better yet, call it great! Then go have fun at the beach or shopping mall, restaurant or wherever.

Let's say you just landed in Miami after a hard summer rain. The air is thick. You look in the mirror and your hair is frizzed and curled in ways you've never imagined. This never happened in L.A.!

Here are ways to compromise with Mother Nature:

•Go with the gel or mousse after a shower, scrunch it up, let it dry, enjoy the new look for that week you're on vacation. It's the new you!

•Use the mousse, then pull your hair up into a cute top knot or back down low into a ponytail.

•Go with one of the trendy barrettes. This can slow down some of that volume and the barrette styles are endless.

Following me? The moisture is good for your hair, especially if that's not usually what it gets. And that kinky curl may not be the look you wanted, but it's what you're going to get. You can win some control but not all of it.

Maybe you don't get curly hair when it's humid. Instead, your hair goes flat, heavy and limp when it's soaked in hot, wet air ... So be it! Part it down the middle and go with a beaded leather headband for a trendy, retro hippie look. Go instead with some mousse, tease it underneath for a little volume, then brush the top layer back with a coarse brush or comb and finish with some glossy hairspray for a slick-back wet look. If you've got long hair, pull it into a ponytail.

As always, be open to change, including high humidity!