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This Magic Anti-Humidity Spray Saved My Hair From Summer Frizz Hell

Long did my summer hair suffer and look scrubby, until I picked up this Amika spray I saw on TikTok and found that it's a lifesaver.
Amika The Shield Anti-Humidity Spray Review 2022
Composite by Vice Staff

Woo doggy, is it getting hot and heavy around these parts, or what? I don’t know about you, but as soon as July hits, all bets are off in terms of looking cool, cute, and like you didn’t just get off Splash Mountain. Starting on the first real day of summer in New York City (and in every other humid part of the world), even the most immaculately styled coiffure falls victim to the misery that is poofy, frizzy, flyaway-ridden hair that doesn’t subside until temperatures cool again and the hellish sweat bomb goes back whence it came until next year. I’ve been on a long and labored journey to find a solution to this problem, but until recently, nothing hit. 

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$26 at Amazon
$26 at Kohl's
$26 at Amazon
$26 at Kohl's

If you’re also on the edge of swamp-ass, and have given up hope of ever finding a product that will protect your hair from humidity and heat, don’t lose faith yet. Allow me to introduce you to the answer to all my and your frizzy, flat-haired woes: The Shield from Amika. 

The Shield is Amika’s anti-humidity and heat-protectant spray, and I saw it has been sweeping social feeds and popping up in hair stylists’ favorite summer hair product posts across TikTok and the web. If you’re thinking, it must be too good to be true, know that I thought the same thing. But just see for yourself: The proof is in the pudding TikToks, darlin’. 

My ultra-fine hair is quite particular when it comes to the type of products it will tolerate. Too much hair oil, and it’s the Creature from the Black Lagoon showing up at your dinner party; a salt spray leaves me looking like a saber-toothed tiger licked my hair into place; and on multiple occasions, I have yelled, “Wait! No hairspray!” to stylists at the end of a salon appointment, fearing my future of brushing out an absolute rat’s nest. So, to say I was skeptical when trying out The Shield is an understatement. 

As someone with a very low-maintenance hair-care routine (I mostly wash and wear), if I’m actually going to take the time to heat-style my own hair, it better fucking last, dammit! I’m admittedly non-dexterous, and only really learned how to give myself a blowout within the last year, after buying another life-altering product—coincidentally also by Amika—the Hair Blow Dryer Brush 2.0. But no matter what heat-treating products you use, it’ll have absolutely zero outcome on whether your style lasts the entire evening, or, if you live in the South, just the walk from the house to the car.

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While certainly feeling #influenced by this documentation of The Shield’s efficacy, I figured the ladies I was watching were used to having an arsenal of humidity-protecting products that they apply on a daily basis. But soon enough, I was proven wrong.

The bottle states that it can be applied to either damp or dry hair before heat styling, and “is clinically proven to protect hair against frizz and humidity for 24+ hours,” according to the brand. It protects hair from heat damage up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit—as well as from unavoidable humidity—and contains UV filters that can help prevent damage from sun exposure. The standard bottle is also a very generous size (5.3 ounces), so even if you’re heat-styling your hair every day, it provides enough product to get you through the absolute dog days of summer. 

I had seen plenty of people use the product before heat-styling their hair, but I was personally curious if it would work when applied to damp hair, and left to air-dry. I can report that indeed The Shield protects natural waves—I applied a pretty even layer to damp hair, brushed through, and waited. My hair was silky smooth, with zero crunch factor, and by the end of a very humid day, the frizzy Jew-curls around my face and temple were barely noticeable. 

The real surprise was waking up the next day to find my hair still silky smooth, with absolutely no product residue. I even noticed that my bedhead wasn’t as wild as it is some mornings. I reapplied on dry hair, gave it a zhush, and took my dog on a very muggy morning walk. The light, non-cloying scent of citrus, vanilla, and amber followed me and pleasantly masked the smell of hot garbage. (Gotta love Brooklyn.) When I returned home, hot and sticky, I imagined my hair looked exactly how I felt, but I was happily wrong. My hair was not a frizzy, lank mess, but instead quite bouncy and smooth, which on day two of a particularly warm July, is remarkable.

You know what they say, the higher the hair, the closer to heaven—and The Shield will be the tiny angel on your shoulder.

Amika’s heat protecting, anti-humidity spray is available for purchase at Amazon.


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