You shouldn’t expect a string of great hair days in August, but it is possible to leave the house with a perfectly acceptable coiffure.

Slicking hair back is the simplest, but it’s a severe look that’s not for everyone. One approach, suggests Valery Joseph, is blow-drying the hairline so that there’s a soft look around the face, then pulling the rest of your hair back into a neat ponytail to get it off your neck.

Alan Tosler of Tosler Davis (212-229-0100) suggests taking a noncombative stance toward your hair. If it’s curly, go with it. During your next shower, rinse with one part water and two parts apple-cider vinegar to get rid of buildup from products and chlorine. Gently squeeze out (don’t wring) excess water with a towel, distribute a good-size glop of de-frizz gel like Phyto’s Défrisant ($24 at Zitomer; 212-737-5560), then twist pieces of hair around your fingers and air-dry. Don’t brush it, or you’ll be right back where you started: frizzy.

Serge Normant’s humidity-beating trick is to part the hair down the center and twist each side into a neat bun secured with a large bobby pin. At Simadi Salon (212-751-5739), Adi recommends applying an anti-frizz lotion like Graham Webb’s Stick Straight ($18 at Simadi) after showering and then scrunching pieces from the bottom up. A quick shakeout once it’s dried and a little silicone on the ends, like Semi-di-lino’s Hair Serum ($30 at Simadi), should give hair a natural but still groomed look.

For anyone still convinced that pin-straight hair is all that matters, skip thermal conditioning in favor of something gentler. Paul Labrecque’s “soft straightening” process at Salon Ishi ($700 and up; 212-888-4744) does less damage to the cuticle.

How you cut and wash it makes a difference, too. At her salon, Eva Scrivo (212-677-7315) does a summertime cut that focuses on removing bulk, so there’s less hair to frizz; to keep it from drying out, she recommends a softening shampoo like Bain Satin No. 3 from Kérastase ($24 at Butterfly Studio; 212-253-2100).

All hair gurus agree that weekly deep-conditioning is key this time of year. Ojon’s Restorative Hair Treatment ($55 at New London Pharmacy; 212-243-4987), which hydrates with aromatic oils including palm-nut oil, and Collabo’s Thia Treatment ($34 at Salon Ishi), packed with shea butter and candlenut oil, are both good options for spinning straw into silk.

Related:

• Archive: “Beauty”
• Articles by Beth Landman
• Table of Contents: Jul 25, 2005 issue of New York | Subscribe!