Although heat hair styling might worsen hair condition significantly, some women can’t imagine their life without a hair dryer, flat iron or curling iron. In this case, following a few simple rules should do to make such beautifying procedures safer for strands. How do hair dryer, flat iron and curling iron affect hair? How to blow dry, straighten and curl hair without ruining the strands? And finally, how to condition hair after exposing it to heat styling tools?
How do hair dryer, flat iron and curling iron affect hair?
We use a hair dryer, flat iron and curling iron to improve hair looks, however, what the tools really do to hair is damage. Frequently blow-dried, straightened or curled hair gradually becomes dehydrated, brittle and matte. Its ends split and break which makes it impossible for you to grow long hair. Despite being aware of the negative impact of heat styling, we often forget to provide hair with the right protection against high temperatures. But what kind of protection is the right protection?
How to blow dry hair to prevent damage?
Even if we don’t heat style your hair frequently, often or even every day, we have to reach for a hair dryer. For that reason, it’s worth spending money on a tool that comes with a heat control system and ionic function.
Before turning on a hair dryer, try to towel your hair first. Do this really gently without rubbing the hair so as to prevent the strands from breaking. Set the air stream temperature to medium and begin with blow drying the lower hair parts. If you want to achieve a smooth hairdo, keep blow drying your strands in the direction of the hair growth. However, if you wish to add volume to hair, keep running the tool upwards. Basically, if you want to gift your hair with even more volume, flip your hair forth and keep blow drying it with your hair down.
If you use a brush to style the hair with, you must spray the strands with a special heat protection product first. In order to extend the lifespan of your hairdo, set the air stream temperature to high and place the hair dryer in 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) distance from the head. Otherwise, you might damage delicate hair bulbs and scalp as well as lead to greasy hair or excessive hair loss. At the end, fix the hairdo using cool air stream to close hair cuticles and leave hair shiny.
How to use a flat/curling iron to prevent hair damage?
Unfortunately, both flat and curling irons damage hair, which is why, they shouldn’t be used on a daily basis. In order to minimize the negative consequences of heat hair styling, you should follow a few simple rules.
Firstly, it’s worth looking for tools with a heat control system and set the temperature to lower than when on default. Moreover, only completely dry hair can be heat styled. The least harmful is leaving hair to be air dried, but if you don’t have time for this, you must reach for a hair dryer. Gliding a flat iron along wet strands might result in hair burn. Alternatively, you can equip yourself with a flat iron that can be used on wet hair.
Once the hair is dry, divide it into sections to cover each one with a layer of heat protection product. Then, you can proceed with either straightening or curling the strands. Try to reduce the time when hair is in contact with the tool to the minimum.
Post heat hair styling care
After finishing heat hair styling, we usually apply products that fix hairdo and extend its lifespan. In most cases they are silicone mists, hairsprays and shine sprays. Also, it’s highly advisable to treat hair ends with a few drops of your favorite hair oil that will penetrate the ends and nourish them. At the end of the day, you should wash the hair to free hair surface from all chemical substances that the hair styling products left. Otherwise, all the cosmetic residues might penetrate your hair during the next heat styling procedure.
Every hair washing should finish with application of a moisturising conditioner. Right before blow drying, hair should be protected due to special silicone mist. If you consider the state of your hair as poor, you should turn to hair oil treatment and carry it out once a week. It’s also a good idea to apply hair masks and mix them with an egg yolk or a teaspoon of natural oil. Egg yolk is recognized for rebuilding hair structure due to high protein content. You should also make use of scalp conditioners.
