Dry, Don’t Damage: How to Avoid Mistakes When Blow Drying Hair

Trying to maintain a beautiful head of hair can be a difficult thing to do.

You have to pick the right shampoo that will get you the results you want without using a lot of damaging chemicals. And you have to find products that will give you lift, shine, volume, and moisture for gorgeous, thick, luscious hair.

But one secret to having beautiful hair could lie in your beauty routine, not your product lineup. Blow drying hair can cause a lot of damage if you don’t do it right.

Read on to learn how to blow dry hair the right way without causing damage to your gorgeous locks.

Damage Blow Drying Hair Can Do

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that blow drying your hair can cause damage to it. After all, it’s blasting a concentrated stream of hot air at your hair for an extended period of time. But why does that cause damage?

When you blow-dry your hair, you effectively boil the water under your outermost layer of hair. Bubbles form there and break through that outermost cuticle of the hair. This can cause breakage, split ends, and brittle, dry hair.

How to Towel Dry Your Hair

Proper blow drying technique (and hair protection) starts with towel drying. You want to remove as much water from your hair without heat or strain as possible. Start with a dry towel — you want a different one than the one you use to dry off your body.

Press your hair with the dry towel all over your head. Avoid rubbing or scrubbing, since this can rough up the cuticles of your hair before the blow dryer ever hits them. Once you’ve removed as much water as you can by squeezing your hair in the towel, detangle it with a wide-toothed comb, starting at the ends and working your way up to the roots.

Choosing a Hair Dryer

In order to get the best results from your blow-drying, you need the right tool for the job. You want to look for a hair dryer that has both adjustable speed and adjustable temperature. This will allow you to turn the heat down on your hair as you go to avoid drying it out too much.

You should also look for hair dryers that come with a variety of attachment options. Diffuser attachments can help spread heat out over more of your hair at a given time to minimize damage. These do take a longer time to dry your hair, but they are gentler on it.

Using a Product to Protect Your Hair

If you only blow dry your hair a few times a year, you can probably take care of your hair by using proper blow-drying techniques. But if you’re blow-drying your hair once a week or more, you want to use some products to help protect your hair from the damage heat can cause.

Start with a detangling spray that you use before you comb your hair out. Then before you start blow-drying, put in a heat protecting spray. This will create a sort of shield between your hair cuticles and the heat blasting out of the blow dryer, helping to seal in that moisture and keep your hair from drying out and breaking.

Holding the Hair Dryer

Once your hair is detangled and protected, it’s time to get out the hair dryer. Hold the dryer about six inches away from your hair and start blow drying at the back of your head first. You want to set the blow dryer at a high speed and temperature to begin with.

Move around to the sides of your hair from the back, and turn down the heat and speed as you work. If you’re using a paddle brush or a round brush, get a soft, pliable one, and be gentle using it. Yanking on your hair while you’re exposing it to heat can cause a lot of damage.

Finishing Off Your Style

Your hair is most likely to sustain damage from blow drying towards the end of the process. Check on your hair often and turn off the heat as soon as your hair is almost dry. It’s a good idea to leave your hair slightly damp so some of the moisture is preserved under your cuticles.

If your hair must be absolutely dry, work very carefully, never applying heat to any one area for too long. Keep your blow dryer on the lowest setting, and keep a close eye on your hair. Never keep the heat on your hair after it’s dry; that’s when the most damage occurs and your hair becomes most likely to break.

Add Volume

If you’re trying to create a little more volume and bounce in your style, blow-drying can be a great way to make that happen. Flip your head upside down while you’re working and blow-dry your hair from the bottom. Brush it out gently as you work, following behind with the hair dryer.

Learn More About Blow Drying Hair

Blow drying hair can cause a lot of damage, but done properly, you can minimize the danger of breakage, split ends, and dryness. Be sure to go slowly and avoid heat as much as possible. Never over-dry your hair, and if you blow-dry your hair on a regular basis, be sure to use some sort of product to protect your locks.

If you’d like to learn more about how to get beautiful hair, check out the rest of our site at Tricovel. We can help you combat hair loss and get thicker, more beautiful hair. Check out our products and start getting a gorgeous thick head of hair today.