Hair Dryers- 7 Ways To Avoid Damaging Your Hair

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Hair Dryers- 7 Ways To Avoid Damaging Your Hair

!±8± Hair Dryers- 7 Ways To Avoid Damaging Your Hair

Do you use a hair dryer regularly or even on a daily basis?

Be sure to observe the following precautions and avoid doing damage to your hair that can take weeks to repair.

1. Don't hold the hair dryer in one position for more than a few seconds. Rotate or circulate the hair dryer over your hair. (Make sure you choose a hair dryer with a decent length cord to allow you to do this.) Alternatively, keep moving your hair instead of the hair dryer.

2. Don't hold the nozzle too close to the scalp to avoid burning or damaging the skin.

3. Don't blow dry wet hair. Wet hair is fragile. Make sure you blot or dab your hair dry with a towel first. Alternatively, wrap your hair in the towel for at least 5 minutes.

4. Don't start blow drying with a brush. Rather, use your fingers initially to get most of the moisture out of the hair before using a styling brush.

5. Don't use a hair dryer that is less than 1500 watts. Hair dryers with lower wattage take too long to dry the hair thus increasing the risk of damage.

6. Don't blow dry un-treated, un-protected hair. Use a heat-defence styling product or leave-in conditioner that gives a protective coating to the hair and avoids heat damage.

7. Don't relegate your hair dryer attachments to a box at the bottom of the cupboard. Get to know the attachments and how to use them. For example, use the nozzle to concentrate air to the specific areas of your hair that need extra curl or life. Use the diffuser attachment to spread the air over a large area.

Extra tip: Don't wrap the tip of your hair round the brush. Start from the half way mark slowly and gently turning the brush so the hair naturally wraps around. Starting at the tip will only produce fuzzy or frizzy ends.

Finishing tip: When your hair is completely dry, tilt your head forward and let the hair hang as you blast it with the hair dryer on the cold setting. The cold air will seal the style and help avoid static.

Note: Ionic and Tourmaline hair dryers are now available which promise better results. As they produce negatively charged ions they dry the hair faster thus reducing drying time and potential heat damage. Additionally, they leave hair shiny, smooth, and sleek.