Blow drying hair to style

Hey ladies! I just recently started to blow dry my hair before i style it. It makes my life a whole lot easier and It gives me the look i want. I was wondering, before I start getting into this routine, could this be damaging? Would a heat protectant save me? if so what is a good heat protectant? If you have any suggestions please post asap!

I have a confession to make.....I HAVE NOT BEEN DCing REGULARLY. I want to start back up again and do better by my hair for this next year of being natural. What is a good DC that has moisture and protein? What are you favorite DCs?

hey there!

I personally would use a heat protectant when blow drying to minimize the heat damage as much as possible, but I don't see anything wrong with using it as a way to style your hair. How often do you blow dry?

As far as DC I'm still trying to decide what works for me. During the summer I was using Renpure Organics My Hair Is Parched conditioner (red bottle) and I loved it. My favorite homemade one till this day is banana, coconut oil, and honey but I haven't done that in the longest!

cant help you on the heat damaging, but i love, love aubrey organic white camillia as a DC. I mix it with oil (evoo, sweet almond, anykind I have on hand) and my hair is soft.

Here's my long winded take on the subject:
If heat and/or wind can damage your hair, then blow drying, over time, is damaging your hair. I try to do the things that retain the moisture in my hair and add moisture to my hair. I avoid the products, tools and techniques that could result in a setback. Hence my choice to no longer boil my coils with blow dryers(with or without diffusers), curling irons or flat irons. I just don't understand that if your hair needs to be protected from heat, how any product can shield your hair from the damage done by the temperature of a heated styling tool. Products coat your hair and provide protection from the friction of heat styling tools, but I don't understand if or how they can mitigate the elevated temperature required to dry, straighten or curl the hair. Just not a risk I want to take.

OP, you gotta do you. I support your decision to resume your DCing pronto. As for products, I alternate DCs from the Aubrey Organics line. The Blue Green Algae Mask is my heavy protein. I usually use it every two weeks. I follow it with White Camelia(my fav, it has ceramides). I have also used Honeysuckle Rose(great moisture) or Island Naturals(moisture & protein). I tried the GPB and like it as a lighter protein(also great moisture). I also use Burt's Bees Avocado Pre Shampoo Treatment every two weeks.
Even if you choose another brand, the Aubrey product matrix will help you with your selection. You can select hair characteristics and see the ingredients in the recommended product and what they actually do for your hair. Here's the link:

http://www.aubrey-organics.com/custom.aspx?id=23

I also have a couple of bottles of Kiss My Face Whenever, Wherever Conditioner and TIGI Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey Conditioner. Both have protein and moisture.


Here's some information on heat damage:
From the P&G Beauty & Grooming Website:
http://www.pgbeautygroomingscience.com/the-world-of-hair1.html

Heat damage

We have seen the importance of the moisture content of hair to the hair's condition. Processes like blow drying reduce the moisture content below its normal level and can in themselves be harmful. Hair dryers and other heated appliances first soften the keratin of the hair. If they are too hot, they can actually cause the water in the hair to boil, and tiny bubbles of steam then form inside the softened hair shaft. The hair is thereby weakened, and may break altogether. This condition of 'bubble hair' is discussed more fully in Chapter 4.

There is no treatment for seriously heat-damaged hair, although trimming the damaged hair can reduce the formation of split ends.


Here's the "bubble hair" text:


People will tell you that their bubble hair 'just happened', quite suddenly, after they had been doing the same things to their hair for a long time. Then all at once they noticed tiny 'bubbles' in the ends of their hair.
Invariably, bubble hair is caused by some kind of heating appliance, most often curling irons.
These operate somewhere between 120 and 180 °C, roughly speaking. Water boils at 100 °C. If a hot curling iron is put on to wet hair, it boils the water inside the hair. The boiling water softens the keratin of the cortex; then the steam from the boiling water expands and forms tiny bubbles inside the hair. Eventually the hair breaks off, either at or somewhere near a bubble.

Every woman who has used curling irons knows that they work better on some days than others. One day she may have them just a little hotter than usual: that might be just enough to cause bubble hair, and for the affected hair to break off.

Although the sufferer usually claims that her hair was perfectly normal until she changed the hair product she was using, further enquiry always uncovers a history of increased or excessive cosmetic treatments. Usually bubble hair happens to people who are doing a lot of styling to their hair at home. And it is always, always associated with the use of heated appliances on damp hair. [/b]

if u are going to blow dry your hair, always use a heat protectant. styling agents that have silicones at the top of the list are heat protectants. also, grapeseed and coconut oils are excellent as heat protectants.

if u can, try banding, twisting, braiding ur hair the night before to achieve the blow out look.