Hair Straightening and Styling Without Damage
Change up that hairstyle for fun day out at the beach, romantic dinner date, graduation ceremony, or a company dinner! Actually, change it day-to-day just because you want to! You don't have to settle for your same old everyday hairstyle to avoid the exorbitant cost that comes with your salon visit.
When changing your hairstyle from plain Jane to glorious mane, heat styling is your best friend. With the right heat styling techniques, you can create the look that you are looking for without forking out a hefty sum at the salon. Popular heat styling methods include blow-drying, straightening with a flat iron, and curling with a hot iron. The heat applied to your hair sets each strand in place temporarily.
Bear in mind that high temperatures applied during the heat styling may cause damage to the hair. Typically, flat-irons, curling irons, and blow dryers impose extreme heat on hair strands. Temperatures exceeding 100°C and reaching as high as 200°C or more can impair hair structure.
Causes of Thermal Hair Damage
When high heat is applied to hair strands, the evaporation of water molecules may alter the internal protein structure—changing the curl patterns, causing frizziness and proneness to breakage. The keratins in our hair maintain hair strength, elasticity, curl, shine, and texture. Once this protein is damaged, we lose all the healthy hair properties. Applying high temperatures to hair can also affect the oxidation of pigment particles in both natural and artificial hair color.
How to Protect Your Hair when heat styling
Let's all face it—100% avoiding heat styling methods is not an option for us. Well, besides the damage, it is undeniably an extremely useful method of styling hair.
Since entirely avoiding the heated tools are not an option, we have come out with a few vital tips that allow you to heat style while keeping the damage at a minimum.
Dry Hair Only for hair straighteners, curling irons, and styling wands
Ever seen your hair let off some steam when using the hair straightener or curling iron directly? Heat styling your hair while it is dripping wet is a big no-no! Make sure your hair is completely dry when attempting to heat style. Using high heat on wet or damp hair will damage your hair terribly.
Heat-Protectant Hair Products
Heat protectant sprays can diminish the effects of high temperatures. Find a good hair product that contains both humectants and silicones to keep your hair from thermal factors and hair breakage. Before using the high-heat technologies, spray hair protectants generously to prevent damage to your locks.
what Heat Setting is safe when styling your hair?
Be sure to set the right temperature on your curling iron or straightening iron before using it on your hair. A 185 degrees Fahrenheit temperature would be optimum. If the temperature is too high, it will cause hair to denature. However, a too low temperature is not good either. With a low-temperature setting on your styling tool, you would need to go over the same section of the hair for a longer duration.
Heating Duration Safety
Keep it short and sweet. Do not attach or press the tools to our hair for too long. Leaving it on for too long will cause damage to the protein structure, which could permanently destroy the hair texture. Keep it at a maximum of about 3-5 seconds per section. Make sure to start with the shortest duration possible, and then only increase the time if your hair is coarser. Fine and brittle hair is more prone to breakage and should be styled in a shorter duration.
Heat Style your hair in Sections
Sectioning out your hair into multiple portions before turning on your styling tools can help avoid overexposure to heat. Moving from section to section throughout the styling process will keep your hair in shape and reduce any damages due to the repetition of applied heat.
Layer your hair with Cloth when heat styling to avoid damage
If the flat iron or curling iron gets too hot, you can wrap the metal pieces with a piece of cloth. The cloth can act as an insulator from direct contact with your hair. Placing a barrier between your hair and the heat can preserve your hair's structure over time; keeping it healthy and silky smooth.
It's never too late to adopt healthy practices while heat styling! Use all these tips, and be sure to see a difference in your hair texture. Who says we can't heat style our hair while keeping them healthy?
Resources— Naturally Curly, WikiHow
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