Is blow-drying your hair bad? Not really. But certain precautions are recommended while blow-drying your hair. There will be days when you are forced to head out of your house right after your shower.
In such scenarios, a blow dryer will come in handy to make your hair look perfect before rushing out. It is a known fact that heating your hair too much is not a good practice to follow.
To know the right way to blow-dry your hair, the pros and cons of blow-drying should be known beforehand.
In this article, we will see the right ways to blow-dry your hair and how not to do them.
The Best Ways to Blow Dry Hair
With the right way of blow-drying, you can definitely get salon-perfect hair from the comfort of your own home. If you are well aware of the dos and don’ts of hair drying, it will be a cakewalk.
Let us see various things that should be taken care of while blow-drying your hair to avoid any kinds of issues.
Hair Conditioning
The secret to perfect blow-dried hair starts in your shower. Using a hair conditioner will let your strands have less friction between each other and also make them shinier. The more rich your hair conditioner is with the right ingredients, the more it will get absorbed by your hair, making it stronger and smoother. According to hairstylists, using a hair conditioner is like pre-conditioning your hair before blow-drying it.
Avoid Blow-Drying Damp Hair
One thing you must avoid is immediately grabbing your blowdryer as soon as you step out of the shower. Blow-drying wet hair is not recommended. While trying to dry damp hair, more heat is required. This will cause damage to your hair tissues. To avoid this, first, dry your hair with a towel. It is better if the towel is made of microfiber so that the moisture will be quickly absorbed. While drying your hair with a towel, make sure not to rub your hair too much to avoid locking hair strands. Once you are convinced that your hair is almost 70–80% dried, you can proceed to blow-dry it.
Use of Heat Protectant
Heat protectants will protect your hair strands from excess heating. Not every heat protector can do good for your hair while blow-drying. Make use of a silicon-based hair protectant to regulate the provision of heat on hair shafts. Good thermal protectors will protect the hair strands from damage and make them look smooth and shiny.
Adjust Heat Setting
Avoid using blow dryers with the heat setting set to maximum. If the heat setting of the blow dryer is set to a high value, the chances of your hair cuticles and even your mane getting damaged because of heating are high. Always make sure that the blow dryer is set to low to moderate heat, which is adequate to dry your hair. A heat level of around 140 degrees Fahrenheit is more than enough, as per stylists, to dry your hair under healthy conditions.
Use a diffuser
If you have a peculiar hairstyle, such as curls, loose waves, or tight coils, it is recommended to use a diffuser. As soon as you switch your blow dryer on, a dollop of hot air blasts out, which might affect your hairstyle in a bad way. To avoid this, using a diffuser will regulate the heat and airflow so that it won’t mess up your hairstyle.
Hair Dryer Disadvantages
A lot of people tend to ask the question, ‘Is blow-drying your hair bad? We have already seen how to blow-dry your hair the right way in the above section. The answer to that question, therefore, is not a definite no. But it is also not an assured yes. Blow-drying your hair does have some disadvantages that you should be aware of.
We have listed some hair dryer disadvantages below.
- Hair dryers are expensive: Hair dryers can be expensive. This is not applicable to all hair dryers that are available in the market. But the ones with multiple functions and top quality come with an expensive price tag attached to them. Hence, if you are running on a tight budget, buying a hair dryer is not recommended.
- High energy consumption: In general, hair dryers are known to consume a lot of energy. Each time you use a hair dryer, a considerable amount of electricity is used. Even though you won’t take too much time to blow dry your hair daily, it is to be noted that around 120 kWh of energy is consumed by an average hair dryer per month.
- Hair dryers are not sturdy: Most of the hairdryers available on the market are prone to damage sooner or later. If the hair dryer you buy is of top quality, it tends to last longer. However, as hair dryers require a lot of physical handling, they can break due to human errors. The average lifespan of a good hairdryer can be anywhere from 8 months to 6 years, depending on its build quality and usage. If you are buying a low-quality hair dryer, you will probably spend more money on another one in the near future.
- Not environment-friendly: The excess consumption of energy by hair dryers often puts them in the category of electrical appliances that are not environmentally friendly. If you don’t want to add more carbon to the atmosphere, it is suggested not to use hair dryers.
- Risk of hair damage: There is always a risk of your hair getting damaged because of hair dryers. Not all are aware of the right ways to blow-dry their hair. Because of negligence and also due to bad-quality hair dryers, one might be prone to hair damage.
- Risk of hair loss: Adding to the risk of hair damage, hair dryers may also cause hair loss due to improper usage. Overheating of your scalp due to blow-drying your hair will cause hair thinning and eventually can cause hair loss, too.
- Skin Burns: Due to improper knowledge of hair drying, people can sometimes even get their skin burned. Negligence in setting the heat level in a dryer may cause the appliance to overheat. While blow-drying your hair, you can accidentally let the nozzle of the dryer touch other parts of the body, causing skin burns.
- Avoidable Splurge: Before buying a hair dryer, consider the need for such equipment. A good number of people tend to buy hair dryers just because they add to the stack of styling accessories in their wardrobe. If you can always naturally dry your hair without using hair dryers, that is the best thing for your hair. Hair dryers are often helpful in emergencies when you have no time to naturally dry your hair. If you don’t really need a hair dryer, you can always avoid a splurge.
- Noise Pollution: A good number of hair dryers produce a noise of more than 85 dB. Some low-quality dryers will produce a lot more noise than this while blow-drying your hair. This can cause serious damage to the ears. Hair dryers are often complained of as causing noise pollution because of their loud, popping noise.
- Hair dryers are not child-friendly: If you have children in your home, make sure to keep the hair dryers out of reach of them. Children may accidentally try to operate hair dryers and get their skin or hair burned in the process. Also, it is not recommended to use hair dryers for children, as they can cause a series of issues such as hair burns, skin burns, hearing issues, etc.
Essentials Required to Blow Dry Hair
Let us now explore the essentials you should be equipped with at home for a perfect blow-drying result.
The first and foremost thing is to steer clear of local, low-quality hair dryers to avoid all kinds of ill results while blow-drying. Get yourself an ionic blow dryer, which will easily remove the positively charged water drops from your hair strands by emitting negative ions. Such dryers will get you the best results by making your hair dry and sleek in very little time.
If you have wavy or straight hair, it is recommended to use a hairdryer with a concentrator nozzle. For curls, you can use a diffuser. By using such nozzles, you can easily make the heat be applied exactly to specific parts of your hair as you want. Using round brushes will help you give an amazing finishing touch to the blow-dried hair. Along with this, sectioning clips are something that can boost your hair-drying experience. Using sectioning clips, you can part your hair and apply blow-drying to specific parts in a more focused manner.
Final Word
It is not always necessary to depend on a professional hair stylist or step into a salon to get the perfect hair dry. You can always get the best blow-drying result from your home.
All you have to do is know how to do it and, most importantly, how not to! We hope this article was helpful for you in knowing about the right ways of blow-drying your hair from the comfort of your home, along with hair dryer disadvantages. With proper care and handling, you can make the best use of hair dryers.
Make sure not to go for low-quality hair dryers or set the heat settings high in your hair dryer to avoid accidents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Hair Dryers Good for Hair?
Hair dryers are commonly used equipment for drying and styling hair. Although it is to be noted that inadequate knowledge of hair drying can cause serious hair damage, it is important to know about the right ways of drying your hair.
What is the Best Way to Blow-Dry Hair?
If you are not in a rush, the best way to dry your hair is to let the natural air do half the job and then use a hair dryer. Leave your hair to dry naturally for about thirty minutes, and then use a hair dryer for best results.
Is It Safe to Use a Hair Dryer Daily?
It is found that daily usage of a hair dryer will cause a lack of natural moisture in the hair. Due to this, your hair can get dry and frizzy. But this doesn’t affect the natural growth frequency of your hair.
