When I stopped blow drying my hair about 4 years ago it actually wasn't because it's not healthy (I didn't know that back then), but because I just thought my hair looked much better when air dried, even when it took a whole lot longer.

Now when I go to the hair dresser, they always look so surprised when i tell them to just blow dry it, in case of brush it. I also don't see a difference between brushing it and blow drying it:rolleyes:. It always looks stick straight, but not the beautiful silky shiny kind of straight, if you get what I mean:shrug:. It just looks, well, 'unnatural': dry and fried.

A few weeks ago somebody gave me a compliment on my hair:). She said it looked beatifully wavey and shiny and soft. She was so surprised when she asked me what I did to it and I said: I just wash it, sometimes put a conditioner or leave-in (depends what my hair feels like) and that's it.

My hair definitely looks better air dried. Blowfrying it makes it all weird and frizzy. Especially the shorter hairs along my hair line. I avoid blowdryers at all costs.

Oh, definitely air-dried.

If I blow-dry my hair it loses its shine and gets a bit poofy. The twirly wurls disappear, or at the very least become limp and undefined. I don't like that look at all. My hair looks more vibrant by a long way when it's left to dry naturally with minimal handling, or gathered into a loose ponytail if I'm seeing frizz issues when it's half-dry (sometimes I do - depends on the weather).

I lose my natural waves if I blow dry my hair. I wouldn't want to do that.

I much prefer my hair air-dried. I would not want to miss out on that process, as to me my hair looks best as it is drying slowly and at that special point when it vaguely damp and hard to tell whether it is dry. I get a whole lot more movement and body this way. Blown out, it sits still and lifeless except for the odd strand that has been fried and sticks up and out.

I think hair can look fine or even pretty blown out, but that is just because it matches what mainstream beauty icons' hair tends to be.

I prefer my hair air dried. My hair is shiny and wavy that way, instead of the frizzy thing it becomes when I blow dried it.

I have wavy/curly hair and I think my hair looks its best when I use a diffuser. So I voted for 'blow fried". However, I hardly every diffuse. I mostly let my hair air dry to keep it healthy.

Definitely blow-dried. It's smooth, no halo, just gorgeous.

air dried look beautiful: wavy and soft. With blow drier I get frizzy hair. Only get nice hair when blowdrying if I use a flat iron and make it straight.. but I don't do that anymore.

my hair looks much better blowfried.. shiny straighter and it always seems to look less greasy..

My hair looks better on the day I wash it if it's blow dried, but only on the first day, afterwards it's like straw. If I need it to look good on the day I wash it I put it in big rollers and the blow dry gently with no heat.

I can't choose. I like both. Variety is the spice.

Hee hee! I want to mention that the wording of your poll will probably skew your results - "blow-fried"??? LOL!!!

Frankly, I think my hair looks a lot better blow dried but I don't do that because I know it's damaging and I want to have long hair.

Air dried, unless on rollers with setting gel,my hair ends up totally slick and flat. With rollers, it still feels and looks thinner. I am working on ways to remedy that because heat is the hair-killer! (I wrote that on my mirror.) Someone here suggested aloe gel, and I am liking it a lot for adding some texture.

Onward to further (heat not included) experimentation ...

Air dried for me. For most beautiful look blow fried, I'd have to use a flatiron afterwards and that just ain't happ'ng (damage, damage, damage).

Air dried, because my hair is smoother and shinier that way. Blow drying in the past led to frizz.

blow drying= big, frizzy, poofy mess

So needless to say, my hair looks better air dried.

I prefer air dried too as my hair looks more curly and shiny however i get more baby hairs showing which go when i blow dry however blowdrying makes my hair look drier and the shine is a lot less and the curl all but goes!

One more vote for air drying...you don't want to see what my blowdried hair looks like. *shudder*

The last time I used a blowdrier on myself was 4 years ago when my mom forced me to ("You're NOT going out with wet hair!" Blah), and it was awful. All poofy and frizzy...

I'd say air-dried

The last time I truly blow-dried my hair was a year ago, it was made spaghetti straight. Goh. I didn't look bad, but I definitely wasn't used to it. That and the stupid hairstylist cut my hair in a type of bob. Ew.

Now when it air-dries, granted, my hair's curly, and indoors with no exposure to wind it dries very curly and shiny... But outdoors air-dried with quite some wind then the afro-monster is released! AAGH!
When I finger-comb, it frees tangles but it also just increases volume :P

I air dry my hair. Sleeping on it keeps the frizzies away enough.

Depends on if you consider this blow-dried: I let my hair air dry, then I run a brush through it with the cold setting on the blow dryer.

I voted air, because I used to blowdry everytime I washed my hair. Whilst my hair is less controlled now it is healthier- which to me means more beautiful.

I voted blow fried. But, I use the blowdryer only about one or two times a year cause I am afraid to damage my hair by daily using. I only use the cool setting for a few minutes.

It makes a huge difference for me, my hair looks like silk with a lot of volume and so shiny, it feels also so much better - I have to stop thinking about that now or I will bring out the dryer again.

trollkjerring

I chose air-dried, but I used to think blow dried. I was raised being told there was something wrong with my hair because it wasn't straight, it wasn't curly, so it was wrong. To remedy this I was made to sit with a comb and drag it through my thick hair until it was dried to hopefully make it straight. This never worked, and took forever even with my super short hair.

So I always thought my hair had to be straight to be pretty. My hair used to be pretty straightened with a blow dryer...though I'm not sure if my perception has changed or if my hair has changed. About 4 months ago I decided to blow dry it straight. I always used high heat, high blowing and a big, metal barrel brush and slowly go down my hair. I tried this technique, my hair felt and looked awful in comparison to my air dried hair. I'm hoping I remember that experiment and don't duplicate it again, my hair felt and looked like straw.

Both have their pros and cons. When mine is blowdried it is shinier and less frizzy, but it loses it's natural wave and the shape is more boring. Also,it dries my hair out, so I havn't blow dried for about a year. I'm trying to find other ways to make my hair shinier and less frizzy.

My hair looks better blow dried, but I hardly ever do it. It smoothes it out and it appears shinier. I don't think it would look good if I blowdried it more than the once or twice a year that I do it, but for once in a while special occasions wearing it loose, it looks cool.

It's airdrying for me. I haven't blowdried since I was little and my mom would make us blowdry it before coming out in the cold with wet hair from our swimming classes. I wouldn't dream of starting now. I would think my curls would turn really frizzy with a blowdrier.

I do both and like both. Very different results. :)

When I blow dry it's with a diffuser on low for five minutes, and not to all the way dry. Curlier curls and more definition.

Air dried, definitely :)

I couldn't blow-dry my hair. It eats a lot of time and leave my hair dull,frizzy,dry:rolleyes:

My hair looks so much better blow dried, not that I do it all that often. I have slightly wavy 1C hair and I think it looks best, or I like it best, really straight. I often let my hair air dry down, thinking that I'll wear it down all day but when it comes time to go out I can't stand the way the waves look so I put it up. :shrug:

I blow-fried for years, not realizing I was a curly and not having a clue that it might be bad for my hair.

Definitely better air dried, and now I know to use a diffuser if I really, really need to.

Mine looks more beautiful air-dried, though more voluminous when blown dry (I've not blown my hair dry in quite a long time, though).

Air dried, no question. My baby hairs tend to be curly to the point where they can't be blown straight, but the rest of my hair goes stick straight if I use a dryer. Stick straight hair with a massive halo of curly baby hairs is not attractive. :silly:

Definitely air-dried. I sometimes diffuse a bit but blow-drying absolutely poofs and frizzes out my hair unless a salon does it or I use a flat iron after. Huh uh!!!! :p

I've pretty much never blow-dried my hair, except when I'd go to get it cut and they'd blow-dry it for me. It always just seemed kind of coarse when blow-dried, and the waves disappear.

Air Dried. I dont have body or waves if I blowdry.Plus It majorly messes with my hair, I havent done it in 6 months and I couldnt be happier.Better hair with less time and energy!

I lose wave as well when I blowfry. No thanks. :)

Air-dried....no question. Better yet...go to bed with wet hair, wake up with wonderful curls.

Blow-fried? Ever see a pic of Michael Jackson with his 1970's fro?....on a white chick? Scarey..but wonderful for both my Xena and Elvira costumes past Hallow's Eve! My hair had its own time zone.

Air dried for me. I'll probably never blowdry again, now that I've decided that updos are nicer than leaving my hair down.

I've never blow dried, so I just have to put air dried :D

I have to agree though, some people's hair just looks too fake, and then I find out that they blowdry it every day! ACKK!

I am to lazy to get up and diffuse my hair each morning. it looks the same weather it is blow dried. or air dried. (when I use the right products. the wrong products and my hair will stay wet and NEVER air dry.lol.)


but my lazyness causes me to Air dry.(with the right products. so that it will actually dry) then I can stay in bed longer. lol.

I let mine air dry, especially now that it's so short (chopped it all off recently, but I'm growing it back!) It when definitely straighter when blow dried, even though it's been a while and it might react to it differently now.

Air drying makes it look much, much shinier and wavier. Not to mention healthier. I remember the first time I let it air dry, I was so shocked by how strong it was. As for the halo of frizz, it usually goes away when my hair is completely dry and I comb it a few times. Air drying for the win!

Blowfried . It looks much smoother and less frizzy.

I lose all my natural texture with blowdrying. It looks much silkier when blowdried, but it doesnt look like my hair. It looks like dolls' hair.

My hair would only look better blow fried if I SMOTHERED it in products to protect it from the worst of the heat etc. And most of those products are riddled with cones, which I now avoid at all costs.

I've never noticed a difference but I'm way too lazy to blow dry anyway... what's the point? It's gonna dry on its own anyway. As long as I make sure my part is where I want it, I'm good to go practically straight out of the shower. I do wrap it in a towel (turban style) for few minutes while I'm getting dressed, but that's it.

Lol..funny question because to me air dried = natural texture= more beautiful.^^

I voted Blowfried. I prefer the term blowdried. It's possible to use a blowdryer without damage. Not everyone around here hates them.

I use a diffuser on my dryer and it really helps to keep the bounce and spring in my waves. If I airdry, the waves are pulled out by the weight of the water in my fine hair. I much prefer blowdrying my hair.

Generally blow dried would look better

Air dried. It has been ages since I last blowfried but I can imagine my hair would dry more "straight" then.

The poll is far too black & white for me (haven't voted). Either you airdry, or you blowFRY? You can use a blowdryer without frying your hair, e.g. just to get it to a bit of a dryer state, by using a diffuser, and esp. for curlies & wavies this can be important. I've been spending some time on naturallycurly.com and I've learnt how to gently use a blowdryer. If it's got ion/ceramic technology on it, it means it's not going to overheat as older hairdryers tend to do. It doesn't get as hot, and you can use it on a practically cold setting. I do prefer using a blowdryer most of the year. It beats having a wet head for 8 hours! That isn't it either... really! The only time I let it airdry is in summer, when it dries a lot faster and it is actually nice to have a wet head for 8 hours, but in winter? NO! Brrrrrr (cold). I've got this hairdryer now with ion/ceramic technology, and I really thought this was BS but compared to my older dryer it is amazing! Those old things really did blowFRY, these things dry so much more gently! BTW, I never dry it completely. I use the diffuser for wave/curl formation and stop before it gets frizzy.

I too lose a lot of my waves if I blow dry, so I vote for air dried.

The poll is far too black & white for me (haven't voted). Either you airdry, or you blowFRY? You can use a blowdryer without frying your hair, e.g. just to get it to a bit of a dryer state, by using a diffuser, and esp. for curlies & wavies this can be important.

If I could have spoken more eloquently when I posted before, this is what I would have said. I don't tend to get my shorts in a knot, but the blowfryer thing really pushes a button for me. I can't use EVOO at all, but I don't publicly proclaim that EVOO is the devil. How would that make you feel if EVOO works really well for you? How about the new members who don't know where to start? EVOO might be a miracle for their hair, but they may never experiment with it because they've read here that EVOO is bad.

I've been lurking at Naturally Curly and have observed a much more open attitude toward things like blow drying and store bought products (I realize that there are plenty of people here who are cool with store bought products and blowdryers, but I believe they are quiet about their preferences). There are some beautiful heads of hair on that forum, just like there are beautiful heads of hair on this forum. That tells me that there are many different paths to choose from, and many of them lead to the healthy long hair that we all are striving for.

To each his or her own.

I've been lurking at Naturally Curly and have observed a much more open attitude toward things like blow drying and store bought products (I realize that there are plenty of people here who are cool with store bought products and blowdryers, but I believe they are quiet about their preferences). There are some beautiful heads of hair on that forum, just like there are beautiful heads of hair on this forum. That tells me that there are many different paths to choose from, and many of them lead to the healthy long hair that we all are striving for.

To each his or her own.


Amazing hair at naturallycurly.com! So true! I too like it there. There's much more of an open atmosphere there, whereas when you come here as a newbie there are things you practically can't say without feeling stared at: chemical dye (no say henna), blowdry (no say blowFRY then *please* join the crowd & airdry), commercial cleansers (EVOO!), straightener (you witch you!)

Methods don't have to be black or white. There are so many shades of gray in between. I too have difficulty with the often extreme outspokenness towards anything to do with hairdryers, straighteners, curling irons, chemical dyes, what have you. There only seems to be some agreement on the fact that going SL(E)S free isn't for everyone, going completely natural (as opposed to using silicones) isn't for everyone, but as far as the rest is concerned it's like you practically can't get out of the straight jacket that says "LHC's way to healthy long hair".

My aunt has past-BSL hair, she highlights, straightens, blowdries her hair. It is thicker than mine and looks absolutely amazing. Genes have something to do with it, but I have noticed that my hair actually went downhill when I changed my routine and started experimenting. It's almost as if it's better to just buy one shampoo, don't read the ingredients, leave your hair alone as much as possible. All the fussing and being careful, the don't use this, don't do that it might harm your hair attitude actually creates a lot of stress for me. As far as hair goes, I think it's better to just feel as if you don't have a care in the world. Relax, don't worry so much about what you use, how you dry it, ... etc... If on top of everything else in my life, I still have to be careful about what I do with my hair because a number (a lot) of LHC members have certain views on healthy hair... no, it's too much.

We all have to find out what works for us, what doesn't, but I'd at least like the freedom not to be condemned for using a blowdryer, straightener, ... dye, ...

I prefer my hair air dried, not to mention I don't have time to blow dry.

But I did find BDing my hair made it straighter which I sometimes like because I just have the odd wave and I didn't mind the straight hair. But I don't think I'd start doing it again. I only did it to help my hair dry faster on days when I couldn't wait for it to dry. Now I usually put my hair up as soon as I go to school while it's still damp so it doesn't matter anymore! lol

Mine is much better air dried, because if i fry it I lose my natural wave! Now that I have short hair the wave kind-of ruins the hair do, but I still let it air dry and put up with the ugly style!

The option I wanted isn't there.

I prefer to gently blowDRY my hair - no I am NOT frying it! It is very cold where I live, and unless I wash before bed and sleep in a towel, my head and ears get really cold when I air dry. It can even lead to earaches. Sometimes air dry gives me beautiful hair, it's true, but GENTLE blowdrying is really my favorite.

Why, when it goes against conventional wisdom here? Well, first of all the cold issue. If I blowdry, I can focus on my ears and scalp. I never "fry" in the sense of blasting my hair with hot air; rather, I wait until my hair has air-and towel-dried somewhat, then gently style it using the blowdryer. This allows me to fingercurl and straighten my underneath hairs - the ones on my neck that go nappy and kinky if they are allowed - and to gently fingercurl my length - the straighter, finer hairs. I can style my bangs the way I want (gently training them to the side) and get some lift at the roots.

I repeat, i do NOT fry my hair like I used to back in the 1980s. I never dry on high, I don't hold the dryer close to my head, and rarely, if ever, apply heat to the length or ends. I don't blowdry very often, but when I do, my hair looks much better; it's smoother, less wispy, and looks tidier.

While it is convenient to think in terms of black and white, much of life isn't, and the fact that I can blowdry my fine, thin, damaged hair 1-2x a month with no damage shows that sometimes the answer is really some sort of shade of grey...

If i blowdry my hair i loose all the waves and it get so frizzy.
so I vote for air dry

My hair definately looks better if I let it air dry. If I use heat on it it just ends up all straight and frizzy-- I lose all of my waves, sofness and shine.

I don't really care to blow-dry my hair, as it turns into a straightish mass of cobwebs. Really, it loses all regular texture and turns into cobwebs. I have gently diffused in the past, but it doesn't seem to really release my waves as it does for so many. Airdry just works for me. The exception is my bangs. I do like to dampen and dry them so that they go off to the side in the way that I prefer.

I said air-dried because I don't know what it would look like blow-fried

I don't use heat styling. If I blow dry I get a ton of frizz. And it is BAD for my curls!

blow dried, just because it is so short - when it was longer, air dried

As others have already said, I prefer my hair air dried because of natural waves and less frizz.

airdried all they way for me.

Not sure if I responded to this alrleady...I have a tendency to read threads and not post. XD

But yeah, definitely air-dried for me. Blow dryers have never, EVER been my friend, not even from before I came to LHC.

My head resembles a hairball when blow-dried, even with cones.

Air dried. I've only blow-dried my hair a few times, and I didn't like it because it took too long and it made my hair frizzier.

Unfortunately I have to blow-dry my hair.
About once a month I give it a try and let it air-dry, but then it just looks so untidy and feel weird.

Blow-frying makes my hair frizzy.

I like air-drying for the smoother look it gives me.

Wanted to add that I wouldn't DREAM of blow-frying my hair. But I do use the blow-dryer on warm to cool, air flow concentrated at my scalp and first one-third of length. The rest dries on its own pretty fast. One thing I really like about blow-drying is that I get all the tangles out as my hair dries, and it becomes nice and smooth from scalp to ends. When I air-dry it, I wait until it's dry to comb it, and all the tangles form weird kinks that fluff out after they're combed. U-G-L-Y!

My hair looks thicker with wave- which i get through air drying. But back in the day when i had healthy thick hair it FELT better blow dried, it was smoother and acted nicer.

Definitely blow-dried. It's smooth, no halo, just gorgeous.

Same here.
I usually air dry my hair but it makes my hair puffy and frizzy... Blow dried it is so silky :)

um, dried with cheese :P

About equal.

Oh, I didn't know it was on ourselves. I've never had the patience to blowfry my hair. Always airdried.

Blow-fried, it tends to get frizzy and it feels a little dry afterwards, so I definitely prefer air-dried. :)

I almost always air dry. My hair just feels better and healthier that way.

Air dried, it's soft and shiny. I used to blowfry before LHC a long time ago, but back then my hair was nothing more than a scraggly mess of oddly colored straw. Seems like my hair is just too fine to handle heat styling.

My hair always looks a little puffy when I blow dry, and it isn't as soft nor as shiny. I'm glad there's incentive for me to avoid using a blowdryer. :)

My hair becomes stringy and crunchy if I leave it alone and let it air dry. However, when I blow dry it, it ends up looking the same way after an hour or so. *chuckles* So I just let it air dry until it's a bit damp, and then put it up into a messy bun and forget about it! After several hours in the bun it looks nice and wavy when I take it down.

Air drying keeps frizz down and keeps my curls more "together". When I blow-dry, I use a diffuser and heat-protectant cream, but it's not worth the time/hassle because it still doesn't look as good as when I air-dry.

My hair is so incredibly thin and fly away. I hate that it looks so much better when blow fried, but it does. If I allow it to air dry it becomes seperated in clumps and looks very stringy. I've tried both with product and without. Doesn't change things. When I blow dry it with the roller brush it looks so smooth and shiny! I don't do it very often. When I air dry it, it is those days that I wear it up.

My hairdresser blowdries my hair beautifully sleek after trimming, and it looks gorgeous and sophisticated. My best efforts can't replicate that and so after washing it myself, I prefer to let it airdry and accentuate the natural wave of the ends with a bit of oil or product.

Out of curiosity last night I blowfried my hair, and it totally killed the wave I have that makes it flip out nicely in places and it actually looked really flat. Much better air dried, that way it looks much more natural and lays nicer down. I ended up misting it wet again to let it dry with the wave before bed.

I voted Blow fried. I love to be able to say otherwise (even if just out of laziness), but honestly, it is shiner and 'styled' better when blow dried. :rolleyes:

I haven't blow dried my hair for months so I can't really tell. Chose air dried cause that's what I do ;)

Back when I used to blowdry, my hair got very frizzy, and now, I have pretty tame and flyaway free hair from just air drying ( among other things). ;)

I get two totally different looks and I love them both. I have curly/wavy hair so when I let it air dry, I get a curly wild look-love it! When I blow dry/straighten it, I get a sleek look-love it too. 99% of the time I air dry-sometimes use a diffuser in winter when I'm going out.

I'm a air dried kind of gal ;)

Air dried, my hair tends to go crazy when I blowdry it

Honestly, when I blow-fried, my hair would look amazing... at first. But then it would get tangly after about 15 minutes and would never do what I want it to do. I haven't blow-fried in a long time, and am loving how nice and soft and shiny my hair is without it. So in the long run I have to say that air drying makes my hair more beautiful.

I air dried my hair yesterday, and I have to admit that it looks better this way. I love the way my waves look at this length.

I like my hair air dried better.

My hair looks more beautiful when blow dried. When I would get trims at the salon, the stylist would blow dry it and it looked sleek, smooth and shiny! Go look at JJJ's hair site; she blow dries and her hair is gorgeous! I haven't blow dried for ages and maybe will for a special occasion coming soon! :)

I used to LOVE blow-frying my hair, because I had huge problems with frizz if I let it air-dry.

I know now that the frizz was due to washing my hair too often, brushing it when wet, and using detergent-y shampoos, which seem to cause my hair to be much frizzier even if I only wash a couple times a week. Since I've changed my hair care routines to ones that are better for my hair, I have much fewer problems with frizz and don't really "need" to blow-fry. Most of the time, I really do prefer the natural air-dried look of my hair these days.

...Although my hair actually does look really nice blow-fried, and I would consider doing it for a special occasion if I just wanted it to look that way.

well i blow dry my hair it is in a bob at the moment and i am growing it longer so when i can tie it back i will quit the dryer hopefully :)

Air dried...but I comb it to help it dry faster, and that helps straighten it and make it sleeker. The blow fryer makes it look frizzy.

Air dry ! If I blow try my hair looks frizzy :(