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View Full Version : blow-drying hair without heat protectant



sss
September 20th, 2012, 09:09 PM
I have clarified my head and am now going to try the water only method and so far it has been about a week and great results so far. However I still like the blow-dry effect and was wondering if it is safe to still blow-dry my hair straight without a heat protector since they contain cones in stuff.

Faux
September 20th, 2012, 09:12 PM
Always use heat protectant!

Tisiloves
September 20th, 2012, 09:13 PM
Blow dry on cool, no need for heat protectant.

sss
September 20th, 2012, 09:39 PM
blowdrying on cool would take forever to dry hair

Tisiloves
September 20th, 2012, 09:42 PM
Not really, the airflow over hair should still produce a fairly fast dry, unless you are in a very cold climate. At any rate even knocking the heat down to the point that it wouldn't hurt your skin should negate the need for heat protectant.

sss
September 20th, 2012, 10:01 PM
would it work if I were to blow-dry my hair straight or would I need heat for that?

Tisiloves
September 20th, 2012, 10:06 PM
I should imagine it would still work because it's the act of brushing your hair out straight whilst it dries that straightens it out (I think, sorry, I have no use for straightening methods).

Ravenwind
September 20th, 2012, 11:09 PM
It's always important to use a heat protectant whenever you put heat on your hair. But if you blow dry your hair on the hot setting, your hair will dry faster. So even though you'll be using heat, you'll be using it in a short amount of time and avoiding damage. Make sense?

Bluegrass Babe
September 28th, 2012, 01:59 PM
It's always important to use a heat protectant whenever you put heat on your hair. But if you blow dry your hair on the hot setting, your hair will dry faster. So even though you'll be using heat, you'll be using it in a short amount of time and avoiding damage. Make sense?

NOOOOO!!!! That's completely wrong!!! It will cause LOTS of damage!

I know both from personal experience and from research here on LHC. Heating the hair quickly will make the water inside the hair boil. The resulting steam EXPLODES out of the hair shaft and results in severe damage. It looks like white dots along the hair shaft. Sometimes they are high up on the shaft and the only remedy is a short hair cut. See this article by Nightshade. Scroll to glowing yellow hair under Heat Damage. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79

Tisiloves is correct on this one. Air flow is the main factor in drying. More airflow means faster drying and the air can be cool and still accomplish this. Heated air is more a comfort factor than a drying factor.

Heat protectants contain silicones. Their main function is to allow curling irons and flat iron straighteners to quickly glide over the hair to avoid any drag that would cause a section of hair to over heat and singe (or boil). They aren't necessary for blowdrying.

sss, there are several methods to straighten hair, both here and on YouTube.
I used to use jumbo size rollers after I dried my hair (on cool/low setting). It was enough to tame my waves keeping the rollers in while I dressed and put on make-up. Of course, it may take you longer depending on how curly/wavy your hair is. And it's definitely not good if you are in a hurry.

We have several stylists members here who can help. Add a post with title asking for stylist help or use search for heat free straightening. If you use search function just remember it to add * at end of three letter words!

rtree721
September 28th, 2012, 02:20 PM
I agree with Bluegrass Babe. And I would say that using a blow dryer with or without heat protectant is damaging.

panffle
September 28th, 2012, 02:29 PM
I don't think it is that damaging. I treat my hair well, and about 2-3 times a week I use the hairdrier. Mine doesn't have a cold air setting so I use warm air on the lowest temp possible. I keep moving it around my head so the hair doesn't really get hot. I have no damage from it at all.
However, since you mentioned you're water only (which I am not), I don't know if it'd have the same effects for you. Just don't put the hairdrier too close to the hair and don't let it get too hot.

kaydana
September 28th, 2012, 03:07 PM
Have a look around and see if you can find a different heat protectant. The one I used to use didn't have cones in.

Ravenwind
October 1st, 2012, 11:01 PM
[quote=Bluegrass Babe;2318290]NOOOOO!!!! That's completely wrong!!! It will cause LOTS of damage! /quote]

Oh goodness. I got that theory from a fellow LHC member actually, and from one of her youtube videos. Yes, no matter what, heat will cause damage. But if it is used in a short amount of time, WITH heat protectant, it can't be that bad.

Bluegrass Babe
November 15th, 2012, 09:54 AM
Ravenwind, first let me say that I am not anti-blow drying. I blow dry my hair occasionally during the warm months, and more often than not when it's colder. I also do not believe that all blow drying causes damage no matter what. It can be completely damage free if done correctly. (That depends on several factors, hair type, heat setting, air flow setting, etc... and will be different for everyone.)

Maybe I misunderstood your comment? I thought you meant using high heat and drying faster meant less damage than low heat and slower dry time?

That is what I am in complete and total disagreement on. Think of it this way: you can have a heating pad on a low setting touching your skin for long period of time with no problem. But if you touch your skin with a hot flat iron for only an instant you'll end up with a nasty burn. I think this applies to hair, too, but less extremely, of course.

At one point, I was blow drying my armpit length hair in under 5 minutes. Highest heat, highest air flow, nozzle only one inch away from my hair, following my brush from my scalp to the ends. A steady trail of steam would rise from the hair as it was brushed and dried! My head was actually steaming as I was running out the door! After a few months I noticed severe split ends and millions of white dots along the length! I boiled my hair to death! It has taken years to trim the damage out an inch at a time. Only a boy cut could have gotten it all at once, and I refused to have the same haircut as my M-I-L!

I learned something today! :applause: Thanks, kaydana, I didn't know there were heat protectants without cones. I'm not against them, I just don't like to use them often because I am to lazy to clarify and SMT as often as I should if I use them regularly! :p

Also, they do absorb and dissipate the heat, not just provide slip for styling tools. I read that on Ktani's Hairsense blog when I searched it for heat damage. She has tons of links to scientific studies of all types pertaining to hair.

Bluegrass Babe
November 15th, 2012, 10:00 AM
P.S. Sorry, for abandoning the discussion. My laptop crashed and then problems with the board and a new system on my laptop... I just couldn't get back on!

faellen
November 16th, 2012, 04:48 AM
Tisiloves is correct on this one. Air flow is the main factor in drying. More airflow means faster drying and the air can be cool and still accomplish this. Heated air is more a comfort factor than a drying factor.

Wish I found this to be the case! No matter what the airflow, heat dries faster. Blow drying my hair on the cool setting takes forever unfortunately :(

goldloli
November 16th, 2012, 12:37 PM
NOOOOO!!!! That's completely wrong!!! It will cause LOTS of damage!

I know both from personal experience and from research here on LHC. Heating the hair quickly will make the water inside the hair boil. The resulting steam EXPLODES out of the hair shaft and results in severe damage. It looks like white dots along the hair shaft. Sometimes they are high up on the shaft and the only remedy is a short hair cut. See this article by Nightshade. Scroll to glowing yellow hair under Heat Damage. http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=79

Tisiloves is correct on this one. Air flow is the main factor in drying. More airflow means faster drying and the air can be cool and still accomplish this. Heated air is more a comfort factor than a drying factor.

Heat protectants contain silicones. Their main function is to allow curling irons and flat iron straighteners to quickly glide over the hair to avoid any drag that would cause a section of hair to over heat and singe (or boil). They aren't necessary for blowdrying.

sss, there are several methods to straighten hair, both here and on YouTube.
I used to use jumbo size rollers after I dried my hair (on cool/low setting). It was enough to tame my waves keeping the rollers in while I dressed and put on make-up. Of course, it may take you longer depending on how curly/wavy your hair is. And it's definitely not good if you are in a hurry.

We have several stylists members here who can help. Add a post with title asking for stylist help or use search for heat free straightening. If you use search function just remember it to add * at end of three letter words!
excellent posts and excellent points! blow drying on low/cool is definitely the best, and yes hair straightens with this method also. Heat protectants dont stop heat getting to your hair and are relatively useless for blow drying. Perhaps they would stop some moisture escaping but because of bubbling from steam within the strand, im not sure if thats even a good thing.

I remember reading a review on heat protectant, the girl put some on her hand and said she could still feel heat from the blow dryer therfore the heat protectant was rubbish... that review makes me chuckle and facepalm everytime i think of it. Even turning down the heat one or 2 notches would spare some damage. We're all long hairs here so we get that it takes forever to dry but we go to so much effort to get length, why ruin the quality and possibly length for the sake of saving a few minutes, using high heat?

Oo as a side note of *proof* i'm currently on vacation and using a lil travel blow dryer for a couple weeks with 1 heat setting that is medium-hot. my hair has some splits already, tangles more and is dryer than when i was using low heat back at home. that's pretty much why im convinced on the benefits of low heat drying

Katze
November 19th, 2012, 05:27 AM
Washing your hair water-only may mean you have more natural sebum to protect it from overall damage (it seems to be the case for mine, and I rotate WO, CO, and CWC) but it is not going to make your hair suddenly coarser in texture and more resilient!

Heat damages, period. Yes, high heat is worse than low heat, and low heat is worse than no heat. Cool drying may tangle hair and thus damage it.

Putting silicones in hair to protect it from damage is a relatively new idea - they didn't have those back when I was frying my hair in the 80s and 90s, and I honestly doubt whether they really 'protect'. I think they would just make hair LOOK smoother.

Here's what I - owner of unruly, mixed-texture, frizzy, fine, easily damaged hair do if I feel I 'have to' blowdry (for example after swimming) - I blowDAMP. I get my hair as dry as I can in the air and with a towel, then, with low heat, focus on drying the roots and my ears. In my climate I can't go outside with wet ears or I will get an earache, so I normally wash my hair nights and airdry while sleeping.

If I were a person who follows fashion more I would probably feel I 'had to' blowdry my hair in order to 'get the bumps out' (which is what I did before I knew I was a wavy) and I would then limit my blowdrying to as little as possible.

Katze
November 19th, 2012, 05:28 AM
Washing your hair water-only may mean you have more natural sebum to protect it from overall damage (it seems to be the case for mine, and I rotate WO, CO, and CWC) but it is not going to make your hair suddenly coarser in texture and more resilient, if, for example, you have fine hair.

Heat damages, period. Yes, high heat is worse than low heat, and low heat is worse than no heat. Cool drying may tangle hair and thus damage it.

Putting silicones in hair to protect it from damage is a relatively new idea - they didn't have those back when I was frying my hair in the 80s and 90s, and I honestly doubt whether they really 'protect'. I think they would just make hair LOOK smoother.

Here's what I - owner of unruly, mixed-texture, frizzy, fine, easily damaged hair do if I feel I 'have to' blowdry (for example after swimming) - I blowDAMP. I get my hair as dry as I can in the air and with a towel, then, with low heat, focus on drying the roots and my ears. In my climate I can't go outside with wet ears or I will get an earache, so I normally wash my hair nights and airdry while sleeping.

If I were a person who followed fashion more I would probably feel I 'had to' blowdry my hair in order to 'get the bumps out' (which is what I did before I knew I was a wavy) and I would then limit my blowdrying to as little as possible.