air dry vs blow dry

[Sascha888]

I can't find anything on here about this, or if there is, I'm terrible at searching. I wanted to know if anyone's hair feels flat when they air dry their hair. I read some places, people say their hair has more volume, less split ends etc. I tried air drying mine, and I get these awful waves in the front of my hair and it looks terrible when I wear it down. I'd like to not blow dry much or as much. I just try to blow dry more at my roots and the parts that get wavy in the front of my hair and I'm trying to grow my hair longer than it is. Anyone like their hair better when it air dries?

[alexis917]

I love air drying. My arm gets tired blowdrying because it takes me a while!
I shower at night, use the Wet Brush from tips to roots, and brush my hair back so it "lifts"...
Then I put it in some sort of bun or braid.
My hair is naturally slightly wavy and gets straighter as it grows out.
But my fringe gets ugly 70s waves when I dont tie it up, haha! Luckily, it's much longer and less wavy now.

[Sharysa]

I stopped blow-drying my hair since high school, and I am not planning on going back anytime soon. I also have the flat-hair problem. To keep my hair's volume, I give it another combing when it's three-quarters dry before I braid it, but I comb upwards instead of flat against the scalp like usual.

[longNred]

I only air dry, so yes, I like it better. I haven't used my blow drier in years, but I remember my hair usually looked like crap when I did.

[Sascha888]

I wouldn't mind the waves so much if all of my hair was like that, but it's just the front. For me, I wash my hair in the mornings when I do that is. I alternate between water wash and conditioner wash every other day, and I shampoo once every 3 weeks so far. So my hair gets wet everday. I will have to try air drying on a day when I'm not doing anything, and I will try that combing upwards technique.

[Audhumla]

I always air dry my hair although I've had a chin length bob before so I've done blow drying too a long time ago
My hair is a naturally can't-decide-if-it's wavy all over so I feel your pain.
I would suggest if you have time to sit around when you're awake as your hair is drying then putting a hair-friendly roller in while air drying could be a solution. You could also sit in front of a fan or use a blow drier on the cold setting to speed it up (this isn't damaging as long as the air is actually room temperature)
If you wash your hair before bed and let it air dry over night and you don't toss and turn too much in your sleep you could just pin the front sections flat against the top of your head so they would dry straight over night. I can do this because I stay absolutely still while I sleep but if you roll around at night just be careful because you don't want mechanical damage.
Also if you want to go the route of making the rest of your hair texture match your fringe then damp bunning for enhanced bun waves is an option as long as your hair is too thick because then it's unlikely to get dry.

The key I've found is just to immobilise your hair in some way or another while it dries.

[jacqueline101]

I've never been a fan of blow drying my hair but I've noticed no difference in it.

[Suze2012]

I always used to blow dry but gave it up a few years back.
I did buy and try a hairdryer earlier this year but even with a diffuser and the pixie method it causes frizz all over.

I have a tiny travel dryer and only use it for my fringe as I like that part straighter - plus it's shorter and gets cut (by me) regularly so I don't worry about damage.

Root lift I had a bit of a problem with recently.
I co wash and did find that one of the conditioners I use makes my hair feel really fine - so I stopped using it.
The other thing was putting leave in conditioner on the ends and length upside down instead of with my head up.
That has really helped.

Any other products I put on before I leave it to air dry I put on whilst upside down.

[faellen]

I am probably one of those rare LHCers that prefer to blow dry. I use it on low heat/cool setting to get the majority of my hair dry, especially the roots, and then let the rest of it air dry. I just hate sitting around with wet hair, or going out with wet hair, or sleeping with wet hair!

Plus, like you, I find that my hair is really flat with no volume when air dried. Also, the ends tend to go a bit frizzy and weird for some reason. However, I'm trying to air dry more, being as it's better for hair... I just find it a chore. Lol.

[LadyCelestina]

I like both,but blow drying my whole head takes ages,so I only dry roots and bangs and let the rest air dry or damp bun.

The only way I get significant changes in volume is when I blow dry upside down and use a volumizing spray.I don't do that because I don't own a volumizing spray and I'm content with my natural volume :D

[Bagginslover]

My hair is less flat when I air dry. When I bowdry, I find the fast moving air pulls my hair straight flat against my scalp, and dries it that way, so I look like a 1a. When I air dry, the hair isn't being pulled so much, so I get a bit of root lift and a definite 1b. Its not a huge difference visually, but it really feels it to me.

[lapushka]

I am probably one of those rare LHCers that prefer to blow dry. I use it on low heat/cool setting to get the majority of my hair dry, especially the roots, and then let the rest of it air dry. I just hate sitting around with wet hair, or going out with wet hair, or sleeping with wet hair!

Plus, like you, I find that my hair is really flat with no volume when air dried. Also, the ends tend to go a bit frizzy and weird for some reason. However, I'm trying to air dry more, being as it's better for hair... I just find it a chore. Lol.

Same here. It gets washed, put into a turbie towel for 15 to 30 minutes, then it's pretty much damp and it gets air dried for about an hour, then the rest of it is blow dried. I can't stand a wet scalp for too long, that part needs to be dry before too long, so we use the blow drier on it.

[lapushka]

I am probably one of those rare LHCers that prefer to blow dry. I use it on low heat/cool setting to get the majority of my hair dry, especially the roots, and then let the rest of it air dry. I just hate sitting around with wet hair, or going out with wet hair, or sleeping with wet hair!

Plus, like you, I find that my hair is really flat with no volume when air dried. Also, the ends tend to go a bit frizzy and weird for some reason. However, I'm trying to air dry more, being as it's better for hair... I just find it a chore. Lol.

Same here. It gets washed, put into a turbie towel for 15 to 30 minutes, then it's pretty much damp and it gets air dried for about an hour, then the rest of it is blow dried. I can't stand a wet scalp for too long, that part needs to be dry before too long, so we use the blow drier on it.

[MaryO]

I blow dried my hair a couple of times since the winter started (previous to that I didn't blow wave for at least 8 months) and haven't noticed a big difference in condition. However- I am finding that I like the way my hair looks when air dried much more to the blow dried. Just a bit more "worn" than the sleekness of blow dried hair. Just a personal thing though...

[Coolcombination]

Air dry= soft, curly hair
Blow dry= frizzy floaty frazzled hair + achy arms

[Yozhik]

I haven't blow dried my hair more than a dozen times in my life. :shrug: It gives me horrible frizz and poof, whereas air drying gives me nice waves.

[dulce]

I air dry using a fan,that prevents flatness and keeps it fluffy.I no longer blowdry as it damages my hair.

[Ayjay]

I find my hair is flatter when I airdry but I can't be bothered to blow dry and if I do I only dry the top so its a bit fluffier.

[shutterpillar]

Air dry= soft, curly hair
Blow dry= frizzy floaty frazzled hair + achy arms

Same here, except replace curly with wavy.
I put in some leave-in conditioner, put my hair up in a microfiber towel for about 30 minutes, then take it down and let it air dry (which normally takes about 2 -3 hours. No combing until it is completely dried. It actually looks flatter on top if I use the blow dryer.

[kidari]

I used to air dry all the time, the key is to damp bun it when it's exactly the right amount of dampness. Otherwise I just mist it before I bun it. However, sometimes it's inconvenient to just carefully wait around for it to air day. Sometimes it ends up drying flat at the roots, with strange kinks, and some frizz. I like to blow dry the front pieces and the roots on a warm/cool setting to speed up the process. I still leave the rest of it slightly damp and then I bun it until it fully dries. It's much more convenient and my hair looks better when I do this.

[Sascha888]

I am probably one of those rare LHCers that prefer to blow dry. I use it on low heat/cool setting to get the majority of my hair dry, especially the roots, and then let the rest of it air dry. I just hate sitting around with wet hair, or going out with wet hair, or sleeping with wet hair!

Plus, like you, I find that my hair is really flat with no volume when air dried. Also, the ends tend to go a bit frizzy and weird for some reason. However, I'm trying to air dry more, being as it's better for hair... I just find it a chore. Lol.





Yes, mine is like that. Flat up top and the ends frizzy and weird too. I'm trying to do better with air drying, but not sure it will work yet. I haven't found the nitch ..lol but I do like blow drying it :eek:
Also, my pic is on my profile there. That's what it looks like blow dried. But now it looks different from that now because I don't shampoo it but once every 3 weeks. The rest of the time, it's conditioner wash or water wash. OK I have changed my pic on here, so this is what it looks like blow dried along with conditioner wash.

[Venefica]

I do not even own a blow dryer, I let my hairdresser blow dry my bangs when I cut them once every two months and that is as much as I use a blow drier. I let my hair air dry and just make sure to wash it at a time when I can just sit and let it dry by itself while I do not have to move around with it, like when I am watching a movie or a TV series or something like that.

[akka naeda]

I do both as air drying my hair in the winter would mean over 48 hours of wet hair. It has more volume if air dried (I guess this is because blow drying it dries it out more), but then I never comb it until it is 100% dry anyway because i seem to be very unusual in that even with calf length hair I can wash upside down over the bath, towel dry it to remove excess water and then leave it and still have no tangles.

No difference in split ends at all, they are caused by whether I have the length loose (ie half up when length varies from waist to calf depending on style or totally down) or totally up and wrapped out of the way. Also by whether I try combing it when it is wet - that causes no end of breakage.

Your hair sounds like DD's - blow drying removes more moisture from her hair so the waves at her hairline are less to non-existant (also the case in my hair, but I don't have waves at the front so it's not visible), when she has been persuaded to do CO and air dry she has very visible waves and the rest of it seems flatter but isn't in reality.

Having seen your profile pic it looks like you need to spend more time with some combination of either one or both of oil and deep conditioner on the ends. They're drier than your scalp. Do something like SMT and only put it on the length and see if that helps.

[Ayjay]

I always blow dry upside down (if I blow dry it) so it gives my hair lots of volume. Most of the time I stick with air dry

[Fiferstone]

Since my hair is so fine, I don't really have a problem with unwanted waves, and I got serious damage in my ends from blowdrying, so I definitely prefer air drying. Perhaps a good compromise would be to refrain from using the heat at all? Most modern blowfryers have a button you can push, to disengage the heating element, I think one LHCer used a hairtie wrapped around the handle of the blowdryer to keep the button permanently "pushed" as their solution.

[DancingQueen]

It took a while for me to transition from blowdrying to airdrying. At first, it was a frizzy mess when I let it dry on its own (maybe because chin-length, curly and heat-damaged hair tend to do that), but it got better after a few months. I have been airdrying for 3 or 4 years now.

The thing is, although you may have a tiny bit more volume when blowdrying, try to feel your hair. At least my hair feels much more like straw when I blowdry it, than airdrying, where it feels very soft and silky.
A tip for the bangs is to pin them back while they are drying; this way, you should be able do avoid those kinks. :)

[CurlyCap]

Absolutely prefer to air dry. But I'm a curly.

People have repeatedly tried to get me to buy into diffusers, but they just don't work. All the moving air breaks up the curl while it's drying, and the rapidity of the drying means the curl doesn't have time to form completely.

Add to that my hair's absolutely penchant for dryness, and using a blow dryer, on any setting, is just a bad idea.

[Sascha888]

Wow!!! I'm trying to wean off blow drying a lot. So I did the fan thing someone suggested and that helps quite a bit to get it started on drying. I'm trying to get used to these wierd waves I have and so far they aren't so bad. The past couple of days, I have let it mostly air dry and I finish some of the roots with a blow dry on low. Mainly the back of my head and the ends dry pretty fast with the ends drying the fastest. I thought my hair was poofy with a blow dryer. It's way poofy now, and looks more on the frizzy side. I will keep trying things.

[Rosetta]

I only air dry, so yes, I like it better. I haven't used my blow drier in years, but I remember my hair usually looked like crap when I did.

I haven't blow dried my hair more than a dozen times in my life. :shrug: It gives me horrible frizz and poof
These + ;) (And I'm a straightie!)

I never really got used to blow-frying, so it's a bit hard to compare, but I for one find it hard to imagine someone preferring blow-fried hair to air-dried one...

A hint: if air drying (with hair down) makes your hair flat, try putting it up to finish drying when it's about 2/3 dry, or close to dry! I always do, and it really helps.

[Ravenwind]

When I air dry or blow dry my hair gets poofy. I never win! But the next day it gets flatter.