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Halliday
April 25th, 2015, 11:52 AM
Hey y'all :)

so i've been wondering about this: would it be damaging to blow dry your hair straight, e.g. with one of those round brushes, on the COLD setting? Like no heat at all?

I really want to do this because
a.) i want to change up my look
b.) i'm sick of sitting around with long wet hair
c.) i also do NOT want to damage my hair in any way shape or form.

any of y'all know if it would damage at all?

meteor
April 25th, 2015, 12:47 PM
Blow-drying on cold or cool or even light-warm setting is not damaging at all, however a blow-drying round brush can be pretty aggressive for some hairtypes. I'd be worried about mechanical damage from such a brush, especially on wet/damp hair.

By the way, the studies I've looked at seem to point to 50℃ as a probable cut-off point for acceptable temperature for blow-drying, as far as I can see.

A hysteresis in heat dried hair - by Crawford R., Robbins C. R., J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 32, 27 - 36 (Jan/Feb 1981) - http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1...027-p00036.pdf
Their conclusion:
"Heat drying will increase the tendency of hair to acquire a static charge during combing and this charge buildup seems to be related to the heat drying hysteresis. Heat drying can also produce a short term decrease in fiber stiffness. This decrease in fiber stiffness is related to the action of heat on the fibers, but it is not related to the hysteresis. Heat drying at moderate temperature has no effect on the tensile properties, although small changes in the tensile properties were detected in hair dried at very high temperature."

In this study (Hair Shaft Damage from Heat and Drying Time of Hair Dryer by Lee et. al. Published in Ann Dermatol. 2011 Nov; 23(4): 455–462 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229938/#B9) cuticle damage was shown on all blow-dried tresses, including drying with a hair dryer for 60 seconds at a distance of 15 cm at 47℃, but there was no damage to the cell-membrane-complex in the internal structure of hair (while damage to CMC occurred with prolonged air-drying). See here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...938/figure/F2/ And "the hair surfaces showed an overall tendency to become more damaged as the temperature increased, with the most severe surface damage produced after drying with the highest temperature (95℃)."

And here is more from an older study on blow drying (Gamez-Garcia M. The cracking of human hair cuticles by cyclical thermal stresses. J Cosmet Sci. 1998;49:141)
“In this figure it can be seen that temperatures lower than 50℃ do not increase the average number of cracks already present in unexposed hair, while temperatures higher than 95℃ lead rather to hair surface and bulk distortion. It is quite plausible, thus, that temperatures lower than 65℃ do not produce the critical rate of water evaporation needed for the top part of the cuticles to contract and become rigid, while temperatures higher than 85℃ might soften the cuticle proteins, releasing, thereby, the mechanical stresses by viscous flow.” - from p. 148 Journal of Cosmetic Science, http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1...141-p00153.pdf

Arctic
April 25th, 2015, 12:59 PM
Instead of round brush (or any brush/comb), I usually use just my fingers. I first comb my hair with wide tooth comb, and then I start the process. I am able to put tension to the hair with my fingers, so it dries straight. I usually save the brush to special occasions. If you do use brush, do first a rough drying without brush (maybe using the tension method with fingers) and only the finishing touches with brush when the hair is starting to be almost dry. I use low to medium heat and use the cold button a lot.

lapushka
April 25th, 2015, 01:02 PM
It's to get rid of your natural curl isn't it? Of course it would be better than heat-straightening! But a round brush can give pretty much mechanical damage, and a lot of it. Blow drying itself on cool/warm should be fine. If you can still hold your hand in the airstream without it burning, then the temperature is okay for the hair.

Why not keep your natural texture? Can I ask you that?

teddygirl
April 25th, 2015, 01:23 PM
You certainly can. A brush will give you a nicer look, but will cause more damage. Try using what Arctic said - use your fingers. I can usually even 'straighten' my hair my finger combing it constantly while it air dries. I'm sure blowdrying it is much better because I touch it alot less!

yahirwaO.o
April 25th, 2015, 08:42 PM
My mom has damage curly hair and she can get away with fairly straigh hair by using a wide tooth comb and her blow dryer angled towards her face.

divinedobbie
April 25th, 2015, 08:47 PM
Blow-drying on cold or cool or even light-warm setting is not damaging at all, however a blow-drying round brush can be pretty aggressive for some hairtypes. I'd be worried about mechanical damage from such a brush, especially on wet/damp hair.

By the way, the studies I've looked at seem to point to 50℃ as a probable cut-off point for acceptable temperature for blow-drying, as far as I can see.

A hysteresis in heat dried hair - by Crawford R., Robbins C. R., J. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 32, 27 - 36 (Jan/Feb 1981) - http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1...027-p00036.pdf
Their conclusion:
"Heat drying will increase the tendency of hair to acquire a static charge during combing and this charge buildup seems to be related to the heat drying hysteresis. Heat drying can also produce a short term decrease in fiber stiffness. This decrease in fiber stiffness is related to the action of heat on the fibers, but it is not related to the hysteresis. Heat drying at moderate temperature has no effect on the tensile properties, although small changes in the tensile properties were detected in hair dried at very high temperature."

In this study (Hair Shaft Damage from Heat and Drying Time of Hair Dryer by Lee et. al. Published in Ann Dermatol. 2011 Nov; 23(4): 455–462 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3229938/#B9) cuticle damage was shown on all blow-dried tresses, including drying with a hair dryer for 60 seconds at a distance of 15 cm at 47℃, but there was no damage to the cell-membrane-complex in the internal structure of hair (while damage to CMC occurred with prolonged air-drying). See here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...938/figure/F2/ And "the hair surfaces showed an overall tendency to become more damaged as the temperature increased, with the most severe surface damage produced after drying with the highest temperature (95℃)."

And here is more from an older study on blow drying (Gamez-Garcia M. The cracking of human hair cuticles by cyclical thermal stresses. J Cosmet Sci. 1998;49:141)
“In this figure it can be seen that temperatures lower than 50℃ do not increase the average number of cracks already present in unexposed hair, while temperatures higher than 95℃ lead rather to hair surface and bulk distortion. It is quite plausible, thus, that temperatures lower than 65℃ do not produce the critical rate of water evaporation needed for the top part of the cuticles to contract and become rigid, while temperatures higher than 85℃ might soften the cuticle proteins, releasing, thereby, the mechanical stresses by viscous flow.” - from p. 148 Journal of Cosmetic Science, http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1...141-p00153.pdf

Meteor, I feel like you should keep this response saved or as an article. It's so helpful and quite a common question! :flower: