Is it possible to straighten hair with a straightening brush & blow dryer on cool?

[Larki]

I've always wondered this: it seems like it would work but I don't have a straightening brush (like this http://www.amazon.com/Denman-Brushes-Thermo-Straightening-D79/dp/B00H5KG8BS) so I've never tried it. Seems like if you detangled while damp then used that brush while blow drying on cool or warm, you could straighten your hair without damage. Do you guys think it would work?

[Chocowalnut]

You can make your hair straighter and smoother like this but not necessarily straight- it depends on your natural hair type. I do this once in awhile on cool but my hair still has wave in it when I'm done.

[Colochita]

As a small warning, that brush doesn't play nicely with superfine hair. I used it to blow dry my hair and while it came out super straight, I spent months afterward cutting out midshaft incomplete splits.

[Federica]

Stepping out of the darkness with an unpopular statement:

My hair is quite curly, natural texture is about 3b, and I find that CGM doesn't work for me, and even if I don't brush or comb, I put it up and baby it it gets horrible tangles and dryness which result in a massive and visible damage on the last inches.
I used to blow dry it with a straightening brush for years, but I got a lot of mechanical damage from the brush.
Now, everytime I wash (once a week) I let it air dry, put a heat protectant and flat iron it from the scalp to SL then put it in a braid.
Doing so my hair results as a 2b, much more easy to style, less prone to tangles and overall a lot healthier, with only a few splits and no breakage, and I'm doing it since almost 10 years.

Thing is, I find that my hair (of course it's personal) it's much more prone to mechanical damage than heat damage, so I wouldn't use a straightening brush anymore.
Plus, I think that using a hairdryer on cold settings is like brushing in the wind: the only result is tangle mess.
BUT I've heard that blowdryers with ions technology are reported to make your hair straighter and flatter.

[lapushka]

I've always wondered this: it seems like it would work but I don't have a straightening brush (like this http://www.amazon.com/Denman-Brushes-Thermo-Straightening-D79/dp/B00H5KG8BS) so I've never tried it. Seems like if you detangled while damp then used that brush while blow drying on cool or warm, you could straighten your hair without damage. Do you guys think it would work?

Your hair is 1c, so it doesn't need much straightening out, I guess. I'd use a normal paddle brush or even a Tangle Teezer to smooth out the hair as you blow dry. This bristle brush you linked, I think will "catch" on hair and pull quite fiercely.

[ChloeDharma]

I tried a brush like that once, just once and never again. I didn't find it worked that well for the hassle of trying to get the hair into it without tangling and breaking hairs. If you want to create a smooth straight style then you could just blow dry on a gentle heat with a large barrel round brush. Just do it in sections. You are not very curly so it shouldn't require much to straighten your hair out. Another way of doing it is to use a paddle brush and brush the hair around your head, as if using your head like a large roller following the brush with a hair dryer. This is probably easier to do on someone else than but it's a trick I learnt when working in a salon.

[teddygirl]

I wouldn't use that brush. Just use a regular brush (of any kind really), and like Chloe said, use sections. You can keep most of your hair tied back, and pull out small sections at a time. Blow dry each on cold/warm, and all you really need to do is use tension (pull the hair taught), and for me, keep running the brush through it. This smoothes the little frizzies. You can even do this with your hands. It takes time, and may still cause some mechanical damage, but its alot less than flat ironing, and less than I expect that brush does as well.

[Betazed]

I tried one of those straightening brushes and it was a disaster! I had a ton of hair stuck in the bristles after only doing a small section. I gave up and went back to a big round brush. That was the 2nd time I tried to use one. The first time, I couldnt get the hang of getting my hair between the 2 peices and holding the blow dryer at the same time. I've always has less trouble and less damage from just a regular ol' round brush.

[ositarosita]

I had one of those, once upon a time. However with bleached 3a hair all it did was create FRIZZ, I lost a lot of hair.. it was just a mess.

[MINAKO]

Exactly like Federica pointed oit, i consider mechanical damage far worse than a bit of heat once in a while. I do flatiron as well, but would never dare to pick up a brush again and do a blowout, omg... all the hair i loose due to manipulation and the dryness afterwards are ten times the damage than a pass with the iron. I couldnt agree more.

[spidermom]

I get good results by blow-drying on warm to the scalp, cool to the length while I control my hair with a paddle brush, being very careful not to stretch and snarl my hair. As far as hair whipping around like it's in the wind; I don't have a wind tunnel setting on my blow dryer. It just plain doesn't happen.

[Federica]

Thank you MINAKO, I'm glad you agree with me, you're the living proof that straightening hair is not always The Evil made Act.


As far as hair whipping around like it's in the wind; I don't have a wind tunnel setting on my blow dryer. It just plain doesn't happen.

Spidermom, I'm sure your experience is different to mine and maybe even being careful with it I've done something wrong, but I can swear you that everytime I blow dry my hair on whatever setting (cool, hot, wind tunnel or summer breeze) I get some dreadlocks-tangles.
And if I try to control it with a comb or brush, my hair intertwines into it so badly that a couple of times in the past I had to cut off all that nest to get the comb out of it.
Please be kind and don't put my personal experience into discussion, thank you.

[betterhairday]

I've always wondered this: it seems like it would work but I don't have a straightening brush (like this http://www.amazon.com/Denman-Brushes-Thermo-Straightening-D79/dp/B00H5KG8BS) so I've never tried it. Seems like if you detangled while damp then used that brush while blow drying on cool or warm, you could straighten your hair without damage. Do you guys think it would work?

Came across this when looking for an exfoliator and remembered your thread - perhaps it might work for you http://www.karminhairtools.com/advice/how-to-straighten-hair-without-heat.html I would be interested to know if it works for you and how straight you managed to get it.

[mdvl]

I think it's impossible to straighten hair with a blow-dryer on cool.
The heat itself is the cause of changing the hair structure to straight, but not the wind (from blow-dryer on cool). And it is true that hair damages from mechanical or chemical influence. Blow-drying do not damage your hair.

[meteor]

So many great answers on this thread already, I have nothing to add, sorry. Personally, I can't use those styling brushes - they get stuck in my hair... possibly due to combination of length, thickness and multi-textured nature of my hair. Like other posters, I can see how such brushes can cause mechanical damage, I'm afraid.

And I have a related question on this topic: I wonder if it's at all possible to sleek down, further straighten already straight(-ish) hair with flat-iron and silicone serum/oil when the flat-iron is not even turned on (to avoid any heat damage)? Basically, to use a flat-iron the same way we use smoothing brushes or palms of our hands with oil to smooth down canopy frizzies a bit. Does it work a bit? Or total waste of time?
(Sorry if it's a silly question, I just don't have a flat-iron to test out this theory. :oops: )