Blog post on air drying

[tigress86]

I thought I'd share this post on air drying: http://www.maskcara.com/2015/07/06/air-drying-go-from-floofy-frizzy-to-relaxed-romantic/
Basically this is nothing new, to leave your hair alone and not manipulate or touch it while it dries. But the way she emphasizes to keep your hands off your hair really made me pay attention and not touch it the sligtest bit and wow, it really made a difference, hair is much more shiny and frizz-free. What do you guys think?

[missblueeyes]

Well, that sounds great and all, but my hair takes like 10 hours to get to bone dry from wet. That would mean that I couldn't even change clothes during that time when my hair is draped in front of me. Doesn't sound like a viable option for longer hair to me. :/

[tigress86]

Wow, 10 hours, in that case yes, this approach is impossible. I have thick hair and it takes about 2 hours at most to dry, even when it was longer it didn't take much more time, is the drying time a porosity thing?

[missblueeyes]

I guess it is. My bleached ends are very porous, which is why I usually wash in the evening because it'll be almost dry in the morning when I get up. :) I washed at 8am yesterday and my hair wasn't completely dry until 6 pm. It's probably possible if your hair is unprocessed, all virgin, whatever, because then it's usually less porous and dries more quickly. And the worst: My ends are bone dry from yesterday's wash, means I'll have to wash again soon-ish. UGH.

[dogzdinner]

Cant really tell if its made a difference to her hair though! She washed her hair and used different products both times, as well as not touching her hair.
TBH faffing about with hair masques and serums sounds like a PITA...

[Lauraes]

Cant really tell if its made a difference to her hair though! She washed her hair and used different products both times, as well as not touching her hair.
TBH faffing about with hair masques and serums sounds like a PITA...
Agreed. I just don't understand why she used two totally different washing methods and products for each test.

If she wanted to "prove" that not touching hair while it dries makes a significant difference than she should have made the manipulation/brushing the only difference between the two tests. I have a strong suspicion that the Shea Moisture Cleansing Conditioner, masque, and serum are the main things that made her hair look nice.

I'm not doubting that some people do get good results by not touching their hair while it dries, but this was a poorly done article/blog post.

[lapushka]

I stick it in a turbie for 15-20 min., so that it comes out nice and damp, then I do my detangling and styling products and then I airdry for 1H 1H30min. by that time it only needs 4/5 min. of diffusing on warm. It works for me.

[yogagirl]

Hmmm I think she may have worded it a bit funny. She did say "a couple of secrets" together from frizzy to smooth and I think she basically meant elements of the curly girl method. She has the t-shirt, the gentle cleanser, and the no touching rule. It's not ONLY the no touching rule.

It definitely makes a huge difference for me too when I don't touch my hair at all. Alas, it is not feasible for me. I have minor SD and my scalp can't stay damp for too long, so I make various sized half-ups during the air drying period. Otherwise my underlayers and scalp at the back of my head would never dry.

[lapushka]

Hmmm I think she may have worded it a bit funny. She did say "a couple of secrets" together from frizzy to smooth and I think she basically meant elements of the curly girl method. She has the t-shirt, the gentle cleanser, and the no touching rule. It's not ONLY the no touching rule.

It definitely makes a huge difference for me too when I don't touch my hair at all. Alas, it is not feasible for me. I have minor SD and my scalp can't stay damp for too long, so I make various sized half-ups during the air drying period. Otherwise my underlayers and scalp at the back of my head would never dry.

I found that using a diffuser helps with the SD issue greatly (that way my scalp isn't wet for too long).

[yogagirl]

Thanks so much for the tip, lapushka! I've been wondering if that might work, but my drier doesn't have a diffuser attachment, so I haven't tried. Do you just blow dry the roots a bit with the diffuser pretty much right after washing? Warm or cold?

[lapushka]

Thanks so much for the tip, lapushka! I've been wondering if that might work, but my drier doesn't have a diffuser attachment, so I haven't tried. Do you just blow dry the roots a bit with the diffuser pretty much right after washing? Warm or cold?

You're 1c so I'd not use a diffuser (unless you want tangles). I'd just dry the roots a bit with your blowdryer - that's the most important. After diffusing my ends are still dampish, because I focus mainly on the scalp (I scrunch my hair in the bowl right up to the scalp, in 4 sections, 2 sides, top, and back) but I leave those be to dry on their own time. As long as my scalp is dry! Warm, but not so warm that I can't hold my hand in the airstream without it burning (cause that's too hot).

[yogagirl]

Oh I was thinking of just using the diffuser to get the air to the scalp / underlayers, not scrunching the whole length up. I sometimes use my hair drying to try and get the scalp dry, but it's hard to get the air where it is really needed.

[lapushka]

Oh I was thinking of just using the diffuser to get the air to the scalp / underlayers, not scrunching the whole length up. I sometimes use my hair drying to try and get the scalp dry, but it's hard to get the air where it is really needed.

Yeah, oh that way, yes, you could do that perfectly! :D Go for it! It always feels nice to me to get that scalp dry.

[mira-chan]

Well, that sounds great and all, but my hair takes like 10 hours to get to bone dry from wet. That would mean that I couldn't even change clothes during that time when my hair is draped in front of me. Doesn't sound like a viable option for longer hair to me. :/

Similar issue here, plus my hair is long enough to sit on so I have to move it to make sure I'm not sitting on it. My hair very likely has low porosity as tigress mentioned that, on top of being the length it is.

As others mentioned that she used leave ins, I use shea moisture masks as a leave in. It makes a pretty big difference in hair smoothness.

[meteor]

I agree that it really helps to use a T-shirt or microfiber towel to squeeze water out gently, and not to rub and not to move hair too much when it's drying to avoid excessive frizz. :agree:
But it's not really practical for me not to touch hair at all (my hair can take a day to dry!), so I do a combination of leaving hair down without touching (when I'm just doing work at my desk and not moving much) and also wet-bunning (when I need to go out). When I'm back at home, I take it down again to finish the drying process. I won't detangle until it's fully dry. I think this keeps wet manipulation to a minimum and really prevents frizz.

[Saproxylic]

On my 1a hair this does not work at all. If I dry it totally unmanipulated from the still clumping wet stage, I get weird kinks where the clumps have twisted or have been sitting funny, and those are super visible. To get smooth finish I need at least to separate strands when hair is still slightly damp but not damp enough to clump. I guess it works differently with wavies and curlies.