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View Full Version : My hair hates air drying. And it is misbehaving at the moment.



juliaxena
December 10th, 2009, 04:05 PM
I think this is part of my awkward phase. My hair is not yet long enough to have weight to stay straight. It flicks out in dosens of different directions, either becuase it takes a shape according to how it falls or touches my clothes or simply chin and neck. Anyone experienced this? And yes, I am 1a when long. It won't hold a curl for 2 minutes to save my life...I suppose I will just have to grow it through. My hair seems to lose moisture if I air dry. I suppose longer drying period allowes this. A rant :)

jojo
December 10th, 2009, 04:37 PM
AWW (((hugs)))) keep with it, honestly your hair will soon be longer, your at a difficult stage true but the advantages are you will notice very half inch you grow, trust me once your past bsl you think your never growing! and if you continue to baby your hair at your stage you will have (already do) fantastic hair when its long.

Stick to mini goals like aim for shoulder for now and take regular photos too. And its OK to occasionally blow dry/straighten your hair just use protection and baby it even more after.

You can do it, just think in a few months time you will be practicing up dos and will feel compleatly different about your hair...keep at it girl, your doing well!

Demetrue
December 10th, 2009, 06:56 PM
Yep - when I wake up in the morning, I have horns AND wings! I feel like a mutant 1950's house wife - which is WHY I have to keep letting it grow till it all gets below shoulder.

jojo
December 10th, 2009, 10:08 PM
Demetrue have horns AND wings! I feel like a mutant 1950's house wife OMG! what a visual, I am seriously LMAO here at that comment! but honey i have news for you, the mutant 1950's housewife look is very quickly replaced by the Mudusa on speed look, trust me it is!!

Juneii
December 10th, 2009, 10:12 PM
Same here!! my hair is definitely 1a when it is long, it is stick straight and can't even keep braid waves even if I leave them in for 12 hours overnight. at first I thought it was a bit wavy when short but that was just the awkward length where my body makes it bend really ugly.

just stick it out, it should start getting straighter past bsl :D

juliaxena
December 10th, 2009, 10:32 PM
Who would have though short hair was such a high maintainance huh Demetrue? Well I didn't. I think I know where you are going with horns and wings lol. I get those too. But I don't see every half inch that grows because of this twisting action. To me it seems like my hair is the same lenght for the past 3 months, that's why I haven't even taken a new pic.

vindo
December 10th, 2009, 10:49 PM
I agree with what everyone said, that phase will be over when you gain length.
Slight flicks can be due to a whirl, or maybe you are not a 1aa..rather 1 a/b or b? I have friends at your length with that hairtype who experience the same.
Might be a possibility, when I was your length I was so wishing for my hair to flick anywhere...but it was just dead straight :p

juliaxena
December 10th, 2009, 11:54 PM
Slight flicks can be due to a whirl, or maybe you are not a 1aa..rather 1 a/b or b? I have friends at your length with that hairtype who experience the same.


Not unless hair type that someone's had all their life can change. My hair is fine so it is very light. Besides, in my signature pic it is chin lenght. It didn't have and opportuinty to touch my clothes. I had no flips then.

Arctic
December 11th, 2009, 01:43 AM
Not unless hair type that someone's had all their life can change. My hair is fine so it is very light. Besides, in my signature pic it is chin lenght. It didn't have and opportuinty to touch my clothes. I had no flips then.


Hairtype definitely can change. I used to have baby fine hair that was straight with a bit flicking at the ends (1b probably) and now my strands are getting coarser and my hair is wavy.


If it's been 3 months since your last photo, I think it's good time to take a new one now. You see your hair every day so it's difficult to see it growing, but seeing two photos with 3 months between them will show you concretic growth.


I can't really advice on the drying thing, but hairdryer with hot air certainly does make your strands dryer, as the moisture inside the strands will evaporate (I'm not sure if this is the right word?). Heat styling can leave your hair's moisture content on a very low level (I've read as low as 5% while healthy hair has up to 15% of moisture).

You MIGHT have issues with high porosity though. If you haven't already, make a quick google search and read about it if it fits your hair.

vindo
December 11th, 2009, 03:50 AM
Not unless hair type that someone's had all their life can change. My hair is fine so it is very light. Besides, in my signature pic it is chin lenght. It didn't have and opportuinty to touch my clothes. I had no flips then.

Hair Types can change...what I suspected from your description was:

- Better cared for hair is less straight for almost all hairtypes (except 1a it gets straighter), many people develop a bit more bounce or flicks as you call it when they care for their hair differently.
Things like more frequent blowdrying or dyeing can also straighten out some flicks since they dry out the hair a bit.
On you photo your hair could have been blow dried or maybe you did so more frequently in the past. It does look to have lots of body even though it is fine and not extremely thick so that made me think you may just not be dead straight, more a straightie with some body if that makes sense. :)
But all you can do is watch really, your hair will tell you clearly eventually! Air drying is definetly never wrong, but if your hair was treated different it will take some time to adjust.
Have you tried oils in your hair? They might help with that dry feeling.

jasper
December 11th, 2009, 04:47 AM
Do you think it will dry straight when you have more length because of weight of the hair? I wound up with more waves the longer mine gets. It will not hold a curl if I try to heat set curls, so I was convinced my hair was straight, but it turns out that I've always been brushing it straight or blow drying it straight, or accidentally straightening it with curling iron curls that fall out. Now that I stopped doing those things, it can have it's own way.

juliaxena
December 11th, 2009, 05:35 AM
Hair Types can change...what I suspected from your description was:

- Better cared for hair is less straight for almost all hairtypes (except 1a it gets straighter), many people develop a bit more bounce or flicks as you call it when they care for their hair differently.
Things like more frequent blowdrying or dyeing can also straighten out some flicks since they dry out the hair a bit.
On you photo your hair could have been blow dried or maybe you did so more frequently in the past. It does look to have lots of body even though it is fine and not extremely thick so that made me think you may just not be dead straight, more a straightie with some body if that makes sense. :)
But all you can do is watch really, your hair will tell you clearly eventually! Air drying is definetly never wrong, but if your hair was treated different it will take some time to adjust.
Have you tried oils in your hair? They might help with that dry feeling.


Ok, I guess my rant was a bit unclear. I use blowdryer and always will I think. My hair feels dry if I don't and feels soft and great if I do. Never the hot setting though. I have no explanation for this but I'm not trying to change things that work for me. My hair still flicks right now even if blow dry it. In my pic, the flicking is a resoult of pony tail for example. I also haven't changed anything in my hair care routine since I came to LHC. I see no need to. Oils feel terrible in my hair. My hair is stick straight when longer. Just not behaving at this time. I thank everybody for their input though.

juliaxena
December 11th, 2009, 06:41 AM
:o and yes, of course my hair grew a bit-you guys made me decide I take a picture. I would not have taken it on my own just yet because I still don't see this as huge improvement.

heidi w.
December 11th, 2009, 08:07 AM
I think this is part of my awkward phase. My hair is not yet long enough to have weight to stay straight. It flicks out in dosens of different directions, either becuase it takes a shape according to how it falls or touches my clothes or simply chin and neck. Anyone experienced this? And yes, I am 1a when long. It won't hold a curl for 2 minutes to save my life...I suppose I will just have to grow it through. My hair seems to lose moisture if I air dry. I suppose longer drying period allowes this. A rant :)

Um, a lot of shorter haired people do not condition. And many in your length zone don't try oiling or shea or something like that.

Just a checkin, are you conditioning in any way? Is your conditioner overly light? You could just condition the length, not the scalp/top, with a heavier conditioner. This won't make the flipping out bit stop exactly -- but I'm going after the notion that you claim your hair hates air drying and moisture seems to be less when you air dry. Conditioner choice can make a difference then.

Also, it's winter. I don't know if you're in snow country or not, but right now ambient air is VERY dry and can cause fly-away and static. I recommend running a humidifier at night. Just a little bit of mist to put a little bit of moisture into the bedroom. Helps for nosebleeds, dry nose, dry throat, dry skin, and may be just enough to help with fly-away.

It's hard with fine hair to find the right conditioner. I have tried quite a few conditioners and my fave is BIOLAGE'S CONDITIONING BALM, but I use it on my length only. I lean my head way to one side so I can go up fairly high up the hair without touching scalp skin. None on the top and hair closest to scalp skin. I leave it on for a while.

That could be another point. If you're conditioning but basically rinsing it out too quickly, or using it in too tepid of temperature water (cuticle not open and thus not able to bond so easily with cortex)--that would then mean the conditioner sits more on top of the hair and forms a kind of film.

Also, you might consider beginning to experiment with oiling and oil when hair is still damp, not sopping wet, but damp. See if that helps.

Remember do one thing to be able to know the results more reliably.

These are my thoughts. Some of that sticking out might be related to a bit of fly-away, certainly this time of year.

heidi w.

heidi w.
December 11th, 2009, 08:08 AM
Finally for some, spring/summer/fall, and then in winter, different conditioners might be suitable, depending on where you live.

Hair's behavior can change seasonally.

heidi w.

JamieLeigh
December 11th, 2009, 09:11 AM
I'm past classic, and my hair still hates airdrying. But it hates blow-frying even more, so I deal. ;)

Hair type can certainly change as you get older or gain more length. Not only age and length gain, but health changes, diet changes, weather and climate changes - all that affects your hair. Of course though, if you've never really had your hair past your shoulders, it's never been given a chance to develop a wave pattern. You honestly just never know! :)

Katze
December 11th, 2009, 11:29 AM
great advice so far.

I'd add: my hair looked like yours at that length, if I blowdried, which I always did. Just after the length in your pics, I started getting those 'flips'. I looked like a bad helmet head female politician - Maggie Thatcher hair but flat and flyaway. If you look at my hair now, you would never believe it, but my hair was 'straight' (or I thought it was) for most of my life. More moisture has finally allowed it to grow long, and now that it is long it is wavier than ever, also thanks to the moisture.

I suspect yours is similar.

Airdrying is tough, especially for wavy hair and fine hair. I am going on the assumption (see above) that your hair might actually be wavy. At your length, blowdrying isn't going to kill your hair, but many people (me included) with fine hair could not grow long with frequent blowdrying. What about airdrying with product in your hair, scrunching as you go, drying in a towel ('plopping'), in a bun, in braids, etc etc.

it is very likely that your hairtype will change with different treatment as well as with length...it happened to me.

As for the floatiness, it is a curse of fine hair but it does get better when hair is longer. Leave-ins might help - at your length I used beeswax on my ends, but have found conditioner to be better.

christi.adell
December 11th, 2009, 12:28 PM
My hair is roughly chin length right now and hates air drying too.
I don't ever think I'll completely give up blow drying, at least not while it's short.
Blow drying just makes my hair look 100% better, it doesn't look dried out at all as when I air dry.

vindo
December 11th, 2009, 01:20 PM
Ok, I guess my rant was a bit unclear. I use blowdryer and always will I think. My hair feels dry if I don't and feels soft and great if I do. Never the hot setting though. I have no explanation for this but I'm not trying to change things that work for me. My hair still flicks right now even if blow dry it. In my pic, the flicking is a resoult of pony tail for example. I also haven't changed anything in my hair care routine since I came to LHC. I see no need to. Oils feel terrible in my hair. My hair is stick straight when longer. Just not behaving at this time. I thank everybody for their input though.

Well I'm sorry then, just tried to explain possible flicks and give advice on how to conquer the dryness.
All I wanted to make understandable about flicks is that 1a would not flick to save its life.
Oils are good for hair, period. I'm sorry they don't work for you but like I said..all the good things work with adjustment - if you want them to..totally up to you :flower:

heidi w.
December 11th, 2009, 02:14 PM
For those who blow dry, consider these ideas to reduce stress to the hair from heat.

1. Use a diffuser. This means that the air stream is more widely distributed over a broader surface of hair, not at all like the tunnel flow of air that a drier without this attachment provides. This can also help reduce tangles and overly drying the hair with too much heat.

2. Use a cool to coolish setting, not the highest heat.

3. Beware of blowing too close to the hair, and especially any scalp skin. Burns can occur.

4. You can mostly blow the hair dry with this method and allow the hair to finish by air drying.

5. One more idea, not related to blow drying, if you want to reduce flips and have a smoother, sleeker look, look into rolling the hair on large rollers -- pretty large. This helps to smooth hair and help ends slightly furl under. For shorter lengths you can use a large, nearly barrel roller up to the head, but not all the way up the head. Experiment with placement and don't put too much hair on one roller -- better to use more rollers. Perhaps steam rollers will work, too? What's the name of those rollers that people like to use on dry hair? -- ah yes, Snap'n'Go. But those aren't large rollers. It's a nice design though--the snap thing.

Of course, if you opt to try blow drying with the recommendations above, any one or all, prepare to spend more time.

heidi w.

heidi w.
December 11th, 2009, 02:20 PM
For those with much longer lengths, I learned this method from Lady Grace who has quite thick and long hair. While she has publically announced taking off some length, I met her when she had over 14 feet of length. She has unbelievable thickness and volume, too, and she's older like I am -- and still growing strong.

Anyway, because of the length she had a whole system of standing on a table with a rayon curtain or a fabric like a parachute all around the table. You can skip this part if shorter than floor-length. (ETA: I am shorter than hair length but I still use a panel because I like to catch up any shed hair and toss it and not allow it to overly lump on the carpet. Despite my best efforts now, it still occurs. But it helps to not get the strands coiled in a regular vaccuum cleaner.)

But she had a ceiling fan in this room in her house and set up one other fan across the room. We did a project together that forced to do more frequent hair washes and a need to dry our hair quickly.

If you stand well clear of a fan, it's the same effect as blow drying. Slowly detangle damp hair. Large clumps of hair in chunks dry slower. She would divide hair in sections and work on strips to air dry.

You can set this system up in your house.

While I'm not big on detangling while sopping wet, once the hair begins to air dry a bit, and it's merely damp, it's ok to work with it a little bit, slowly working towards less and less tangled hair as it proceeds towards drier and drier.

Be sure to work with a wide tooth comb while wet. As wide as you can find. You don't need all the tangles out all at once. As you get drier and drier you can move to closer set teeth on the comb and get more and more tangles out, and also use fingers to remove tangles. Do this for pin knots, lifting up towards the sky and off to the side. Do not continue to pull down on a tangle. It'll make it worse.

Hope these tips help.
heidi w.

juliaxena
December 13th, 2009, 01:31 PM
Oh thanks for blowdrying tips although I always am careful to use only cool setting. It makes sence because who would want to burn themselves. I'm not aiming for lenghts more than BSL and know for a fact that my hair can grow healthy to BSL even if I blowdry regularly. Maybe my hair is just more resiliant than others. I always wanted wavy hair I spent hours trying to put some wave in it and was jelous of my friends who had it. For me straight hair runs in the family. Even a perm didn't work. The only time I could put some wave in it was when it was damaged. And I do mean damaged, not just "not totally virgin". In fact, my coworker who is also growing her hair at the moment is experiencing the same thing. She also normally has straigh hair. Oils really do nothing for me. I tryed them numerous times. Some hair just can't stand oils same as some can't stand cones, its all about what someones hair likes. It just won't go into my hair no matter how little I use. Hair is not living, it can't get used to stuff, perhaps we get used to it feeling different, but I don't believe in hair transition. Anyway, just needed to vent, thanks for listening.

GlassEyes
December 13th, 2009, 04:17 PM
Uh, hair may not "feel" the need to adjust, but it certainly DOES need to. Even though it isn't really alive, the differing things we do to it (no cone, cone; oil, no oil; butters, no butters; different conditioners, different shampoos, etc) all affect how it will react to something. It's not really so much the hair ADJUSTING as it is changing to suit a new routine. :shrug: It's only logical that it would do so--if you shove hair full fo cones and don't clarify, oils may just have trouble working. Similarly, if your hair is used to shampoo daily, and you try to go to once a week, oil production may increase because of it (and the scalp is still living). Go CO after shampooing constantly, and it will take time for the full effects of it to tame the mess left behind by shampoo.

Different routines and throwing different things at hair cause it to act differently. It may be that your hair doesn't like oils, but that doesn't mean that hair doesn't need time to adjust to new things.

juliaxena
December 14th, 2009, 12:08 AM
[quote=GlassEyes;892586 Similarly, if your hair is used to shampoo daily, and you try to go to once a week, oil production may increase because of it (and the scalp is still living).
Different routines and throwing different things at hair cause it to act differently. [/quote]

That's scalp adjustment. My hair is as it is, if something doesn't work the first time, it won't work the fiftieth either. I'm not exactly new to hair care, I know my hair this much. Maybe some people's hair can adjust, I don't know. I won't be slacking on oil if I know my hair won't absorb it or putting on protein if I know it wiil make my hair brittle. If I did any of that, I'd be ruining my hair and that's not something I'd consider

ArienEllariel
December 14th, 2009, 01:35 AM
Demetrue have horns AND wings! I feel like a mutant 1950's house wife OMG! what a visual, I am seriously LMAO here at that comment! but honey i have news for you, the mutant 1950's housewife look is very quickly replaced by the Mudusa on speed look, trust me it is!!

:spitting:

hmmm
December 14th, 2009, 11:52 AM
I found the blow drying tips really interesting, thanks heidi w!
I have the same problem with my hair at this length. It never flips evenly. But the way I deal with it is by not caring :shrug: and keeping it out of my face.
I haven't blow dried in years, maybe it would help my hair look neater at this stage, but then again I'm not about to go out and buy one, so myeh.
When I feel like looking decent, I wear a pretty hairband to distract people.

I don't know about hair not changing at all, though. I used to do quite well on cones and SLS, but my hair's definitely changed after quitting them, and looks better because of the oil and henna. It's much easier for me to manage this way, it might be different for you... but I will strongly second emichee's oiling suggestion. It doesn't work for me in between washes, but I can't wash my hair without heavy scalp and length oiling - usually left on overnight. It doesn't seem like it's a very talked about way of doing things here, but I've always done it and it really helps. It also really shows when I don't do it.
Then again, it's upto you, and everyone's hair is different. I think yours is very pretty! :blossom:

coscass
December 14th, 2009, 10:34 PM
I know how you feel! Believe me. My hair just finally got long enough to hold nice curls and such, before, it would just bunch up around my neck in these tiny, frizzy little curls and I was like, hello?!