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Bellalalala
February 22nd, 2010, 07:29 AM
I had my hair styled for a formal event on Saturday, and the stylist burned my hair.

I never would have noticed before, but now that I baby my hair and always look for splits, I've noticed all of these charred, brittle, burned to a crisp ends!

The worst thing is that I have a whole bunch of tiny short ones around my hair-line!!!

I would have never noticed before because they would have just broken off when I brushed my hair.

Is this normal??? Do hair-dryers normally burn off bits of hair??
It didn't seem that hot, but my charred ends beg to differ.

Liss
February 22nd, 2010, 07:33 AM
Interesting, as I'm becoming more weary of my dryer these days, although I've never really noticed any substantial damage on my hair so far.

Was it only a dryer she used? Or did she also style it with curler / straightener? Could it be from a harsh shampoo or styling products?

nayver
February 22nd, 2010, 07:43 AM
It has happened to me also!!! I got a trim a few weeks ago, and even though she cut an inch I feel my ends crunchy :( She only blowed dry it.

countryhopper
February 22nd, 2010, 08:01 AM
Sorry to hear that happened :(

Maybe try clarifying to get rid of the heavy products? The damage might not look as bad afterwards. Or at least you can see the extent of it.

JamieLeigh
February 22nd, 2010, 08:43 AM
Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry to hear that. :( Next time, I'd suggest browsing through the styles sections here and trying to find an elegant style you can do yourself at home. I like countryhopper's suggestion of clarifying so you can know exactly what's been done. What exactly did the stylist do, what products went into your hair?

amaiaisabella
February 22nd, 2010, 09:01 AM
Rather than just the heat, it could also be from the damage of using a rough brush on your wet hair. Since the hair is so delicate when wet, it will easily tear. The heat itself should not have caused that much damage if she used medium heat, but a lot of stylists will put the dryer two inches from your hair, which takes a normally hot temperature and intensifies it. It helps straighten and dry the hair quicker, but it causes the hair damage as a consequence.

Bellalalala
February 22nd, 2010, 09:45 AM
It's not normal damage, it's full on burned edges as if the hair were quickly passed by a flame!!

She used a coney leave-in that I've used before, she wasn't particularly rough with my hair, and she just used a dryer quickly to smooth out a bit of my hair.

It really didn't seem like anything different than any other stylist has done.

My hair looks fine to just look at it, but all morning, I've found these literally *burned* ends that are hard and fall off if I touch them.

MandyBeth
February 22nd, 2010, 09:54 AM
I had a formal event also on Saturday - my stylist (aka friend) had me start with rag curls, so we had a base to start with. Then, she parted my hair into the sections, twisting them back, pinned everything more or less in place, then soaked my hair in the panacea from Nightblooming and a heat protection gunk, and touched up curls as needed with a curling iron, and sprayed the heck out of it with hairspray.

I haven't found any burned ends, tho my hair was/is rather cranky from the heat and products.

meowmeow
February 22nd, 2010, 12:15 PM
I'm sorry this happened to you. If I were you I'd take pictures and show them to the stylist and let her know what happened.

Tap Dancer
February 22nd, 2010, 12:18 PM
That doesn't sound normal to me. Did she touch the blowdryer to your hair? Or hold it extremely close? That's the only way I could see it burning. :(

ArienEllariel
February 22nd, 2010, 12:23 PM
Oh my! That's awful! I haven't gone to a stylist in a while, just because the last time I went for a haircut some lady ripped a comb through my hair from top to bottom and broke off a ton of hairs. Then she blowfried it on high after wrecking it with her scissors. (this was before I joined LHC)

tralalalara
February 22nd, 2010, 01:58 PM
Back when I used a hairdryer, I would find crunchy coarse bits with split ends. Now I still find coarse bits, just not so split. And by coarse, I mean that sections of shed hairs will be evenly crinkled into 1millimeter S-curves.

When they had splits, I thought it was burnt.
Maybe this is what yours is like as well?

Rhiannon7
February 22nd, 2010, 02:14 PM
Ohh that's horrible! sorry to hear about this. this happened to my scalp many years ago, the stylist actually left me under the hairdryer for about 2 hours during a perm and then was angry because i kept telling her my scalp was hurting. i know how this feels and i guess it had to be the hairdryer, you say there was nothing different done or put on your hair, unless she used perm solution instead of poo? anyway, sorry that this happened, if it looks or feels too bad do a Deep Moisture treatment like SMT and see if it helps, but you might have to cut the ends (if you can and want.) to fix any damage done to your hair.

Capybara
February 22nd, 2010, 02:15 PM
Oh my! That's awful! I haven't gone to a stylist in a while, just because the last time I went for a haircut some lady ripped a comb through my hair from top to bottom and broke off a ton of hairs. Then she blowfried it on high after wrecking it with her scissors. (this was before I joined LHC)

The first time I went to my stylist, she started combing my hair from the top down too! I politely asked her to work her way from the bottom up, and she happily complied (: She only blow dries it on cool now (I only get my hair blowdried about once a year, and she does it :P), and she doesn't even bother asking whether I want it straightened anymore.

To the OP: I'm so sorry to hear about that! Just remember, hair does grow :) And i've found that, if babied, even damaged ends can become manageable.

Good luck with everything!

MissMandyElizab
February 22nd, 2010, 02:25 PM
I am so sorry this happened to you but i had a lady do the same thing and it sucked but she had the round brush and held it way to close

LHktress
February 22nd, 2010, 03:00 PM
This happened to me too. It was a combination of pulling my wet hair with the round brush and having the blowdrier set on hot and way too close. I kept telling the hairstylist to lower the heat at least an she eventually did, but it was too late. Some days later I started noticing short hairs, all fried at the ends. :(

It's growing back now...

Fractalsofhair
February 22nd, 2010, 03:04 PM
Yep, that happened to me. Search and destroy, or a trim might be needed. Try clarifying and heavy moisturizing.

Bellalalala
February 22nd, 2010, 06:44 PM
Thankfully, the damage is pretty minimal, I've only found a few clusters of hair that were clearly burned off near the scalp.

Overall I'm not concerned.

It's just the first time I've had a hair dryer near my hair since I joined LHC.

My hair is extremely fine, so I imagine it has been damaged a little like this every time it's been blow dried.
I was just wondering if this happened to anyone else, or if my hair is particularly burn-prone.

I'll just keep my hair clear of dryers from now on.
I've never seen this with quick once over with a curling iron, so I'll just stick to that if I have to resort to heat styling.

For anyone wondering why I think it's burn and not regular damage, this is what it looked like, but less
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3470833625_7918db76f4.jpg

JenniferNoel
February 22nd, 2010, 06:57 PM
Could have been a product used in the salon mixed with the blow fry and rough handling. It's harder to feel what's going on with the fryer and the brush/comb when you're not the one using them.:run:

Brat
February 22nd, 2010, 07:02 PM
Mine's been burned as well. By a ruthless girl with a flat iron. Very unpleasant, and burned hair smells awful, especially when you know it's yours.

Tutti_Frutti
February 24th, 2010, 01:02 PM
The damage looks pretty weird, haven't seen that before! Is your hair already getting better? Maybe after a couple of days it goes away?

Yesterday I had a prom night at school, so I also went to a stylist to get my hair done. I really liked my hairdo, but afterwards my hair felt so dry and crunchy from the hairspray.. I washed it today and it still smells like hair spray a little bit. The damaged parts of my hair feel so dry! :(

I don't really like hairstylists, but since I can't cut my own hair and I wanted a nice hairdo for prom, I just have to deal with it once in a while... Anyone else who feels like this too?

guccixx
February 24th, 2010, 05:27 PM
Whoa...that is not normal in the *least*. Stylists are supposed to know how to do hair without leaving it charred! I'm also wondering how long she kept the blow dryer on that one area around your face because I didn't even think blow dryers could do that after one use. One thing I do notice with stylists though, is that they love to use round boar bristle brushes that really STRETCH the hair during the blow out. This might have contributed to the little bitty broken hairs around your face.

I had one guy use a bunch of those round brushes almost like rollers and left it hanging there on the scalp until it cooled down. It produced pretty waves/curls but that says something if it can just be held all by itself!

Did you notice if the stylist concentrated the heat on the ends? Because that is something that should be avoided always. The heat should be concentrated on the roots where hair is the strongest.

I just noticed amaiaisabella's reply. Yes this is what I was talking about. Stylists never really wait until the hair is damp to start blowing it dry. They start when it's wet and use brushes that stretch out the curl. This is So bad for the hair. I mean, judging from your pictures it definitely looks like hair that was burnt. I'm so sorry :(

BrightEyes7
February 24th, 2010, 05:41 PM
That isn't a pic of her hair... she said it looks like that but not as bad.

I have had this happen to me too. They fry your hair because stylists always keep the blowdryer close to the hair. I had one hold it against the brush. My ends look like what you are describing! Serious S&D mission for you! :scissors:

Fiferstone
February 24th, 2010, 05:46 PM
Yeah, sounds like the "wrap the ends around the big round brush and hold ends in brush right up against the hair dryer nozzle" techinque to me.

:shudder:

Sorry that happened to you, but I fear the only thing to do is to snip such crispy-critter ends off. They are not salvageable.

beez1717
February 24th, 2010, 05:50 PM
Aaaak!!!! Now I'm afraid to to to my barber! Lol I'm weening my hair off the blow fryer. and I'm also washing every other day now :)

shockinglength
February 24th, 2010, 06:12 PM
Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry to hear that. :( Next time, I'd suggest browsing through the styles sections here and trying to find an elegant style you can do yourself at home. I like countryhopper's suggestion of clarifying so you can know exactly what's been done. What exactly did the stylist do, what products went into your hair?

Is there a link to countyhopper's suggestion? tia

redtea
February 24th, 2010, 06:43 PM
Ack, sorry that happened!

Last time I got my hair cut, I went to a different stylist than usual and as she was blowdrying my hair, I swear I saw it SMOKE! I was so freaked out and she looked panicked when she saw I noticed. I thought "maybe I didn't really see that.." and didn't say anything. Then I saw it AGAIN! I was about ready to leap out of the chair! I checked my hair for burn damage over the next couple days but couldn't find anything. I'm NEVER going back there and I think I'll go back to trimming my own hair from now on, or at least not letting them dry it!

PearlyCurly
February 26th, 2010, 05:02 AM
Well i burned my own ends!

It seems like almost every time i straighten my hair, my ends burn:(
And i've probably only straighten 4x in a year...i dont think heat likes my hair!!

Bellalalala
February 26th, 2010, 04:06 PM
Thankfully the crispy, charred, little burny ends all break off cleanly, so I can't even tell where they are anymore.

I just hate that a bunch of hairs were burned off so close to my scalp.

I mean, I have a few significant bits of hair that were below my chin and have been burned to less than an inch.

ericthegreat
February 26th, 2010, 06:53 PM
A proper blowout really shouldn't significantly damage anyone's hair. But you have to move the blower down the section of hair with the right speed, amount of tension, and angle. Speaking as a hairstylist myself, I can definitely say that many other hairstylists out there perform very damaging blowouts.

A good blowout should take at least 25 minutes to half an hour. And that's not including letting your hair pre-dry in towel for at least 15 minutes first, so in total the drying time would take around 40 to 45 minutes for a good, healthy blowout. But, as most hairstylists and most hair salons in general are of course all about making the most money at any cost, they will do everything to cheat and cut down that blowdrying time to just 15 minutes. In order to do that, many of them will start drying your hair on full blast at high heat right away after you've had your hair washed. They are not even going to let you sit around for 15 minutes with your hair wrapped in a towel, because that's 15 extra minutes that they can spend doing the next client. So they will indeed fry your hair at full blast while its soaking wet, and the round brushes they typically use are extremely damaging to the hair. These round brushes are typically metal, and have those pointy, abrasive pin like bristles. You wouldn't want to run those brushes over your skin because you would get major scratches and maybe even cuts. Well, that's what's happening to your hair, its going thro major heat and mechanical damage at the same time. So since they are blowdrying your hair on high heat from start to finish and also using a damaging round brush, it really is no wonder that this kind of blowout will burn your hair.

If you really want a good, healthy blowout you will definitely need to find a salon and a hairstylist who is willing to take their time.

Or, you can follow my personal healthy blowout secrets ;). First, you will need to be patient and allow for your hair to pre-dry in a towel for at lest 10 minutes so it will soak up the extra water. Then, after detangling your hair gently, you should should apply a little bit of leave-in conditioning spray or some other kind of heat protection over your hair. Then, instead of using a round brush, use a flat paddle brush to blow out your hair straight. A flat paddle brush will actually get your hair as straight as a flat iron without doing as much damage as a round brush would, because the paddle brush is running straight down the hair section instead of being wrapped around over and over like it would with a round brush. Also, the proper way to direct the blowdryer nozzle to the hair is at a 45 degree angle down toward the hair. Blow drying the hair at this angle smooths down the cuticle to make it shinier and smoother. Now this bit of advice only works if you are blowing your hair out straight. Because unfortunately there is no healthy way to blow out your hair in waves or curls, to do that you will need to use a round brush, which of course again quite damaging.

Ally<3
February 26th, 2010, 07:49 PM
I don't know if any one else has mentioned this, but I've heard of this happening when the blowdryer is too CLOSE to the hair. Which it often is, you see them basically pushing the nossel into the hair.

Hairdressers are horrible for burning hair. I once went to one that flat ironed my hair while it was still damp. ARGH! My hair was already fragile because it was back when I had it blonde. I still have the damage today. Do you think she gives a s*** about it?

Bellalalala
February 27th, 2010, 03:36 PM
Eric:

Thank you so much!

You are always so helpful.

Next time I have to get my hair done, I'll call around and find a stylist who has experience doing careful blow-outs.
I need my hair done so rarely, that I have no problem paying a premium to get more time with a thoughtful stylist.

I've always hated the way my hair feels rough and looks matte after a trip to the salon. People talk about how they love that salon-fresh feeling, but I always go straight home and deep condition because my poor hair looks so beat up after full-blast hair-dryer and yanking with a round brush.

oy

btw, my avatar photo is right after I took out the the stylists' updo, so as you can see, the damage isn't exactly noticeable.

IndigoAsh
February 27th, 2010, 06:55 PM
I know I might sound a little stupid saying this, but I was reading about hair porosity today... yeah, don't shut down on me yet. ... it seems it makes a huge difference in hair care. I'm guessing they're not burned to a crisp, but probably dried to a crisp. I have very porous hair. Quick to soak up water and quick to release water. It could be all the moisture was just sucked out of the ends. I only say this because burned hair has a very obvious smell to it.

Tressie
February 27th, 2010, 07:11 PM
That's awful!! I'm so sorry you had this bad experience! Hugs!!

Alia
February 27th, 2010, 11:23 PM
How awful! This is one reason why hairdressers terrify me. I hope your hair recovers quickly :flower: .

Cherry_Sprinkle
February 28th, 2010, 10:56 AM
Honestly, I would take that photo into the salon manager. The stylist isn't likely to get fired but I am pretty sure she would get a lot more training in blow outs.. :shrug:

nayver
February 28th, 2010, 11:49 AM
A proper blowout really shouldn't significantly damage anyone's hair. But you have to move the blower down the section of hair with the right speed, amount of tension, and angle. Speaking as a hairstylist myself, I can definitely say that many other hairstylists out there perform very damaging blowouts.

A good blowout should take at least 25 minutes to half an hour. And that's not including letting your hair pre-dry in towel for at least 15 minutes first, so in total the drying time would take around 40 to 45 minutes for a good, healthy blowout. But, as most hairstylists and most hair salons in general are of course all about making the most money at any cost, they will do everything to cheat and cut down that blowdrying time to just 15 minutes. In order to do that, many of them will start drying your hair on full blast at high heat right away after you've had your hair washed. They are not even going to let you sit around for 15 minutes with your hair wrapped in a towel, because that's 15 extra minutes that they can spend doing the next client. So they will indeed fry your hair at full blast while its soaking wet, and the round brushes they typically use are extremely damaging to the hair. These round brushes are typically metal, and have those pointy, abrasive pin like bristles. You wouldn't want to run those brushes over your skin because you would get major scratches and maybe even cuts. Well, that's what's happening to your hair, its going thro major heat and mechanical damage at the same time. So since they are blowdrying your hair on high heat from start to finish and also using a damaging round brush, it really is no wonder that this kind of blowout will burn your hair.

If you really want a good, healthy blowout you will definitely need to find a salon and a hairstylist who is willing to take their time.

Or, you can follow my personal healthy blowout secrets ;). First, you will need to be patient and allow for your hair to pre-dry in a towel for at lest 10 minutes so it will soak up the extra water. Then, after detangling your hair gently, you should should apply a little bit of leave-in conditioning spray or some other kind of heat protection over your hair. Then, instead of using a round brush, use a flat paddle brush to blow out your hair straight. A flat paddle brush will actually get your hair as straight as a flat iron without doing as much damage as a round brush would, because the paddle brush is running straight down the hair section instead of being wrapped around over and over like it would with a round brush. Also, the proper way to direct the blowdryer nozzle to the hair is at a 45 degree angle down toward the hair. Blow drying the hair at this angle smooths down the cuticle to make it shinier and smoother. Now this bit of advice only works if you are blowing your hair out straight. Because unfortunately there is no healthy way to blow out your hair in waves or curls, to do that you will need to use a round brush, which of course again quite damaging.

Oh Eric, I was searching for a healthy way of straighten my hair and I found yours! I don't have any experience with blowdrying, that's why I gotta ask you if the paddle brush should be put under the hair or over the hair? I don't know if I'm making sense with my question...

ericthegreat
February 28th, 2010, 11:55 AM
Oh Eric, I was searching for a healthy way of straighten my hair and I found yours! I don't have any experience with blowdrying, that's why I gotta ask you if the paddle brush should be put under the hair or over the hair? I don't know if I'm making sense with my question...

Always put the flat paddle brush under your hair, not on top of it. In fact, if your hair is shorter say around shoulder length to APL, brushing your hair from the top down will actually flip out your ends somewhat, and unless you purposely want those flipped out ends and not a perfectly straight look this is what you need to avoid doing! Remember guys, when you are blowing out your hair straight, put the brush under the section of hair that you are working on with the blower.

Edit: This is my personal favorite paddle brush. I use it every time I blow out my hair. Yes, my hair is already naturally pin straight, but when I combine that with the heat of my ionic blowdryer and my paddle brush, I get that ultra shiny finish that I really love seeing on my hair.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3325&pictureid=42851

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3493&pictureid=44880

Amraann
February 28th, 2010, 12:16 PM
Excellent advice Eric.

I do not visit salon's often. When I do I do not let them dry my hair.

If at any time during a salon visit you feel uncomfortable then you need to speak up.

rchorr
February 28th, 2010, 01:15 PM
The last time I saw a burn that looked like that I had lit a cigarette from a gas stove. I burned my bangs, big time! And it smelled HORRIBLE!!!

RCHORR'

BrightEyes
February 28th, 2010, 01:23 PM
Always put the flat paddle brush under your hair, not on top of it. In fact, if your hair is shorter say around shoulder length to APL, brushing your hair from the top down will actually flip out your ends somewhat, and unless you purposely want those flipped out ends and not a perfectly straight look this is what you need to avoid doing! Remember guys, when you are blowing out your hair straight, put the brush under the section of hair that you are working on with the blower.

Edit: This is my personal favorite paddle brush. I use it every time I blow out my hair. Yes, my hair is already naturally pin straight, but when I combine that with the heat of my ionic blowdryer and my paddle brush, I get that ultra shiny finish that I really love seeing on my hair.

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3325&pictureid=42851

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/picture.php?albumid=3493&pictureid=44880

Eric, I have a question that is probably pretty dumb:o. Whenever I blowdry with a paddle brush (and I do put the brush under the section of hair I am drying), I can never get the ends turned under. Is there a special flick of the wrist or something I should be doing as I hold the brush?

I always resort to the round brush to get my ends turned under just right. But I know it is damaging. I would love to figure out how to get the same result with a paddle brush. Thanks!

nayver
February 28th, 2010, 01:36 PM
Thanks Eric, that is what I needed!! :)

Another question...do you think blow drying this way every three days would cause any damage to my hair? I don't dye it, only henna it every once in a while.

Bellalalala
February 28th, 2010, 03:31 PM
I know I might sound a little stupid saying this, but I was reading about hair porosity today... yeah, don't shut down on me yet. ... it seems it makes a huge difference in hair care. I'm guessing they're not burned to a crisp, but probably dried to a crisp. I have very porous hair. Quick to soak up water and quick to release water. It could be all the moisture was just sucked out of the ends. I only say this because burned hair has a very obvious smell to it.


Nope, it was definitely burned.

Tiny little sections of the ends were white, and fell right off the moment I touched them.
They were most definitely burned.

However, they were just tiny little sections, like millimeters, and there weren't a whole lot of them which is probably why it didn't stink to high heaven.

I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this from hair drying.
They fell of so cleanly that I wouldn't have ever noticed them if I weren't always looking for split ends these days.

I'm just wondering if this has happened to me over and over and I've never noticed before.

Bellalalala
February 28th, 2010, 03:35 PM
Honestly, I would take that photo into the salon manager. The stylist isn't likely to get fired but I am pretty sure she would get a lot more training in blow outs.. :shrug:

well, that picture isn't my hair, but it's exactly what the tips of some of my hair looked like. The pic is more extreme.

I found it googling "burned hair" just to confirm.

I also took some of my shed hairs and experimented holding them near flames and blow drying them on a metal surface and they turned out exactly the same way, only worse of course.

ericthegreat
February 28th, 2010, 04:46 PM
Thanks Eric, that is what I needed!! :)

Another question...do you think blow drying this way every three days would cause any damage to my hair? I don't dye it, only henna it every once in a while.

Nayver, I only blow out my hair no more than once a week. And even that is pushing it, because number 1) My hair is super strong and thick. Asian hair is the strongest hair of all the hair types, so my own hair is much more resistant and forgiving. I can get away with both blowing out my hair and flat ironing it straight, plus also getting my highlights touched up every 5 weeks, my hair is simply that strong.

And number 2), I really do everything else to treat my hair like royalty. I NEVER use shampoo at all unless I need to clarify my hair, and I only clarify once every month. On a normal everyday basis, I CO my hair only. Every night, I rinse my hair with warm water and my Suave Tropical Coconut conditioner, which has no cones. And at least once a week, sometimes even two days a week I will apply coconut oil all over my hair and leave it in overnight as I sleep. I CO the coconut oil out in the morning. My hair actually is much easier to detangle when its soaking wet with conditioner, so this is when I do 70% of combing out my hair.

Tyrinaniel
February 28th, 2010, 07:16 PM
Omg you need a hug. *Hugs and gives cookies*

nayver
March 1st, 2010, 02:15 AM
Thanks Eric for your advice! :)