LHC, I'm sorry... I blowfried...

[IStand4u]

So, this morning I had to wash my hair but also had to work, and since my hair takes forever to dry on it's own I HAD to blowfry it! I'm sorry! But, here in Saskatchewan Canada, temperatures are starting to drop and there is no way I'm going outside with wet or damp hair when it could possibly freeze!

So, I'm sorry, but the months for blowfrying for some in colder climates starts again soon... and I vow to only do it when I don't have time to let my hair dry naturally!

I hope you understand! And, are there any ways to protect your hair more from heat damage and cold damage in the -5C to -50C? Thanks!

[lajsa]

I wash my hair in the evenings so it can dry overnight. But I think blowfrying once in a while might not be as bad as letting the hair freeze to death in the cold.

[teela1978]

There are long hairs who blowdry their hair regularly. Using a lower setting and not blasting it all over the place really shouldn't be all that bad for it :shrug:

[Beatrix_Kiddo]

Try to use a heat protectant. It helped to me during cold winter. I hated to used it, but now is spring here, so I said goodbye to blowdrier

[Carolyn]

Nothing to apologize for. You gotta do what you gotta do. An occasional blow drying isn't all that bad IMO.

[enfys]

I blowdry in winter. The UK is nowhere near as cold either.

My advice:

Learn to scalp wash. Much less blowdrying time. You should be able to at your length.
Let a towel do as much work as possible. Microfibre is great. I use at least two towels because the first will saturate with water pretty quickly.
Don't fling the dryer about everywhere so your hair gets knotty.
Make sure your hand is always partly in the airflow of the dryer. If it feels hot you know they dryer is too close and your hair is feeling the heat just as much.
Use the coolest setting you can.
Try to wash the night before if you can. I usually wash the night before then finish off with the blowdryer the next morning. Yes, it's still damp even then.

I don't use a heat protectant for blow drying. I would if I used directly applied heat like straighteners, but I don't think I get any notable damage from blowdrying to require it.

As for protecting from the cold I'd just suggest covering it with a hat or leaving the length down inside your coat and putting it up once you are indoors. I used to do that during the long walk to school in winter. Try not to let it get wet while you are out from rain/snow if you are worried about freezing; better a wooly hat cops it.

[FrizzFighter]

A diffuser is a great tool to use if you have to blowdry.

[IStand4u]

Thanks, I use a diffuser all the time! And even if I wash at night, my hair is still damp in the morning...

About the scalp washes, I should be able to do it at my length yes, but I have so many layers! Some are just below chin and then a bit longer and then my hair... so yeah... I want to get rid of them first!

Thank you to everyone though! Any more suggestions for protecting it from the cold? My hair gets frizzy if it's under a hat or in my coat, and it's so full of moisture (naturally) that it freezes a bit anyway...

[Qwackie]

I just got a trim, and the dude who cut it used the blowfryer.
I'm sorry I let him! D:

[Jenn of Pence]

No need to apologize for using the blow drier. You are doing it responsibly, so it should be fine! I must confess that I also gently blow dried twice last week. The weather here isn't cold yet (quite the contrary, it's been an unusually warm fall!) but I'm, um, practicing. ;) All the tips above sound wise, so I think we can all blow dry occasionally without fear.
I don't have winter tips. This is my first LHC winter, and I'm wondering myself. I see most people talking about keeping it up out of the cold and wind, but I'm still pondering the hat issue. I'm quite fond of my knit toboggans that cover my ears! But that doesn't work so well with an up-do. Maybe it'll be a braid kind of winter?

[loralie]

Hi Neighbour! :waving:

I'm originally from BC but this will be my second winter in Alberta. Man it gets freaking cold here! Last winter I had to commute 1 hour (one way!) to work 5 days a week, walking more than 10 blocks and lots of -40 plus windchill days. I don't like showering at night either, but I made it through without blowdrying.

One thing I did (and you could do if you're crafty or know someone who is!) is sewed a silk lining inside one of my chunky slouchy toques, so I could tuck my wet hair up inside it without it getting frizzy and yucky, the silk kept the static and friction down. Also, I have a really big indoor fan that I sometimes use to "blowdry" my hair. It's obviously room temp or cool air, but it does dry it enough so I can leave the house so it isn't sopping... but I don't do it often because I think even the friction of the air causes tangles.

I definitely don't leave any hair uncovered in the winter, wet or not, as it easily freezes. Most days from November to January you can't even go anywhere without mitts or you will probably get frostbite... so same goes for hair! I'm in retail but really, as long as my makeup is done okay they can deal with my hair drying at work. I'm nearly BSL so it does take a bit to dry but I find that if I comb it repetitively while it's wet at home before I leave it helps to dry it faster as well as keeps the tangling down once I'm at work.

Good luck! We've been unseasonably warm so I'm just still preparing for the bitter cold... lets hope it isn't too bad!

[d1angel]

I blow dry mine on a low heat setting. I also use a spray in conditioner, which leaves it silky smooth, and finger comb while drying.

I'm seeing a lot of improvement in my hair once I got off the high heat!

[Chrissy]

There are long hairs who blowdry their hair regularly. Using a lower setting and not blasting it all over the place really shouldn't be all that bad for it :shrug:

What she said. I blow dry sometimes. In fact at the hair meet I had I told that to the others there. I have fine hair and many times I let it air dry. There are times however I don't have time to do that so I blow dry. I just don't fry it. I leave it somewhat damp. It's not a sin to blow dry. It's just better to not dry too long. To me that's when it's damaging. Oh and there is no blow dryers jail here at LHC. :D

[Sooze]

Am new here and have to confess I blow dry with a diffuser all of the time. Certainly isn't warm enough here to airdry. :o I never used to use a hairdryer, when I was younger and had hair down to my waist. I'd forgotten what that was like. Used to take about three hours for my hair to dry, which wasn't bad.

Come to think of it, my hair care back then used to consist of washing, braiding and finger combing, and that was it. And I wonder why my hair got so bad after years of chemical dye, blow drying and all the rest of the rubbish I was using. Doh!

[tinti]

Nothing to apologize for :) If you use a heat protection and set your drying to a lower temp it should be fine.
Btw, you could also try bun it when it's wet, a friend of mine does that when she has to go outside with wet hair.

[CourtneyBee]

I need to move to Canada! :sad

Admittedly, I am quite jealous of you snow bunnies :bunny:

I highly recommend scalp washes. My hair is just beyond BSL with tons of layers and I just use double braiding to keep my ends out of the water. I bet I look completely ridiculous holding my braids out like Pippi Longstocking in front of the shower head but so far so good! Keep a towel right near the shower and actually blot off excess water in the shower so it doesn't travel south during the rest of your showerly duties.

Something about the heat of your scalp makes your roots actually dry faster- I'm usually all dry after 45 minutes.

[may1em]

No worries. I blowfry in the winter sometimes. Long hair has to be enjoyable to be worth having, and being cold is most certainly not enjoyable. I also blowfry my bangs every time I wash.

(Also, we're not like some sort of gentle hair treatment police - what works for you works for you!)

[pepperminttea]

Don't worry about it; cold weather does make air-drying somewhat of a misery, and blow-drying now and then isn't that bad if you're careful about the temperature. :) The UK's winters are kind of laughable compared to Canada's and the Northern US, but washing in the evening really helps me.

[breezefaerie]

I blow dry.

I blow dry my bangs each time they are washed and I blow dry the length when I want to wear it down. My hair is in good condition and I know that it can grow while doing this as I used to have TBL hair.
For me, this works.

[x0h_bother]

Hoods, hats, scarves, updos! I do the half-up in a clip with a hood. I hate winter.

[Lamb]

I don't think anyone could blame you - I hear it gets awfully cold in Saskatchewan!
Blowdrying is not the end of the world. I have fine, curly hair, and a diffuser plus a hairnet keep it tidy during blowdrying. I'm in Canada, too, and autumn is giving us a taste of wintry weather right now... :shudder:

I usually wear those pashmina-type shawls in the winter. I don't like hats, they are not flattering and they don't keep my ears warm. A shawl of a satin-or silk-like material is hair-friendly and warm.

[Anje]

I prefer to wash in the evenings, so I have dry hair in the morning.

There was a bit of a debate last year about whether freezing hair stiff is actually damaging to it -- a lot of us have at least frozen our hair in the past and never found it damaging. Whether you want to go out in the cold with wet hair is another matter....


...but I'm still pondering the hat issue. I'm quite fond of my knit toboggans that cover my ears! But that doesn't work so well with an up-do. Maybe it'll be a braid kind of winter?
This reads rather strangely to me.... In my vocabulary, a toboggan is a snow sled. Knit sleds that cover the ears!

[pennylane]

So, this morning I had to wash my hair but also had to work, and since my hair takes forever to dry on it's own I HAD to blowfry it! I'm sorry!


OMG! what is there to apologize???????????

I honestly don't understand why are you apologizing?


This is just too funny! :misskim:

[ChatNoir]

Living in Northern Norway I guess I can relate to this. Wintertime IS cold, and if you don't have time... well... i'd rather blowdry than going out in the cold with my hair still wet!

[jera]

I think you did the right thing to blowfry rather than go out with wet hair and catch pneumonia. :( Have you ever tried dry shampoos for your hair? That might be an option. :)

[lapushka]

Don't feel guilty about blow drying your hair. If you do it right and you've got a good blow drier, then there's nothing to worry about. Honestly, I don't get all the fuss that's created around blow drying. I grew my hair out as a child and my mom blow dried it on a warm setting every week (warm not hot; blow driers didn't have as much power then). I grew to classic length just fine. My hair didn't suffer. And true, if it feels okay on your hand (for an extended time), it's not too hot for your hair.

The problem is that many blow driers have crummy heat settings. I've had my share of crappy driers, even ones that overheated, got hot on the outside. :(

[IStand4u]

One thing is, I'm apologizing because when I joined I promised not to use a blowdryer ever again.

My hair is curly and fine and I have found that a blowdryer on almost any setting is bad for my hair, unless it's the cold setting and even then it takes a least an hour of blowdrying to get it closer to damp than wet.

I will have to invest in a good knit touque and get someone to put a silk lining in it... or maybe just hand sew it in? Idk...

I'm gonna have to try alot of these out, and hopefully I wont freeze my hair this winter, or fry it!

*Cries* Why does winter here in Western Canada have to be so cold and so long?

[Anje]

*Cries* Why does winter here in Western Canada have to be so cold and so long?
Heh, I'll trade ya. (I'm originally a Wisconsinite, so I have at least a small idea of what you deal with.) Down south in Indiana here, it melts just enough that everything is icy all winter instead of snowy.

[melikai]

OP: I'll forgive you................this time. :p




This reads rather strangely to me.... In my vocabulary, a toboggan is a snow sled. Knit sleds that cover the ears!

Maybe she meant to say toques? :confused: That's what we Canadians call knit winter hats, but that's all I can think of (plus that poster isn't Canadian...).

[IStand4u]

OP: I'll forgive you................this time. :p




Maybe she meant to say toques? :confused: That's what we Canadians call knit winter hats, but that's all I can think of (plus that poster isn't Canadian...).

Thanks, and yes I do believe she meant toques since a toboggan is a wooden winter sled that its long and curved at the tob so you can either be pulled or go down hills at a dangerously fast speed :eyebrows: and where your friends sit and watch waiting for the expected to happen! :drama:
Then, when you get up off the toboggan, and say,"I'm OKAY!" your friends jump up and yell "That was AWESOME!" seeing as how you obviously did a few summersaults before hitting the ground with a crunch. Then, everyone gets up and... :happydance: :)

[Unofficial_Rose]

Well, if it makes you feel better, so did I, today. I had a job interview. My hair looks about 100x nicer when I blowdry it, and at least I can see how much it's grown.

I'm sure it's possible to do it gently, not the hairdressers style method where they blast heat onto each strand whilst wrapping it around a brush and tugging. :eek:

Besides, it's better than catching your death of cold. ;)

[melikai]

Thanks, and yes I do believe she meant toques since a toboggan is a wooden winter sled that its long and curved at the tob so you can either be pulled or go down hills at a dangerously fast speed :eyebrows: and where your friends sit and watch waiting for the expected to happen! :drama:
Then, when you get up off the toboggan, and say,"I'm OKAY!" your friends jump up and yell "That was AWESOME!" seeing as how you obviously did a few summersaults before hitting the ground with a crunch. Then, everyone gets up and... :happydance: :)

Aww! Now I really miss sledding. :( I'm still amazed I survived going all those times without any significant injuries. It's probably the most fun thing ever.

[freckles]

I've gone back to blowdrying fairly regularly recently, too. It's just too cold for me! And I'm betting it's a lot colder where you are, so I'm just being a wimp :)

[IStand4u]

Aww! Now I really miss sledding. :( I'm still amazed I survived going all those times without any significant injuries. It's probably the most fun thing ever.
Lol I know, I probably should have gotten hurt alot more than I did, but oh well! I'm still alive!

I've gone back to blowdrying fairly regularly recently, too. It's just too cold for me! And I'm betting it's a lot colder where you are, so I'm just being a wimp :)
No, your not a wimp, because all of a sudden right now it's +20C instead of the -5C we had a few weeks ago... :confused:

[IStand4u]

*bump**********