Blow drying or flatironing worse?

[shinylocks]

If I want to get my hair straight, which is worse for my hair? Blow drying straight or flatironing straight?

[Riot Crrl]

They are both bad in their own ways. 1a? Why would you want to straighten it anyway?

[Nevermore]

Blow drying at room/cool temp is better than flat ironing, but that's probably not what you were asking.

[brok3nwings]

Im telling with no cientific knowlege, but i´ve used both and i think that flatironing is wayyy worst than blowdrying. You can blowdry in cold...while flatironing the temprature is ALWAYS huge. I could see smoke coming from my hair... :|
Anyway, you know whats the best... N O N E :)

[Just_Isabel]

They are both bad in their own ways. 1a? Why would you want to straighten it anyway?

I'm curious about this too. 1a is the straightest hair type, what does straightening achieve?

About which is more damaging, I say it depends. In my case, I think blow drying it straight is worse because it takes longer and requires lots of brushing, with the iron I just go over my hair once or twice and it's good.
If your hair is already straight, blow drying may work better than it does for me (and you probably need less time, can use cooler air, don't need to brush as much...), and it could be less damaging. :shrug:

[shinylocks]

OK thankyou, I'll probably try blowdrying it straight but on a cold setting :). And the thing about already having dead straight hair is that it *is* straight, but its poofy and kinda BIG....:D

[Juliet's Silk]

And the thing about already having dead straight hair is that it *is* straight, but its poofy and kinda BIG....:D

I would bet quite a lot that you're not a true 1a if this is the case... but what do I know :whistle:

[Jae6]

I would bet quite a lot that you're not a true 1a if this is the case... but what do I know :whistle:

agreed.

oh yeah, and blowdrying is WAY less damaging than flat-ironing because your blowdryer shouldn't ever be getting to the same temps a quality flat-iron can...well, unless it's professional.

if you want to calm your hair down, ever consider setting it on large rollers and airdrying that way?

[Katze]

I would bet quite a lot that you're not a true 1a if this is the case... but what do I know :whistle:

seconded. Could it be that you are 1b or wavier?

You can do a lot of things to get hair straighter and sleeker - oiling, misting, using leave-in conditioner, brushing, combing straight when wet - all come to mind. you really don't NEED heat to style hair.

I'm the opposite, being on the border between straight and wavy and trying to get wavier. My hair has a mind of its own, but I would love to have piece-y, spiraly curls. Washing with conditioner or just water makes my hair wavier and sleeker, but also dull and less shiny and prone to getting stringy past day 2.

My sister has 1b (ish) hair - straight with some "poof" - and just brushing well works for her. Brushing, for me, makes my hair lay flat at the crown then wispy and bumpy on the length.

it's all a matter of trying different things.

[Nightshade]

seconded. Could it be that you are 1b or wavier?

You can do a lot of things to get hair straighter and sleeker - oiling, misting, using leave-in conditioner, brushing, combing straight when wet - all come to mind. you really don't NEED heat to style hair.

I think you're a wavy in denial too. Perhaps reading the journals of some other wavies to see how they treat their hair? Once you get your waves to form right you may not feel the need to straighten.

Oh, and check out the pics in this post (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=126426&postcount=19) and this post (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=126486&postcount=22). :twisted:

[wintersun99]

..........

[Dark Rosaleen]

Eww. Nightshade's pictures make me never want to use a straightening iron again.

Anyway, back to the topic. I've blow dried on a cool setting and have been able to get my hair pretty straight, and with little damage.

[spidermom]

It depends on your methods. If you use a brush to pull/stretch the hair as you blow dry on hot, it can be very damaging. If you use a wide-tooth comb to hold hair as you blow dry on cool, the potential for damage is much smaller.

My stylist tells me that if you use a heat-protective spray and move the flat-iron very fast down each strand only once, there will be little to no damage. If you do it slowly or multiple times per strand, much more damage.

[vindo]

Flatironing is more damaging to the hair since the hot appliance has direct contact with your hair.
Depending on how you use a blowdryer you can minimize damage, as Spidermom has said.

Often Flat irons get even hotter than a blow dryer. The worst you can do is flat iron wet or damp hair. You would simply boil the moisture in your hair which can lead to an explosion of the cortex eventually. :eek:

[Nightshade]

I was WAITING for those pics to come up again, finally I can bookmark them! :)

LOL Happy to oblige :eyebrows:

[eadwine]

Flat-ironing is worse. Far more heat. I have never seen steam come out of my hair from blow drying, I have seen it on someone else's hair getting straightened.. brrr.

[Saranne772]

I would say flat ironing is the worst as the heat is directly in contact over the whole hair shaft over a period of time

[Wind]

Ok, question regarding blowdrying being better: it seems to me that because the heat is being applied to wet hair, the damage would be worse than straightening dry hair? I'm just thinking of the tangles/brushing through wet hair/hair is under heat a lot longer. I remember being little and feeling like my scalp was fried the few times my mom did it. I know straightening wet hair kills it, you can see that at any mall. :lol: But I personally see less damage letting my hair air dry, using a protective spray, and keeping my iron on low.
That said, I'm not growing my hair out right now (it gets trimmed regularly), and I probly couldn't using any heat on it, either way.
Just thinking out loud...

[Riot Crrl]

Ok, question regarding blowdrying being better: it seems to me that because the heat is being applied to wet hair, the damage would be worse than straightening dry hair? I'm just thinking of the tangles/brushing through wet hair/hair is under heat a lot longer. I remember being little and feeling like my scalp was fried the few times my mom did it. I know straightening wet hair kills it, you can see that at any mall. :lol: But I personally see less damage letting my hair air dry, using a protective spray, and keeping my iron on low.
That said, I'm not growing my hair out right now (it gets trimmed regularly), and I probly couldn't using any heat on it, either way.
Just thinking out loud...

The nature of drying with hot air is that it doesn't seem to create as much "boiling action." But it has problems of its own. Try to blow dry a cheese sandwich and try to flatiron one. I bet the cheese would melt quicker in the flatiron, but the bread would dry out with the blow dryer.

The thing about this boiling, is that while the "wet-to-dry" ironing is almost certainly worse, healthy hair when it's dry contains moisture anyway, which could still boil in a flatiron. If your iron is cooler than boiling and/or you don't go over it too many times or too slowly, this may not be occurring.

But I did not take microscopic pictures of my hair before and after flatironing it, so this is mostly speculation.

[spidermom]

The main use of a heat protective spray for flat ironing is to make your hair very slick so that the flat iron glides right down it without hanging up anywhere. The flat iron should never be held in one spot long enough to make the hair inside boil. It's like the difference between passing your finger through a candle flame and holding it there. Your finger won't get burned it you pass it through, and your hair won't get burned if you glide the flat iron very quickly down each section of hair only once. But it will slowly get dried out if you do it often.

I think that the way most people blow dry -- with hot air using a brush to pull at and stretch the hair -- is more damaging than the correct way of using a flat iron. However, many people don't flat iron correctly, either. They don't use the protective spray, don't pass the iron down the hair quickly enough, and use the iron multiple times per section. So in general - neither is a good idea, but there are more damaging and less damaging ways to do each. If you want straight hair once in awhile and use the least damaging method possible, the damage will be negligible.

[Forever_Sophie]

The main use of a heat protective spray for flat ironing is to make your hair very slick so that the flat iron glides right down it without hanging up anywhere. The flat iron should never be held in one spot long enough to make the hair inside boil. It's like the difference between passing your finger through a candle flame and holding it there. Your finger won't get burned it you pass it through, and your hair won't get burned if you glide the flat iron very quickly down each section of hair only once. But it will slowly get dried out if you do it often.
hair once in awhile and use the least damaging method possible, the damage will be negligible.

I never thought of it this way!! Thanks for writing this. I was about to say the hair dryer w/ protective spray is less damaging, but....not sure anymore ;) And I'm esp. glad to read this as I LOVE the look of flat ironed hair.