*Only* Once a month heat styling? Is it so bad?

[SheeJee]

I have not flat ironed or blow dried my hair for a month now, which is a huge step for me because I usually do one or the other at least once a week. I was wondering, would it be such a bad thing to blow dry (not flat iron! cringe) my hair on Saturday for a party on low heat, with heat protectants after heavy conditioning? Is heat styling once a month thereafter okay or is it a total no-no? I really want long hair, at least until my waist, so not sure if even once a month is considered too much or not...

Thank you!

[Kiwiwi]

I would say if you want your hair really long you should stay away from heat. Because it simply does damage your hair. And the ends of say, tailbone hair are years old. Image the damage of all those years.
But I also think it's an individual thing. I've seen women who use heat on their hair a lot and they have looong, healthy looking hair. So, I don't think there is just one answer to this.
It might work for you if you use it once a month (on low heat indeed, no flat iron), I don't think that's a lot. So I think you could do that yes. Just pay attention to your hair and see if it damages it too much.

[Yame]

It depends a lot on your hair type (please fill out yours) and current condition, but I'd think once a month shouldn't be too bad.

If you REALLY want to be safe though, aim for less.

You can blow dry your hair on a cool setting... then the only potential for damage is from excessive tangling, but if your hair doesn't tangle too badly I don't see a problem. You can detangle with your fingers as you blow dry, and once it's drier you can comb or brush as you blow dry.

But this is advice I'd give to someone with a similar hairtype to mine who wants to avoid heat styling. I have no idea if that would apply to someone with curly hair for example, so it would really help if you filled out your hair info.

[Buffy]

I have not flat ironed or blow dried my hair for a month now, which is a huge step for me because I usually do one or the other at least once a week. I was wondering, would it be such a bad thing to blow dry (not flat iron! cringe) my hair on Saturday for a party on low heat, with heat protectants after heavy conditioning? Is heat styling once a month thereafter okay or is it a total no-no? I really want long hair, at least until my waist, so not sure if even once a month is considered too much or not...

Thank you!


Ow, come on , i don't think once a month is a big deal! If you generally take good care of your hair, s&d when needed and do micro-treams every 2 months or so, you'll be just fine!

Also, i would suggest you use *something* before flat-ironing your hair (leave-in or heat protectant). It doesn't do miracles, but it's better than nothing! Plus, try to adjust your flat iron in a low temperature, don't run it too slowly through your hair and don't repeat it many times on the same strand. I curl/flat iron my hair 2 times a month give or take.

But thes importand question is: Is your hair very curly or already damaged ?
Because i'm saying all that, based on MY hair, which is a 1c, so it doesn't need much effort to become straight. Or curly for that matter.
... but if your hair is TOO curly, that means that you have to REALLY FRY it , in order to make it straight...in that case i don't know.

[irishlady]

Meh, I blowdry mine on a cool setting every now and then, probably once every couple of months, doesn't damage my hair at all. I say go for it.

[torrilin]

Ow, come on , i don't think once a month is a big deal! If you generally take good care of your hair, s&d when needed and do micro-treams every 2 months or so, you'll be just fine!

It can be a big deal. For my hair, 1 use of a blow dryer, even on cool means my hair is pissed off and acts horrible for the next 6-12 MONTHS. Heat definitely tilts things towards the worse end of that. This also means it took a couple years of going no heat before I could really tell that there was a difference in my hair. Basically I had to grow out all the heat damage first.

Is everyone's hair going to react as severely as mine? No. But the range of what's possible is pretty wide, and the OP is the only one who knows what matters most to her.

[spidermom]

I used to blow dry on warm at the scalp and cool at the length every once in awhile - maybe once a month. I never thought it hurt my hair, but my hair seems to be in better condition since my hair dryer broke.

One thing you need to be careful about - do not pull with a brush while blow-drying like stylists do.

[lapushka]

Back when I had a short bob, I needed to have it heat styled 2 times a week, for it to look okay at least. High heat, damp hair. It resulted in major damage, let me tell you. My hair was riddled with white dots, quite high up the length, which ended in major breakage throughout my hair.

If you're really careful with the temperature and only do this on dry hair (flat iron), then I suppose, when you don't do it that often, that it's still okay. But still... not a good idea, IMO.

Blow drying isn't that bad, IMO. If you watch the temperature setting!

[Madora]

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Why risk possible damage by heat styling? Can you achieve the same results by another less risky method?

[einna]

In my opinion it is better to blowdry (on a low/cold setting) once in a while, than getting bored with beeing overly good to your hair and maybe falling of the bandwagon completely. Moderation often works best in the long run.
Still, we could answer you better if we had some information about your hair type and hair damage.

[Raiscake]

It's an improvement from once a week, but I'd recommend rollers for curling or wrapping for straightening instead. They give you great results without any heat.

[Cassie 123]

If you can get the style that you crave for a special occasion with a dryer set on low and held far away from the hair, it's not going to do much damage. I say go for it.

But planning on once a month doesn't make sense to me. Hair doesn't heal. Ever. Imagine if you had a piece of fine art in your house, sculpture or a painting, and you asked if it would be ok to scratch a couple of 3mm chunks off of it, just once a month. After a few years - which is how long it takes for hair to grow to waist - the art would be in pretty bad shape.

If you like curls, you can set your hair in curls for special occasions with no damage whatsoever. I can't give firsthand advice on this but there is lots on the forum.

[Aveyronnaise]

Honestly , I wish I could get away with it from time to time.My hair has been treated so well and so I can easily say that damage I have on my ends is from the love affair I had with my aunt's super hot professional hair dryer 2 years ago , luckily it's on the ends now :)
ETA - What I was going to say before i blanked out is that unfortunately some people's hair just cant take the blowdryer , at all.

[Buffy]

It can be a big deal. For my hair, 1 use of a blow dryer, even on cool means my hair is pissed off and acts horrible for the next 6-12 MONTHS. Heat definitely tilts things towards the worse end of that. This also means it took a couple years of going no heat before I could really tell that there was a difference in my hair. Basically I had to grow out all the heat damage first.

Is everyone's hair going to react as severely as mine? No. But the range of what's possible is pretty wide, and the OP is the only one who knows what matters most to her.


Ow, come on now, this seems REALLY extreme.
ONE session with blow-drier (not even flat iron!) and your hair is horrible for A YEAR after that? Not trying to be rude, but this is well....impossible! (i rarely use the word impossible, but in this case...).I really don't see how this could happen!
Unless you don't know how to use the blow-drier and you actually BURN the ends of your hair with it...

[pixiedust]

Ow, come on now, this seems REALLY extreme.
ONE session with blow-drier (not even flat iron!) and your hair is horrible for A YEAR after that? Not trying to be rude, but this is well....impossible! (i rarely use the word impossible, but in this case...).I really don't see how this could happen!
Unless you don't know how to use the blow-drier and you actually BURN the ends of your hair with it...

Well, for me personally, I wouldn't say a year like the previous poster, but I would say my hair is pretty angry for at least a month after using a blow dryer. We're talking dry dry DRY ends, darkened henna, tangles, and matting up to the scalp! If you're not used to it (and a lot of people aren't used to having hair that is properly detangled. I am convinced that poor hair care habits are a major cause of headaches :p) then it can be physically stressful to deal with the aftermath of a blowdryer. I also can never enjoy a proper blowout, whether I'm the one preforming it or somebody else it. I just feel to guilty and every time I touch the ends of my hair I feel the intense desire to wash and detangle it.

By the way, there is no question as to whether or not I'm "qualified" to use a blowdryer; I have a little slip of paper in my wallet from the government that says so ;)

[alwayssmiling]

If I trim my hair regularly (even a small amount of micro trimming), keep hair moisturised and don't use dyes and bleaches, heat once a month is really not going to effect my hair.

[celebriangel]

It all depends on your hair. With F hair, even to get it to waist I'd say STEP AWAY FROM THE HAIRDRYER. Particularly if your hair is already damaged.

With hardier hair, if you do it on a cool setting, and don't use a horrible brush with it you might be all right. It's hard to tell how your hair will respond.

[NotInPortland]

It all depends on your hair. With F hair, even to get it to waist I'd say STEP AWAY FROM THE HAIRDRYER. Particularly if your hair is already damaged.

With hardier hair, if you do it on a cool setting, and don't use a horrible brush with it you might be all right. It's hard to tell how your hair will respond.

Exactly. It really all depends on your hairtype. Having fine hair myself I tend to avoid blowdryers altogether unless it's an emergency and I need dry presentable hair (say for an interview or something and I'm running late), I haven't touched a straightener in at least 3 years and have had my hair curled by heat twice in the last few years and that's it because my hair just can't take repeated heat. I even felt bad the few times I did use heat because I know it does damage my hair and it will affect me reaching my goal length. Unless you have coarser hair I think even with just once a month heat styling the damage will add up pretty fast and if you're going for longer lengths it could be a problem. I think though straighteners and curling irons are probably more damaging than blowdryers.

[pepperminttea]

There will be damage with any form of heat styling, that's just how it is. If a bit of damage means you enjoy it more though, that might well be more important to you. :)

[Sunsailing]

In my opinion it is better to blowdry (on a low/cold setting) once in a while, than getting bored with beeing overly good to your hair and maybe falling of the bandwagon completely. Moderation often works best in the long run.
Still, we could answer you better if we had some information about your hair type and hair damage.

I agree :D

Plus, the type of blowdryer makes all the difference.
(Ask me how I know....)

[x0h_bother]

I cut back a LOT on the heat styling for a year, and to be honest I didn't see enough of a difference- in fact, I was more frustrated with my hair. Once a month flat ironing to me is probably the same as once a month shampooing the length really really harshly. It won't do long term damage. Have fun with your hair, do what you want/like.

[<3OnHerSleeve]

A couple of months ago, I cut out all the damage... meaning over 8 inches of dyed, straightened, relaxed, curled, bleached, permed hair. Every time I straightened my hair, every single hair strand would have split ends the next day. After cutting it all off, I straightened my hair the other day for the first day in months: not a single split end. I think that once in a while doesn't hurt, it's when you've done EVERYTHING wrong to your hair that ironing or blowdrying it even once will hurt.
Just consider the condition of your hair, and if it damages your hair then I suggest you cease altogether for a while. I don't think it would do any harm to have your hair styled for a party :)

[MrsGuther]

I don't thiink blowdrying on a warm setting once a month would do much damage. That's what I do once a month, and my hair is not getting damaged from it- although it DOES make my hair look like a poof-ball of frizz after it's been blow dried. Needless to say I'm not a fan of blowdrying my own hair. :)

[Mairéad]

I never really have heat styled before. It only took one or two blow dry/flat irons for me to find out that it made my hair feel nasty and that I liked it much better when air dried.

What kind of event is this? Have enough hair for an extravagant up-do? It'd really help if we knew what kind of hair you hair. I have M stands and fairly resilient hair and heat styling (even those few times) reeked more havoc on my hair than monthly box dyes.

But, many here heat style once in awhile and have gorgeous healthy hair so I'm sure it's fine if it really is going to be once every so often.

[Lianna]

My blow dryer feels warm and cozy on my hand... :) Can you see how I don't think I'm mistreating my hair with it? It doesn't hurt my hand, I don't see how it would "ruin" my hair. The flat iron is another story, try to keep that at minimum. Once a month isn't that bad in my opinion.

[AlicesPlatforms]

With heat protectants and heavy conditioner with low heat? You should be fine! Especially if it's once a month. I mean, I even break out the flat iron once in a great while.

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

You could just look up different methods without using heat on youtube. There are plenty of those.