Bad hair advice

[MrsGuther]

I am so annoyed right now. I've been watching an episode of the Doctor Oz show from today, and part of the show was about hair care advice. Dr. Oz had some "hair specialist" telling people tips, some of which were pretty good: don't wash your hair every day or it can dry your hair out.

What appalled me was when the woman told the audience it was okay to flat iron as long as you use a heat protectant spray. She said this right after Dr. Oz fried an egg on a flat iron (the quail egg was representative of a hair shaft and the moisture inside).

Dr Oz then told the audience it was okay to flat iron twice a week (where did he get that number?). Let me get this straight- it's okay to flat iron your hair twice a week even thought it literally fries your hair (boils the moisture in the hair thus destroying that part of the hair) as long as you use X product???? Umm NO THANKS!!! No product can protect one's hair from 400 degree heat.

It actually pissed me off that this kind of advice was given on the show. :steam I understand that a lot of women use a flat iron and that is their choice, but I don't like a medical professional that is aware of the damage caused by it advocating the use of the flat iron "twice a week". LAME!!!

[blondie9912]

Oh Ozzy, what are you convincing people to do now?!

I agree with you! It seems like the general public is MUCH more concerned with the style of one's hair as opposed to its health. Little do they know that they can have amazing style without 'styling' if their hair was healthy :p

[UltraBella]

I think it's just reality, most women are using them and hair is not considered a body part that is super important, except here at LHC. To show what an egg does on one, on national television, is a great step in the right direction. In a world where any women flat iron daily, saying twice a week seems conservative.
I am able to heat style my hair multiple times per week without negative after effects, so it's not something that bugs me.

[ElusiveMuse]

Yeah, I have to say, while my hair is definitely in better shape now that I don't iron it after every wash, I certainly don't notice it in any worse shape after I flat iron it once in a while. *shrug*

[battles]

I would imagine that watching an egg fry on a flat iron would scare a few people away from using it. I know I wouldn't touch it again if I'd seen that.

[MrsGuther]

I would imagine that watching an egg fry on a flat iron would scare a few people away from using it. I know I wouldn't touch it again if I'd seen that.

Yeah, you're probably right. Hopefully the people that saw the egg frying on the flat iron would not subject their hair to the "twice a week" torture as prescribed by Dr. Oz. lol

[MajorasMask]

Oh my god, first it's the toxic applesauce or whatever and now this xD flipping dr. Oz

[spidermom]

OMG; reminds me of the old "this is your brain on drugs" commercial. No - it's an egg in a frying pan.

No flat iron ever stays in contact with the hair shaft as long as it takes an egg to fry. With a protective spray, which helps the iron glide smoothly and quickly as well as slows the rate of heat absorption, flat ironing isn't the worst thing. And no, a fireman can't spray his skin with protectant and be safe in a fire, BUT we aren't talking about a few seconds exposure to the fire either, not like hair gets with a flat iron. I think it's perfectly acceptable styling advice for people who aren't growing for super lengths.

[slz]

Actually if it was a-OK to flat iron then your hair wouldn't be ironed flat at all - the mere fact that "it works" (flattens hair) is a proof that it does damage hair.

[spidermom]

Actually if it was a-OK to flat iron then your hair wouldn't be ironed flat at all - the mere fact that "it works" (flattens hair) is a proof that it does damage hair.

I don't follow that logic at all. Wearing a hat flattens my hair, also wearing a multi-banded ponytail; is that proof of inevitable damage?

I don't flat iron because I want longer than classic-length hair. But if I were maintaining around BSL, I absolutely would. Done properly, it's not that awful.

[slz]

But a hat or headband takes time to flatten hair - the fact that the heat is high enough to instantly straighten, means it reaches the core of the hair strand, since it affects it, it means it damages it.
I'm not sure I'm very clear in my explainations >< .

[blondie9912]

I don't follow that logic at all. Wearing a hat flattens my hair, also wearing a multi-banded ponytail; is that proof of inevitable damage?

I don't flat iron because I want longer than classic-length hair. But if I were maintaining around BSL, I absolutely would. Done properly, it's not that awful.

I think she's saying that simply the fact that a flatiron can transform corkscrew curls into straight, silky locks in mere seconds demonstrates the capability it has to damage hair. If it were 'safe' (ie. used lower temperatures) it wouldn't be nearly as effective.

[spidermom]

O.k., I get it now; thanks.

[Keildra]

I don't know if it's bad advice, he's talking to regular people, not us crazy people on LHC, these are people that probably use a flat iron every day, and sometimes even twice a day. Twice a week is a step in the right direction for Joe public.

[luthein]

Heat protectants could plausibly work because of the Leidenfrost effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledenfrost_effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledenfrost_effect)
"The Leidenfrost effect is a phenomenon in which a liquid, in near contact with a mass significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps that liquid from boiling rapidly."

However, as we all know, the heat protectant does not nullify damage and I won't be flat-ironing my hair any time soon.

[SilentGuardian]

Just wanted to say, I use to flatiron my hair every day, before I knew how to properly care for my hair. It terribly damaged my ends, and I had to have a lot of hair cut off as a result. At least, though, it led me to research ways to care for my hair, because I badly wanted to grow it back. My hair's healthier than it's ever been :)

[amberpotamus]

Lol, I hope my mom doesn't see that! She's always trying to convince me that flat ironing is actually good for hair (no joke--she claims it smooths the cuticle down).

[spidermom]

Flat ironing once a month damaged my ends, too, but it didn't show up until I was nearly at waist length. Sometimes I didn't use heat protectant; I didn't know the importance.

But if you don't want your ends to still be decent 3-4-5 ... years from now, twice a week is probably acceptable if you do it right.

[Sister13]

Dr. Oz has short hair. And advertisers to satisfy.

'nuff said.

[thelittlestdoc]

I actually walked in on my mom watching this on DVR (was visiting this weekend) and she was shocked that she was only allowed to flat-iron twice a week with heat protectant. (She's finally started using heat protectant since I've been harping about it for ages) She flat irons every time she blow dries, which is at least 5 times a week! I'd say this is pretty average, so at least Oz is recommending less than most people (outside of LHC) do.

:cheese:The cheese agrees that Oz is just trying to keep up ad revenue :cheese:

[FrozenBritannia]

I once had a hairdresser who said that it was better to flat iron WET hair, than to blow dry it and THEN flat iron it.

It took less time, for sure, but the HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS was alarming.

[ddiana1979]

I think some people's hair can tolerate a lot more than other people's. As UltraBella mentioned, she heat styles, and her hair is gorgeous and appears healthy.

When I was in high school, I had waist length hair that I blow fried 2-3 times per week. I didn't have any trouble maintaining it at waist length either. . . it appeared healthy and shiny, and I needed to get it trimmed every 8 weeks or so to keep it from getting longer. Would I blow fry my hair now? Absofrickenlutely not.

The average woman in the US doesn't have hair that's terribly long. Many can probably get away with flat ironing every once in awhile. For many women, using a heat protectant and flat ironing only twice a week is an improvement. If they cut their hair every 6-8 weeks the way most stylists recommend, the ends don't have much of a chance to get damaged anyway. *shrug*

Note: I'm NOT suggesting flat ironing nor blow frying is GOOD for your hair, nor even neutral, but merely that if your hair is short enough and you get it cut frequently enough, the accumulation of damage isn't AS noticeable, because usually the damage is cut off before it becomes a problem.

[LaceyNg]

i agree that saying its ok to flatiron hair twice a week is a step in the right direction for the average person who doesnt want hair that's long by LHC standards.

HOWEVER, i really wish he would have just come right out and said that ANY flatironing is damage to hair, heat protectant or not.

i used to flatiron my hair every other day for YEARS, and then wondered why it was dry and frizzy when i didnt. after joining LHC and learning the evil of my ways, my hair looks now (with NO flat-iron) how it used to on a day 2 when i DID flatiron-- not stick straight, but not frizzy and dry. if people would just take care of their hair in more natural ways, thet wouldnt "need" to use flatirons, etc!

just a shame he couldnt be blunt with the truth :/

[julliams]

I saw this show too and was surprised by the advice given. I do wonder sometimes though - is my hair split because I used to flat iron it, or is it split because it has the tendency to split when it gets past BSL due to age. It's one of those things I'll never really know for sure.

I didn't think my hair ever was super damaged from flat ironing in that it never felt horrible, but maybe the splits I'm experiencing now is due to what I did to it over two years ago which was to flat iron about 2 - 3 times a week.

I notice now that when I do flat -iron (which is around once a month), my hair seems drier afterward and I notice way more splits when it's straight. Now that could be because my wavy hair which looks shinier when it's wavy, is now in a super flat state which gives the appearance of being more matt, hence looking drier. And the splits might be more obvious when straight rather than when curly.

My 12 year old never flat irons her hair and she has just as many splits. I have seen her rip through her tangles though. But perhaps we just have hair that splits easily. Ok, now I'm babbling...