Experts tell us that all styling tools such as heated rollers, curling wands, hair straighteners, and many others can do quite a chunk of damage to your gorgeous locks. This bit of information comes as no surprise owing to the repeated friction along with high temperatures. As a result, your beautiful shiny hair loses its shine, luster, and softness and turns into brittle, dry, dull, limp, and rough strands.
But then how can a girl resist the beautiful styles those tools provide us yet hold on to the vitality, strength, and shine of her hair she absolutely loves?
Here are a few tips to keep your hair healthy and avoid hair damage:
1.No Damp Hair
The biggest rule when using hair styling tools is to make sure your hair is dehydrated, with no damp or wet strands at all. When you apply a hot styling tool to your wet hair, the process is the same as trying to fry the strands. Sounds brutal, right? It definitely is. Dampness and wetness make your hair more vulnerable and prone to damage than dry hair. The styling tools’ massive heat converts all that dampness into steam, which further damages the strands as they escape. Therefore, you must always make sure your hair is dehydrated before subjecting it to any styling tool.
2. Use Qualitative Tools
We deem three materials as qualitative when it comes to styling tools and minimize the extent of hair damage. These are:
- Look for styling tools in tourmaline. It distributes the heat evenly along your hair shaft and thus protects it from future damage.
- Ceramic is also a good material in hair tools. It is a great conductor of heat, plus it decreases the static electricity that harms your damaged and vulnerable hair.
- Titanium is the next best choice too. It seals your hair shaft the very first time you begin using it, ensuring manageability, hold, and shine since the first use.
3. Always Use Heat Protectant Sprays
Heat-protectant sprays are an absolute must every time you plan to use a styling tool. The heat protectant sprays work to minimize the conduction of heat that the tool delivers to your hair. However, one thing to note here is that protectant sprays are not 100% against damage. Your hair will incur a certain degree of damage even if minimized by the protectant product. So it is always advisable to use styling tools as sparingly as possible.
4. Treat Your Hair to Hair Masks and Protein Masks Regularly
If we’re honest, we girls cannot resist the perfect magazine blow-dry from salons for every hangout we plan. The process of getting that picture-perfect hair involves the use of high-speed dryers, wands, flat irons, and whatnot. Along with the gorgeous-looking hair, what else do you gain with all that styling? Lifeless, dry, dull, brittle, and straw-like hair. So, ladies, since we know all too well how impossible it is to keep away from those blow-dry sessions, we also know that you must treat your hair to nourishment regularly. Apply a protein mask or an ultra-hydration mask at least twice a week, from the tips all through the length. Shampoo your hair first, and then allow it to luxuriate in the mask for around fifteen to thirty minutes before you rinse it out.
5. Settle for the Right Temperature for Your Hair
The general rule is to maintain as low a temperature setting as possible for the hairdryers, curling rods, and irons. You will achieve your look without needing to reach a blazing temperature for your hair. Most experts also tell us that you must not allow the temperature of your styling tools to exceed beyond 400F. Even if you have curly and thick hair, you do not need to cross this heat limit for your hair. Rest assured that you will achieve the style you have envisioned at a safe temperature. If you have damaged or fine hair, it is even better to use only the lowest temperature setting on the tool. Any temperature beyond the safe limit rapidly begins to melt the keratin in your hair, thereby taking its shine and softness away.
6. Make Reparative Creams a Routine
There really cannot be anything better than leaving your hair in a reparative cream all night. This will soothe the damage your hair has suffered from all the styling tools and their high heat. Reparative creams are the byproduct of serum and cream. They have high sealant concentrations such as pro-keratin and cocamide that immediately pierce through your hair shaft and defend it against damage, split ends, and breakage. You must apply the reparative cream from the roots through the length to your tips of your excessively dry, dehydrated, and damaged hair. At best, the cream will replenish your hair’s health and its shine.
How Does Heat Damage Hair?
Every woman who uses heat styling tools will suffer from heat damage sooner or later. The extent of damage depends on how often you use the styling tools. Women with especially fine, textured, or scanty hair are more vulnerable to damage. Your hair gains its strength from the keratin protein. The heat of the tools damage that protein, suck all the moisture present in your hair strand inside and crack the protective layer, the cuticle. This results in dry, damaged, and brittle hair. Extremely high temperatures also destroy the bond of your hair strand, causing curly hair to wilt and part with its springy, natural bounce in the long run.
Conclusion
Excessive use and the massive heat of styling tools are all enemies of the health of your hair. These tools make your hair look gorgeous, and you need a lot of resistance on your part to avoid using them. The only alternative is to use these helpful tips to minimize the extent of the damage your hair will suffer each time you use a hair styling tool. It is also essential to keep your eyes open wide for the first signs of heat damage. The sooner you spot them, the better are your chances of repairing and minimizing the damage to your hair from the heat.