How to Use a Hairdryer Without Damaging Your Hair

Keeping our hair healthy is a top priority for all of us. And that’s not only because we love the way our tresses look and feel when they’re in good condition, especially on good hair days. However, keeping hair healthy isn’t always the easiest thing to do when it comes to using heat to style it.

For instance, if you have a head of wet hair in the morning after your shower, and you don’t have the time needed for it to air dry or towel dry, then grabbing your hairdryer to style your hair will be your only option… even though you know it has the potential to cause some damage.

Well, you can put your hair drying worries aside! Because in this article, we’re going to show you how to use a hairdryer without damaging your hair.

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How to Use a Hairdryer Without Damaging Your Hair

Most people already know that using a hairdryer and other heat-styling tools regularly is bad for your hair. These tools can cause damage like dryness, brittleness, unruly split ends, and even hair loss!. And basically, they are right, because too much heat will damage your hair.

Most people already know that using a hairdryer and other heat-styling tools regularly is bad for your hair. These tools can cause damage like dryness, brittleness, unruly split ends, and even hair loss! And basically, they are right, because too much heat will damage your hair.

However, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are safe ways to dry your hair if you do use a hairdryer, which will also allow you to keep it protected.

As long as you use the right tools, methods, and products that will protect your hair during the heating process, then your hair can stay pretty healthy! which will keep you happy, and looking great!

Saying that, though, too much of a good thing is always a problem, so you shouldn’t use a hairdryer every day if you tend to wash your hair daily.

This is because when your hair is wet, it is much more likely to break since the cuticles are swollen and stretched.

When your cuticles are stretched and swollen, it is very important to make sure your hair is dried properly, even when it comes to towel drying it. If you don’t towel dry it properly, then your hair will be more prone to breakage and frizz before you turn on your hair dryer.

And using a hairdryer on soaking wet hair will take longer, which means the potential for even more heat damage.

So, before you turn on your hairdryer, you have to remove the excess water from your hair gently. Because the weight of the water itself stretches your hair from the roots.

Using an absorbent towel to do this isn’t the best way, because its roughness can strip your scalp of its natural oils and cause the ends of your hair to split.

Therefore, the best approach to get the excess water out is to use a hair turban, which will absorb the water.

VOLO Beauty’s Hero Microfiber Hair Towel  will gently wrap your vulnerable wet hair and even help to decrease the drying time needed by up to 50%.

When you allow the turban to absorb the excess water out of your hair, this friction free action will reduce the chance of causing breakage or generating excess frizz.

Depending on the length of your hair, you’ll need to leave it on for 10-15 minutes before plugging in your hairdryer. You want to make sure that your hair is dried about 70-80% before turning your hairdryer on.

Before you turn on your hairdryer, you have to remove the excess water from your hair gently. Because the weight of the water itself stretches your hair from the roots.

And what about your styling brush?

Well, you also want to make sure that the brush you use is the right one to help you with the styling. Osensia’s Thermal Round Brush  has a thermal ceramic barrel that will evenly distribute the heat from your hairdryer.

Using this thermal ceramic brush on your hair will also result in a faster drying time, so your hair will stay healthier, because it will be exposed to less heat overall.

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Damage Prevention For Curly Girls

If you want to dry your hair quickly and you have curly or wavy hair, then there is a better way to do it rather than drying it straight and then using heating tongs to bring your curls back!

And that’s by using a diffuser.

A diffuser is the perfect tool to use to enhance the natural curl pattern of your hair without adding more heat to it. You can use a diffuser whether you have loose waves or tight corkscrew curls, because the heat from your hairdryer won’t disturb your natural curl pattern.

A diffuser is the perfect tool to use to enhance the natural curl pattern of your hair without adding more heat to it. You can use a diffuser whether you have loose waves or tight corkscrew curls, because the heat from your hairdryer won’t disturb your natural curl pattern.

Just like a hairdryer on its own will work best for straighter hair, a diffuser works best for wavy and curly hair. And luckily, most hairdryers these days come with a diffuser attachment in the box.

Diffusers work by dispersing the air coming out of the hairdryer, which will maximize the volume of your curls and give the illusion of fuller hair without frizz.

To add even more volume, you can bend over to allow your hair to hang down, and then diffuse your hair from the back. This will give it even more bounce as well as reduce the likelihood of tangles developing.

If your hairdryer doesn’t have a diffuser attachment already, then Hairizone’s Universal Hair Diffuser  is adaptable for hairdryer nozzles with diameters of between 1.7-2.6 inches.

Its 6-inch large bowl will hold a lot of hair, while the 3D massage prongs help to maximize your hair’s volume while controlling frizz. This diffuser is compatible with more than 90% of hairdryers, so will more than likely fit yours with ease.

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Turn Down The Heat

Most high-end hairdryers these days have different heat setting options for you to choose from. By now, you know that adding too much heat to your hair isn’t a good idea.

So even if there are many setting options, using the high heat setting of your hairdryer is often the worst thing you can do to keep your hair healthy.

The temperature settings to use should either be medium-low heat or cold air: the lowest possible temperatures available.

This is why you should also use a turban beforehand to gently squeeze out most of the water after washing and before you begin the heat treatment.

If you use your hairdryer on the highest heat settings, this causes your roots to dry out, as well as strip your scalp of its natural oils.

And doing this too often will eventually turn your locks brittle and dry, which may eventually even lead to hair loss — and you definitely don’t want that to happen!

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Moving Distance

Another thing you can do to cause less damage to your locks when drying your hair with a hairdryer is to hold it further away from your head. You definitely don’t want your locks to come into direct contact with the air coming out of your hairdryer, or else it will become dry, brittle, and frizzy.

Hairstylists generally recommend that you hold the nozzle of your hairdryer at least eight inches away from your head. The nozzle itself also works to spread the air and prevent your hair from getting frizzy while you’re drying it.

Hairstylists generally recommend that you hold the nozzle of your hairdryer at least eight inches away from your head. The nozzle itself also works to spread the air and prevent your hair from getting frizzy while you’re drying it.

Also, the further away you hold your hair away from your hairdryer, the less likely it will get caught in the fan at the back, where the motor is, which is something you definitely want to be aware of if your hair is on the longer side.

If you smell a burning smell, that’s not good!

In addition, as well as keeping at least an eight-inch distance between your hairdryer and your hair, you should also move the hairdryer around. Don’t leave it in one place for too long, even if that means you have to go back over sections to completely dry your hair.

Doing this will allow sections of your hair to cool down, as well as decrease the chances of heat damage and causing your scalp to get too hot, which will dry out your roots.

Also, moving the hairdryer around will help to give your hair extra volume.

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Heat Styling Recommendations

Now that you know how to use your actual hair dryer in a way that will minimize the damage that can be caused by heat styling, it’s time to take a closer look at some hair care products you can use that have been specially formulated to work for heat drying your hair.

1. Hair Food’s Coconut & Argan Oil Heat Protectant Spray 

If you have curly, thick or wavy hair, then you might want to try Hair Food’s Coconut & Argan Oil Heat Protectant Spray, which is infused with coconut and argan oils to protect your hair from heat damage of up to 450 degrees, as well as leave it with a gorgeous shine.

When used with a diffuser, it will allow you to style your hair to produce thick and bouncy waves and curls, and it doesn’t contain sulfates, parabens or dyes, so your hair will be protected from harsh chemicals while it is left both looking and feeling healthy.

2. Sun Bum Heat Protector Spray 

Sun Bum Heat Protector Spray works best for those with longer hair, who like the boho messy bed head look. This heat protector’s two-phase formula will actually decrease the drying time, which is how it works to protect your strands against breakage and heat damage.

This heat protecting spray will also eliminate frizz, and works with different kinds of heat styling tools, including curling wands, as well as hairdryers.

3. Oribe's Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray 

For the ultimate salon-style blowout that you can do from the comfort of your own home, Oribe’s Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray is an ultra-lightweight mist that will smooth out your hair to leave it both soft and shiny.

This spray’s strengthening, nourishing, smoothing, and paraben free formula will tame even the most untamed hair, and will even work to repair split ends. When sprayed on damp hair, it will speed up the drying time of your blow out and leave your hair with a healthy body and luscious shine.

4. Cake Beauty's GraceFull Blowout Hair Balm 

Cake Beauty’s GraceFull Blowout Hair Balm will give your tresses the protection they deserve when you’re drying your hair, while leaving it feeling smooth and looking polished, because it’s blended with natural ingredients that are cruelty-free with no parabens or sulfates.

The weightless balm will not only guard your hair strands against heat damage, but will also leave your hair with glossy moisture that will help to reduce the drying time needed to make your locks sleek, smooth and frizz-free.

5. Amika’s Plus Size Perfect Body Mousse 

Amika’s Plus Size Perfect Body Mousse contains superfruit sea buckthorn berry, which contains biologically active compounds of vitamins C, A and E that will leave your blowout with a full and voluminous look with a long-lasting hold.

If you want your blowout to have body and volume, then this mousse will do it, and it doesn’t contain any chemical nasties like formaldehyde, mineral oil, retinyl palmitate, oxybenzone, or triclosan, and includes less than 1% of synthetic fragrances.

Plus, it’s cruelty-free.

6. L'Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle Sleek It Iron Straight Heat Spray 

If you’re after sleek straight hair, then L’Oréal Paris Advanced Hairstyle Sleek It Iron Straight Heat Spray promises to provide your hair with silky straightness that will last for up to three days, which means even less heat is needed to keep your style looking the way you want.

This specially formulated spray can even be used on dry hair to keep frizz at bay, due to its 450-degree heat protection, which also controls flyaways, blocks out humidity, and seals in shine.

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Conclusion

It’s safe to use a hairdryer to dry your strands! Just as long as you follow the rules we’ve set out in this article. Now that you know there are many heat products and styling tools that you can use to protect your locks from too much heat, whether you’ve got naturally straight, curly, frizzy, or unruly hair.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed our showing you how to use a hairdryer without damaging your hair. You can now dry your hair without worry, as well as keep it feeling and looking as healthy as it can be when using heat.