Key Takeaways
- Heat styling can damage your hair and make it look dull or dry and feel brittle.
- Avoid using heat-styling tools every day to prevent heat damage.
- No matter what your hair type is, use OLAPLEX® No.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum to protect your hair from heat damage.
Jump to
- Does Heat Styling Damage Hair?
- How Often Can I Heat Style My Hair?
- How to Prevent Heat Damage
- Heat Styling Tips for Straight Hair
- Heat Styling Tips for Wavy Hair
- Heat Styling Tips for Curly or Coily Hair
Heat Styling Tips for Different Hair Types
Do you want to make your hair straight, wavy, or curly? Heat styling your hair with flat irons, curling wands, or blow-dryers can do the trick. Learn how you can keep your hair healthy while using thermal hair styling products.
Does Heat Styling Damage Hair?
Heat styling can damage your hair and make it look dull, dry, or feel brittle. When you use heat styling products, it strips away the outer cuticle of your hair. Your hair cuticle protects your hair and locks in moisture.
Heat can also damage the proteins in your hair that give your hair structure. Too much heat may break down your hair’s protein bonds, which can affect your hair structure. When your cuticles and protein bonds are broken, your hair becomes weaker and loses moisture.
How Often Can I Heat Style My Hair?
The number of times you can heat style your hair depends on a lot of factors, like your hair type and how damaged your hair already is. For example, fine hair is more prone to heat damage, so those with fine hair should keep heat styling to a minimum. To prevent hair damage, don’t use heat styling tools on your hair every day, and try to only use them when necessary.
How to Prevent Heat Damage
No matter what your hair type is, you should always use a heat protectant on your hair before using thermal styling tools. Try OLAPLEX® No.9 Bond Protector Nourishing Hair Serum before you straighten, blow-dry, or curl your hair with heat tools. This hair serum provides heat protection up to 450ºF (232ºC) to protect against heat damage. It also helps shield your hair from pollution, reduces static and tangles, and adds a satin shine to your hair.
Heat Styling Tips for Straight Hair
If you have straight hair, you may want to switch up your look by adding curls, waves, or extra volume to your hair.
Tips for Blow-Drying Straight Hair
For a healthier-looking blowout, use OLAPLEX Volumizing Blow Dry Mist, which can help add volume, body, and bounce to your hair without stickiness. Also, try these volume-adding tips:
- Reach for a round brush. Pull your hair up with the brush, then point your hair dryer underneath your hair. Use the brush to round off the ends of each strand for a bouncy look.
- Go upside down. Want to lift your roots for more volume in your hair? Try blow-drying your hair upside down.
Tips for Using a Curling Wand on Straight Hair
If you want to use a curling wand to make your hair wavy or curly, follow these tips:
- Only use a curling wand on dry hair.Wet hair is more susceptible to damage. If you’re going to use a curling wand to make your straight hair wavy or curly, make sure it’s fully dry first.
- Use the right barrel size. Large barrels will make your curls larger and softer, while smaller barrels will make your curls smaller and tighter. A tapered wand is best if you’re looking for beachy waves.
- Lower the heat. When using a curling wand, keep the heat as low as possible. This can help prevent your hair from becoming damaged. If you’re in the market for a new curling wand, choose one with adjustable heat settings.
- Don’t brush your hair until it cools. Wait until your hair has cooled down to give the curls or waves time to set.
Heat Styling Tips for Wavy Hair
If you have wavy hair, use these thermal hair styling tips to help straighten or blow-dry your hair.
Tips for Blow-drying Wavy Hair
If you want to blow-dry your hair but still maintain its waves, use these tips:
- Get a diffuser. A diffuser is a styling tool that attaches to your hair dryer and helps maintain your curl pattern.
- Work section by section.Blow-dry your hair in small sections by placing your waves in the diffuser’s claws, and then moving the diffuser to your scalp.
- Watch your ends. Keep the ends of your hair out of the diffuser to prevent over-drying them.
- Know when to stop. Let your air dry when it’s about 80% dry, or you can remove the diffuser and quickly blow-dry your hair with cool air to seal the cuticle.
Tips for Straightening Wavy Hair
If you have wavy hair that you want to straighten with a flat iron, follow these steps for the best results:
- Start with completely dry hair. Applying heat to wet hair can damage it.
- Detangle your hair. Brush through your hair to remove tangles so that straightening it is easier.
- Separate your hair into sections. It’ll be easier to straighten out each of your waves if you work section by section. If you have thick hair, you might want to divide your hair into ½-1-inch sections.
- Don’t over-iron. Avoid using the flat iron on the same piece of hair multiple times. Over-ironing your hair can cause heat damage.
- Protect with a bonding oil before straightening. Use an oil like OLAPLEX No.7 Bonding Oil™ for heat protection of up to 450°F/232°C.
Heat Styling Tips for Curly or Coily Hair
Here’s how to flat iron or blow-dry your curly or coily hair while also reducing heat damage.
Tips for Blow-Drying Curly or Coily Hair
Here’s how to blow-dry curly or coily hair and minimize damage:
- Remove excess water before you blow-dry. You can squeeze water out of your hair or blot your hair with a micro-cotton towel.
- Don’t use high heat. Put your blow-dryer on medium or low heat to reduce frizz and prevent heat damage.
- Blow-dry with a diffuser. Use the diffuser near your scalp and lift your hair at the root for extra volume.
- Don’t blow-dry your hair for too long. Stop blow-drying your hair when it’s about 80% dry and let it air dry to prevent frizz.
Tips for Straightening Curly or Coily Hair
With the right technique, you can make curly hair straight while also minimizing damage:
- Detangle your strands. Run a wide-toothed comb through wet hair to remove any tangles or knots. This will make straightening your hair much easier. Start by combing the ends of your hair and work your way upwards to avoid creating more knots.
- Blow-dry your hair with a round brush. Using a round brush can help straighten out your curls. Use medium or low heat to blow-dry your hair.
- Use a hair straightener with temperature control. Set your hair straightener to a low heat setting to reduce damage.
- Divide your hair into sections. Straightening curly or kinky hair can feel overwhelming. Make flat ironing your hair easier by dividing your hair into different sections. This way, you can make sure that every curl is straightened.
- Add a finishing touch. End by applying OLAPLEX No.7 Bonding Oil™ to minimize flyaways and frizz.
While there’s no way to completely eliminate damage from heat styling, you can minimize it with the right techniques. Learn more about the five types of hair damage or restore products that can help repair and strengthen your hair.
Sources
- https://www.byrdie.com/how-often-can-you-straighten-your-hair-without-damage-7104120
- https://stylecaster.com/beauty/hair-nails/573716/the-5-rules-of-heat-styling-your-hair/
- https://www.wikihow.com/Straighten-Wavy-Hair
- https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-blow-dry-curly-hair
- https://www.instyler.com/blogs/hairgoals/step-by-step-guide-to-straightening-curly-hair
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