Ways To Keep Hair Healthy When Styling

Regardless of your hair type, healthy hair is always the most beautiful, right? Now, our hair goes through a lot to get those perfect curls, sleek straightness or extra volume, thanks to the multitude of products and the heat that it generally takes to get results. You can see why it’s so easy for our hair to get damaged. But we’re saying no more because even though we can’t completely prevent damage, there are a few things we can do to minimise it. 

In this article, we’ll list the different ways to keep your hair as healthy as possible, even when using heat styling tools. 

1. Bring on the hydration

Think about what heat does to your skin – well, it’s the same with your hair! Have you ever noticed that when you’re continuously using heat to style your hair, it ends up feeling a little (or very) dehydrated? That’s because it is! Using your curler, dryer, straightener, or other heat tools does a lot to dry out your strands, leaving them feeling extremely brittle and dull-looking. This is why it’s important to ensure that you have a good shampoo and conditioner that will adequately hydrate your hair. 

2. Protect your strands

One way to fast-track hair damage is to style your hair without the necessary protection. Before you even think about pulling out your straightener, curling wand, or even hair dryer, make sure you’ve got a good heat protectant ready and distribute it evenly through your hair. 

As the name suggests, heat protectants – like heat protectant sprays give your hair a layer of protection against intense heat. They do this by coating your hair fibres to prevent moisture loss. On top of this, most of these products can help boost volume and shine, too. 

3. Keep the heat as low as possible

There’s a common misconception that the hotter the heat, the better the styling capacity – but there’s a higher likelihood that this will just lead to damaging your hair. Hair dryers can be used at a lower heat setting to achieve numerous styles while maintaining your hair’s health. Better yet, drying your hair in a lower temperature setting will improve your chances of drying it out evenly without developing hotspots. 

If you’re using a flat iron, avoid holding it in one spot for too long. Rather, leave the area you’re trying to style and come back to it later if it’s not setting how you’d like it to. The same goes for a curler. You never want to leave these items on your hair for too long. Otherwise, they could damage it. 

4. Allow your hair to air dry before styling it

Trying to style your hair with heat devices is just going to end up damaging it. If you apply a straightener to wet hair, it’ll sizzle like food in a pan. If this is what you hear while styling your hair, then you’re doing it wrong. Rather, allow your hair to air dry mostly before you start using a hair dryer to finish it off before styling it. Remember, long exposure to heat can cause your hair to weaken, lose its elasticity and become more brittle, giving it an unhealthier look and feel. 

5. Massage some hair oil into your hair

Keeping your hair healthy doesn’t just involve washing it regularly and using styling devices correctly. Your hair is exposed to damaging situations all the time, one of which is being outside in the sun and wind. After your air is dry, adding a drop or two of nourishing hair oil is a great way to lock in nutrients and provide your hair with a jaw-dropping shine. 

There are a variety of decent hair oils on the market. Ideally, you’ll want to look for products with rosemary oil, collagen, coconut oil, and vitamins in it. These are good indicators that the product will be beneficial for your hair.  

Why are Heat Protectant Sprays so important?

Have you ever seen hair that has heat damage before? It looks rough, dull, dry, and is often frizzy. Not to mention that you probably won’t be able to run your hands through it without getting stuck with knots or mats. Damaged hair is uncomfortable to have. It feels heavy and might be itchy, and it increases the chances of developing mats in your hair, too. This is what happens when your hair is damaged by heat, whether it be by the sun or styling devices. 

This is why using heat-protectant sprays, creams or oils is so important. They’re a preventative measure for the issues above. By using heat protectant products, you’re essentially creating a barrier over your hair that protects it from the heat. This barrier will reduce the negative impact heat has on your hair while allowing you to utilise the styling benefits of heat to shape your hair. 

Final Thoughts

Keeping your hair healthy should be the top priority when it comes to styling. For that reason, you should always practise styling your hair at a lower heat, when it’s completely dry, and with a decent amount of heat protectant spray on. This way, you can ensure that your hair maintains its health and integrity while you give yourself the perfect hairstyle. 

Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash