It’s no secret that blow drying can damage your hair, yet finding the time to air dry your hair can be extremely inconvenient. If you can’t avoid blow-drying, you can still avoid the damage by knowing the tricks of the trade.

Hair Care and Styling Products

Choosing the best products for your hair is one of the first precautions you can take against heat-related damage. If your hair has already sustained damage, select a heavy-duty moisturizing shampoo and conditioner specially formulated for dry or damaged hair. However, even undamaged hair must be well moisturized in order to survive heat styling; be sure to use a moisture-balancing shampoo and conditioner formulated for normal hair. Special shampoos and conditioners, such as Thera-Sense, are specially formulated for heat-activated conditioning. Other products, such as Pantene Pro-V, are intended to infuse your hair with special vitamins for shine and manageability. Still others are made with nature’s best ingredients for naturally healthy hair. If you are uncertain as to which shampoo and conditioner to choose, you may want to buy small sample bottles of each; every head of hair is different, so select the product that yields the best results for you.

It is also important to select a good styling product. Using a styling product specially designed for your hair will facilitate the styling process and cut down on the time spent blow drying. Pay close attention to the hair type (curly, frizzy, normal, or limp hair) and the type of style a product is designed for. Texturizing lotions will smooth and shine your hair with only light hold, while hair gel provides more hold, but also increases drying time. Hairspray is a great way to finish off a look, but likely won’t facilitate the blow-drying process. Many styling products also contain a low-level SPF, which will prevent additional damage from the sun. Because of the drying effects of blow drying on your hair, it is especially important to avoid styling products that will dry your hair further, such as bleaching products or alcohol-based hair gel.

Your Blow Dryer

There are many options to choose from when shopping for a blow dryer. Travel size, full size, cold shot, speed settings, and heat settings are just a few of the conveniences to consider. To give yourself the most control over the heat damage your hair receives, choose a blow dryer with many heat settings. Unless you are trying to achieve a style that requires high heat, you can reduce the risk to your hair by blow-drying on a lower heat setting.

Blow dryer attachments such as diffusers can also help by reducing the intensity of the blast of hot air. Diffusers are useful for styles that take advantage of hair with a natural curl, as the diffused air encourages (rather than blasting) the curl.

Don’t forget that other heated styling devices, such as straightening or curling irons, can add to the heat-related damage done to your hair. To avoid this, use these additional devices sparingly and only when the same results cannot be achieved with a round or flat brush and a blow dryer.

Tips and Techniques

In general, the less time blow-drying takes, the less damage you are exposing your hair to. Knowing important preventative and timesaving techniques is an important step in having healthy hair.

How you position the blow dryer can have a dramatic effect on your hair. Holding the blow dryer too close, for instance, exposes hair to much more intense heat. In order to reduce the damage caused by such exposure, be sure to hold the blow dryer at least six to eight inches away from your hair. It’s also important to hold the blow dryer so that the air flows down the hair shaft; doing so keeps the hair cuticle smooth, which makes hair shinier and more manageable.

Sectioning your hair will ensure that you are not causing damage by over-drying, and will shorten your styling routine. To use this technique, divide the hair at about the level of the ears, leaving the lower part down; coil the rest on top of your head and fasten with a clip. Dry the lower section first, holding the hair taut with a brush if you are straightening it. When the section is relatively dry, unclip the bulk of the hair and pull down another section, clipping the rest up again. Blow-dry the new section over the previous section. Repeat the process of dividing and blow-drying sections until all the hair is dry. For fine hair, you can divide your locks into large sections for faster drying and less heat exposure; thick or curly hair will require smaller sections and more drying time.

Another good way to reduce heat-related damage is to leave your hair slightly damp, allowing it to finish drying naturally. For those who would like to allow their hair to air-dry, but cannot seem to find the time, this technique has the advantage of reducing the required drying time. The technique will also ensure that you do not damage your hair by over-drying. This technique works best with straight or wavy hair; for straightening curly hair, you’ll want to dry the hair completely.

General Care and Last-Minute Reminders

If you blow-dry your hair regularly, it is important to pamper your locks as much as possible. A major, though often overlooked, part of hair care is a regular haircut. Especially with hair that is frequently exposed to heat styling, once split ends start, they can quickly travel up the hair shaft. Untrimmed hair will often look bushy or frizzy at the ends, ruining an otherwise perfect style. Regular trimmings – every two to four weeks for a short cut, and every six to eight weeks for a longer style – will prevent the added damage that can be caused by a lack of preventative care. In general, if you follow the rules of conscientious blow-drying and keep your hair trimmed, moisturized, and otherwise well cared for, a little heat every day won’t hurt.