Heat and Your Hair.

I know we've already covered what hot water is supposed to do to your hair, but we haven't covered heat styling at all. By heat styling, I mean: Flat ironing, blow drying, curling, etc.

I just recently started worrying about the effects that heat styling has on the health of my hair. I know that this probably wasn't the best time to start worrying, I should have began worrying a long time ago just because of all the ill effects, like breakage and split ends, that heat can have on your hair. I've been witness to the breaking of hair, and let me tell you ladies and gentlemen... It ain't pretty.

Let's start with the most basic of heat styling... Blow drying. When blow drying your hair, it's important to use some type of product to protect your hair. Although, if you're not into using a ton of products on your hair, there are other options like letting your hair dry naturally. One product out there that I enjoy is Redken Ultimate Blow Dry Lotion. This is heartily expensive though. (I will admit that I did not buy this product myself so when I run out, I will be trying to find cheaper options.) After applying the blow dry lotion, I use my blow dryer on the lowest heat setting and use a brush to section my hair. This takes a long time, yes, but the lack of heat damage is worth it. I don't have a preference on hair dryers, as long as they get the job done.

When I blow dry my hair, I end up with almost straight hair with a good amount of volume. Because of this, I don't usually continue with any other heat styling. Why mess up a good thing, right? If I do plan on any other type of heat styling to come later, I let my hair dry without aid of blow drying.

Flat ironing and curling somewhat go hand in hand when it comes to heat care. I just found out that the Redken Extreme Iron Repair that I use on my hair is discontinued... When I run out I'll be looking for other cheaper options, so no worries! I'll keep you posted. After applying the iron repair though, I like to use the lowest setting possible that still gets the job done... My hair is thick and so I have to use a fairly high setting so I try not to flat iron or curl my hair very often. When I do, it's normally a night out on the town with the girls, or I have a date.

Oh yes! The type of flat iron I use is a Remington 2" Wet 2 Straight which you can get at Walmart for under $30. I never go from wet to straight though. My roommate ended up with broken hair from doing that too often, and I've been scared of doing it myself ever since. I've been through two Wet 2 Straights since 8th grade and have tried a couple different brands like Conair... But I love my Wet 2 Straight. I'll recommend it to anyone with all types of hair. I also use my flat iron to curl my hair, so I can't offer up a good curling iron for those of you out there.

For protecting my hair on days that I don't style it at all, I use Redken Anti-Snap leave in treatment. It's supposed to repair split ends and protect against breakage. I will admit that I don't use it as regularly as I should and I'm probably not seeing the results I should be but my hair does not break as much as it used to when I would brush it without using product. It doesn't leave my hair greasy or smelling bad so I would recommend it.

Comment and share what products you have used and have success with. Don't be shy!

Happy styling!

Andi.