You are completely destroying your hair, you know.

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• Attention, Please: A Brand New Product Has Just Arrived

If you have lovely, natural hair that dries perfectly, then probably you won’t need to read this blog. Ok, now that she’s gone, let’s get down to just how much you’re ruining that mop of yours each day. That’s provided you heat style as much as I do. (A lot. Always a hair dryer and usually a ghd or a curling tong too.)

“Heat styling”, surprisingly, does not refer to putting together an outfit in a hot room. It refers to using tools like hair dryers, curling irons, ghd stylers/flatirons/straighteners, crimping irons and even those thermal/ceramic/tourmaline brushes that speed things up a whole lot when you’re blow drying your hair. In short: Heat. On hair.

Here’s how an average heat styling session might go:

Hair is washed, usually with shampoo and conditioner that is treatment specific (curls, volume, frizz, colour protection) or just smells real nice and makes your hair look good.

Hair is towel-dried, some product will usually be applied. This is usually a styling product to help you get whatever look it is you desire. (Straight, curly, volume, anti-frizz etc)

Blow drying commences. Highest heat. Most powerful power. BLAST. WHIRR. ZHOOOOM.

Once hair is dry, more styling tools are brought in. A flatiron, perhaps. Or a curling tong. If hair is lucky, some pre-styling product will be administered. If hair is not, hairspray or some other form of pure (non thermal protectant) styling product will be sprayed on first, which is like basking a chicken in oil before cooking: it will make things crispy.

In short: Will ruin your hair.
How, in long: First of all, blasting hot air onto your (hot) hair opens the cuticle layers of the hair. This is no good. Conditioners and treatments will help, but too much blow drying, (plus lots of colouring etc) will result in a Massive Beauty Product Fail, because once the cuticle layer is shot, the hair is all weak and shit and breaks off and all you can do is SNIP.

For Your Knowledge! Ali at Wild Life told me that blow drying your hair with that little nozzle on the end is as bad as using a flat iron because it is such a concentrated hit of intense heat. I took my nozzle off almost a year ago and couldn’t even tell you where it is. So maybe, if you’re just ‘drying’ not actually ‘styling your hair, drop the noz. (Change brush sizes if you need more accuracy.)

Secondly, uh, when it comes to straighteners and tongs, you are placing a hot, (up to 230 degrees) implement tool on your hair. For many minutes at a time. Sizzle! Scorch! Burn! And, okay, yes, while the heat from straighteners or curling tongs can sometimes be beneficial because it can smooth down the cuticle layer, and kick frizz’s ass, you still need to prep the hair first. (Be like ironing a shirt without Fabulon, it will still be ironed, but in double the time, and at what cost? WHAT COST?)

Cue a thermal protectant. Not news, but definitely worth reminding you that you should be using them every single time you heat style your hair. Blow dryer, iron, curlers - whatever. Apply first on towel-dried hair, and then again on dry hair, section by section as you tame and straighten and curl. (That was twice, in case you missed it.) ESPECIALLY because there are two new ones on the shelf. And the supermarket shelf, which is fun for pockets carrying not much money. And they even have the same name! How about that.

The first is Dove’s new Heat Defence Range.

Shampoo, conditioner and a protection/shine mist. Less than $8 a pop and if used together, the concentrated mix of their ‘heat shield’ technology will give your hair a very strong chance of remaining healthy and shiny despite your cooking it each day. If nothing else, buy the mist. You absolutely should be protecting your hair before you heat style it. I used the shine mist and aside of the glorious scent, was very impressed with how fast it dried, but was most impressed with how it made my curls so well-shaped! Instantly! To the point where I actually didn’t need to use the curling tong after all! Cripes. Talk about a review gone awry. (What this tells me is that the product is very moisturing and the hair responds to it as it would a leave-in conditioner.) I, uh, will use with my styler and get back to you on it’s efficacy.

For Your Knowledge! Use the mist on the raw hair, then apply whatever styling product you might normally use (root lifter, mousse, straightening balm etc.)

Next is the Andrew Collinge Heat Defence range. Slightly more expensive, at around $12-14 a pop, but still, cheap as. Andrew is dead keen on educating women that if they’re going to go hard on the heat tools, they need to nourish and protect the hair so it stays shiny and strong and smooooooooth. He’s got a point. I’ve only tried the conditioning spray, but it smelled amazing, and while I had to wait just that little bit for it to dry (never EVER use heat tools on wet hair) my hair sure did feel smooth and touchable even after curling tong it. (Curling tong work can end up wonky if the prep product is too thick or heavy.)

Here are some photos of the criminals/victims at the launch for Dove Heat Defence Therapy yesterday.
Thank God they caught these hooligans. They look like trouble.

Wed, 13 May 2009 5:20PM

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Tags:

• andrew collinge,
• blow drying,
• curling,
• dove,
• ghd,
• heat styling,
• straightening,
• thermal protectant