Beauty News, The Innate Life
Should you Blow Dry or Air Dry your hair?
Let’s touch on the ongoing debate on which one is better – blow dry or air dry! The answer? It actually depends on your hair type. We always encourage you to go natural and save your hair from external forces such as excess heat. However, both may have their pros and cons depending on your own natural hair texture. It’s up to you to decide which one your hair can benefit from the most!
Blow Drying
The biggest concern with blow dryers is the damage caused to the surface and outer layer of your strands! And don’t be completely sold on the time-saving factor of blow drying; its cons always outweigh the benefits. For starters, the combination of heat and concentrated rapid air causes cracks and open cuticles on every strand. In the long run, the damage will only worsen over time from the constant cycle of washing and blow drying your hair frequently! Another con to blow drying is dehydration – drying your strands quickly doesn’t give them a chance to absorb much-needed moisture.
Air Drying
Air drying eliminates the possibility of surface damage, as the moisture can naturally evaporate with time! This means you don’t need to aggressively blow heat onto your strands and overdry the protective layer. Without the cracks and dehydration, your hair surface is intact and strong enough to protect each strand’s integrity. However, it can become unhealthy if your hair takes too long to air dry, causing bloating. With this problem, it will depend entirely on your hair type.
Solutions
When blow drying, the best case scenario for minimal surface damage is using the cool air setting (avoiding heat!) and keeping the dryer at a distance. It definitely helps to also keep it in motion! You want to avoid the air being too concentrated on one section of the hair for too long, leading to major dehydration and breakage. And before you even start blow drying, consider using a heat protectant on your towel-dried strands to minimize heat damage.
With air drying, you never want to leave your hair drenched post-wash! To avoid bloating your strands, remove excess water with a microfibre towel before you air dry. Although you avoid surface damage, having too much water on your strands for too long can cause internal issues, such as frizz.
For either of these methods, we always recommend drying your hair manually with a microfibre towel until it is at least 70% dry, before incorporating your chosen hair drying technique. With this, see which drying technique works best for your hair and routine!
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