Is Blow Drying Hair Really Bad for Hair?

Virtually everyone blow dries their hair, and very few people are aware of the risks if it’s not done correctly. From frizz, to stripping your hair of oils, a lot of people have started asking the million dollar question… Is blow drying hair bad for your hair?

Beautiful and healthy hair is everyone’s desire, so knowing what you should and should not expose your hair to is vital. Read on for everything you need to know.

Is Blow Drying Hair Bad?

Is blow drying bad for your hair? Yes, it can be damaging, but there are ways in which you can do so and still keep your hair healthy and strong. Blow drying your hair too often or on too high of a setting can lead to dry and brittle hair.

Why Is Blow Drying Hair Bad?

When you blow dry your hair, you’re exposing the hair follicles to extremely high heat to accomplish the goal of a quick dry. Although the hot air is excellent for drying the hair fast, it also leads to brittle and damaged hair.

Continuous use of a blow dryer, or any device that exposes your hair to heat, causes damage to your hair by stripping it of its natural oils and drying out the hair cuticles, which results in frizz and split ends.

Blow Drying Hair Strips the Natural Oils From Hair

The high heat of the hair dryer causes your hair to lose some of its natural oils, which protects your hair follicles and makes it look healthy, shiny, and bouncy. The heat causes a chemical reaction, resulting in this loss.

Keratin, in particular, which is what hair is made of, does not like heat. The heat causes the keratin protein to change its form, and it becomes hard and dry.

When exposed to the heat source daily, that’s when you’ll notice a significant change in the way your hair looks and feels.

Dry Cuticles and Frizz

Frizzy hair is another common effect of blow drying. Extended heat exposure causes your hair cuticles to naturally dry out, which is when frizz becomes an issue. Dry, frizzy hair is hard to style and won’t go away until it grows out.

Are There Any Benefits of Blow Drying Hair?

Blow drying your hair is not the best thing to do if you want healthy and strong hair, but there are benefits to blow drying hair as opposed to leaving it air dry. 

Dries Hair Fast

Sometimes you’re in a hurry and don’t have time to wait for your hair to air dry. In this case, blow drying your hair is an ideal solution.

With a dryer, you can practically dry your hair instantly from the shower to styling. It’s an easy way to get the job done, and it’s also super convenient.

Pre-Molds Hair for Styling

Another benefit of it is that it pre-molds your hair for better styling techniques. Hair stylists always wash and blow-dry hair before styling for this reason.

The heat from the dryer rearranges the protein structure of your hair, making it easier to shape and style the way you want. In fact, blow-drying your hair alone can be used as a styling method.

Creates Straight Hair

A hairdryer uses heat to dry wet hair quickly. Naturally, when you apply heat to your hair, it creates a straighter strand of hair.

If you want to straighten the curls in your hair without using a straightener, blow drying it can help.

Ways To Prevent Damage From Blow Drying

There are some ways you can utilize this popular hair styling technique without causing too much stress on your hair. This way, you can have the best of both worlds–healthy hair and an easy and quick drying method.

Prevent damage from blow drying your hair by using the low heat option on the dryer, purchasing a high-quality blow dryer, and using heat protectant products.

Purchase a High-Quality Blow Dryer

Although it’s tempting to go to the nearest convenience store and buy the cheapest blow dryer they have, this is a guaranteed way to damage your hair.

The coils in low-quality hair dryers are less advanced and give off direct, dry heat, which is what causes the damage. Typically the more expensive dryers use Ionic heat.

This type of heat is a negatively charged ion that dries hair much faster and produces much less damage.

Use Heat Protectant Products

Heat protectant hair products are another great way to ensure you don’t damage your hair while blow drying.

Heat protectant products help strengthen hair follicles by adding amino acids to the natural keratin in your hair. Heat protectant products also help reduce the damage from blow drying by preserving the moisture and locking it into the hair.

Never Use the Highest Heat Setting

When blow drying your hair, it helps reduce damage if you use the lowest heat setting on the blow dryer rather than the hottest.

It may be your natural reaction to want to use the hottest setting and dry your hair super fast, but the hotter the heat, the more damage is done. Try the coolest setting first to see how your hair reacts.

It also helps to allow your hair to drip dry before jumping right into drying it. Blow-drying damp hair is better than trying to dry dripping wet hair.

FAQs

Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about blow-drying your hair.

In Conclusion

It’s important to consider all circumstances when answering the question, “is blow drying bad for your hair?” However, in general, drying your hair too often will cause damage to your hair and could affect the way it looks and feels.

Suppose you use a high-quality dryer and heat protectant products. In that case, you’re much less likely to see the damage done to your hair from blow drying it.

In addition, blow drying your hair with a colder temperature setting is another way to reduce the amount of damage done to hair from being exposed to the heat of a hair dryer. You will also want to allow your hair adequate time to drip dry before using the hair dryer.