Ok lovelies, let’s chat. This is a pretty common question for extensions, but honestly it also applies to your natural hair.
Air drying seems like something that would be good for your hair. In fact, it can actually be harmful over time. We talked about wet hair at bedtime in one of the last series and how our hair is most vulnerable to damage when it’s wet.
It’s thought that hair can absorb roughly up to 30% of its weight in water, causing swelling of the cortex {the thickest layer of the hair} and the hair to become weaker. The swelling puts pressure on the delicate proteins and bonds that hold hair together.
In turn, excessive heat can cause damage to the surface of the hair strands. Air drying can cause trauma to that inner layer of your hair, making strands weaker, dryer, and less elastic, leading to breakage. At this point, you might be thinking if heat styling your hair can lead to heat damage, but air drying your hair can lead to breakage then what is the solution? Sounds like a loss either way?
In my instagram post I mentioned that washing less is a great solution! That’s a whole other blog post though! All I’m going to say here about that is your hair needs the oils it produces and washing less allows your hair to produce those oils. However, washing less also means less heat styling.
Heat styling is inevitable, and the better choice over air drying, so I’m breaking down some great ways to safely blow dry:
Step 1: Before showering, brush your hair, very gently if you have extensions, but evenly at the root to distribute oil through your hair. If you are wearing extensions, I talk with my guests specifically about how to do this. If you’re not wearing enhancements, you can brush from root to ends easily.
Step 2: Shampoo your roots and crown and your ends lightly if you wish, or just let the shampoo wash through the hair while rinsing out. Condition only from the mids to the ends… think of it as grabbing your hair in a low ponytail and run the conditioner from that point down through your ends. Bonus points: use a wide tooth comb to gently distribute product and detangle.
Step 3: GENTLY towel dry hair, preferably with a microfibre towel. I have a couple linked here on my Amazon storefront.
Step 4: Apply a leave-in conditioner that contains heat styling protectant. I use Authentic Beauty Concept leave in which doubles as a heat protectant. I also love their hair oil. If you’re my extensions client then you know!
Step 5: Use a hairdryer set on medium heat setting or below and move it in a constant motion around your head. This is called rough drying and you want to do this until your hair is about 90% dry. You want to avoid using a brush or any other tools at this point. After your hair is about 90% dry, you can use a flat brush or a round brush to smooth, shape, and style.
Have an extensions question? Drop it in the comments and we’ll work to answer it in one of our extensions questions episodes.
