Blow Drying Hair Tips
PREP WORK – Before blow-drying, use a wide-toothed comb to remove all tangles. Apply a heat-styling aid to protect the hair and comb through in the direction and shape of the finished style. Start off rough-drying the air all over and then blow-dry the under section, making sure that each one is completely dry before moving on to the next, and gradually work up the head. Hot hair can feel damp, so give your hair a cool blast of air before you decide whether it is really dry or not.
STYLING ADVICE – Never attempt to style your hair when it is wet. Instead, rough-dry it with a hair-dryer using your hands until it is 50-60 per cent dry if curly and 80 per cent if straight. The more styling your hair needs, the damper it should be. To speed up this initial drying stage, tip your head upside-down and use your hair-dryer to remove any excess moisture.
BLOW DRYING TECHNIQUES – You should always move the dyer as you are working on the hair, even when you are concentrating on one particular section. Either work in small rotating motions or gently shake the dyer, as the heat will dry the hair out and can burn the scalp if you are drying the roots.
HEAT CONTROL – Do not use a dryer on the hottest setting when you are working on the roots, as this can irritate and burn the scalp, and make the hair greasy. It will also flatten the hair. Moderate heat(or slightly hotter for frizzy or tick hair) will help create volume. If your hair is fine, always work with the dryer on a cool to moderate setting to stop it being dried out.
KEEP HAIR COOL – If you are using a brush while blow-drying to curl or style your hair, you should allow each section of hair to cool before removing the brush, otherwise the movement you have a created might drop. Aternatively, before removing the brush, blast the hair with the dryer on a cool setting to brush.
COWLICKS – A cowlick is small area of hair which sticks up around the hairline and does not grow in the same direction as the rest of the hair. To tame it, you will need to anchor the hair with a round brush in the opposite direction to usual and blow-dry, holding the brush firmly in place. If you then blow-dry in the other direction, this should straighen th cowlick out.
AIR FLOW BLOW DRYING - Always aim the air flow of your hair-dryer down the hair shaft, to ensure that the cuticles lie flat and the hair looks shiny (if you point the air flow up the hair shaft, it will dishevel the cuticles and the hair will look dull and lifeless). To make this task easier and to give yourself greater control of where the heat is going, hold the nozzle instead of the handle of the dryer in your hand and work from the roots to the ends.
LIMITED TIME - If you are pushed for time, start blow-drying the hair around your face first, as these are the bits on show, and then work on the top sections. If time does not permit, leave the under sections to dry naturally, comb wet hair into shape and then leaves: when nearly dry, get to work with your hair-dryer and a styling brush to finish off.
Add comment July 25th, 2008