Frequent exposure to heat styling products can cause extensive damage to your hair. Styling your hair with hot tools like crimpers, straighteners, or curling wands seems tempting, but using them without appropriate heat protectants can cause severe or irreversible damage to your hair’s health. It’s essential to learn how to prevent heat damage on hair to prevent things like split ends that give off a fried hair end look, dry-brittle hair, breakage, and more.
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Trim Your Hair Regularly
Heat-compromised hair leads to split ends, leaving your hair strands dry and frizzy. To prevent further damage to your hair, get frequent trims monthly. Although the tip might seem unbelievable, split ends tend to travel up to your hair shafts, causing further damage to the entire hair cuticle.
Regular trims help to prevent more hair problems before they start. The healthier the hair, the less damage heat styling tools will cause.
Air Dry Instead Of Using A Blow Dryer
Switch to air drying your hair instead of blow drying. Although air drying might take a long time, it’s safer for your hair health in the long run.
You can also invest in a proper hair dryer with hot and cool temperatures. Use a normal or cool temperature whenever possible. Then, limit your use of blow dryers to once or twice a week. Alternatively, you can go for low-maintenance hairstyles that require no heating tools, like braids or messy buns.
Protect Your Hair From The Sun
Sun rays can cause oxidative damage to the hair–a fact often ignored by the masses. Prolonged exposure to sunlight can harm your hair strands and cause sunburn to your scalp, leaving your hair dry and brittle. You can follow a few hacks in your daily hair care routine to keep those luscious locks in check.
Wear A Hat
Your first line of hair protection against UV damage is the physical barrier. Wearing a hat, wrapping a chic scarf, or even an umbrella would protect hair against UV damage.
Use A Moisturizing Conditioner
Frequent use of a deep moisturizing conditioner is a must. Adding a regular conditioning product to your hair care routine will help you maintain the moisture your hair needs to prevent sun-induced damage.
Our Recommended Hair Serum
O&M Frizzy Logic Hair Serum Travel Size
This hair serum goes above and beyond to help make your hair manageable and protect it. First, it works hard to fight frizz, making unruly hair more manageable and smoothing straight hair for a sleek finish.
Then, the cruelty-free and vegan formula provides thermal protection to help protect your hair from heat, whether that heat is coming from styling tools or the sun. UV protection helps prevent damage from UV rays, such as fading.
Moisturize With Organic Oil
Regular conditioning with an organic oil like coconut or mustard oil will not only protect your hair from oxidative damage and dryness, but it will also help restore moisture to your tresses.
Eat Plenty Of Antioxidants
Include antioxidants in your diet plan. A proper diet will help you fight oxidative damage to your hair. Add fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants and vitamins to your diet, or get hair supplements only prescribed by your dermatologist.
Invest In High-Quality Shampoo
Proper and thorough cleansing is critical for maintaining healthy hair. Nothing will work effectively unless your hair is routinely well-cleansed, hydrated, and conditioned.
Invest in a high-quality shampoo and conditioner nourished with organic ingredients and free from sulfates, silicones, and parabens to prevent further damaging effects like dryness and brittleness.
A good shampoo and conditioner combo will moisturize your scalp and help strengthen your hair’s ability to withstand heat damage. Alternatively, switch to leave-in conditioners to fight dry and brittle hair.
Our Recommendations
- OGX Nourishing + Coconut Milk Shampoo & Conditioner
- Bed Head by TIGI Urban Antidotes Recovery Shampoo and Conditioner for Dry Hair
- Palmer’s Cocoa Butter & Biotin Length Retention Leave-In Conditioner
- SheaMoisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave-In Conditioner
Use A Heat Protectant Spray
Heat-protectant sprays are to the hair like sunscreens are to your face. They form a protective barrier between the ultra-hot temperatures of styling tools and your hair strands.
Heat protectant sprays are extremely easy to use. They help your luscious locks retain their natural moisture while giving them a shiny boost, creating a radiant look you’ll love.
To use a heat protectant spray, spray it on your hair and work it through it using a brush or your fingers before styling it.
Our Recommendations
CHI 44 Iron Guard Thermal Protection Spray
Opt For A Moderate Heat Setting
We encourage using titanium or ceramic flat irons, curlers/crimpers with a temperature regulation option. Always go for a moderate temperature setting for curling or straightening your hair.
Using high-heat settings will increase the possibility of heat damage to your hair. Also, be cautious when styling a single strand multiple times. Just one motion per strand is sufficient to get your desired look. Using numerous applications of heat tools on a strand can severely damage the texture of your hair.
Make Hair Masks Part Of Your Routine
You must include a natural hair mask treatment at least once a week. Excess use of heating tools and outdoor heat leaves oxidative damage to your hair. A hair mask– infused in organic formulations– will reduce dryness and replenish your hair’s moisture, making it smoother and easily manageable.
Our Recommendations
- OGX Extra Strength Hydrate Repair + Argan Oil of Morocco Hair Mask Deep Moisturizing Conditioning Treatment
- Marc Anthony Deep Hydrating Mask for Dry & Damaged Hair ( For curly hair)
- Marc Anthony Deep Conditioning Hair Mask for Dry & Damaged Hair (Anti-breakage mask)
De-Tangle Your Hair Daily
Tangled, messy hair leads to breakage. The vitamins and nutrients from your scalp can’t travel down the hair follicle to keep the entire strand of hair healthy.
To avoid that, habitually brush your hair before going to bed. Use a combinational method of applying leave-in conditioner/ detangling spray before combing your hair with a wide-tooth comb or a brush with natural bristles to detangle your hair before and after styling your hair.
To prevent breakage, avoid using brushes or combs with plastic bristles or teeth. Detangle your hair in a dry state, and avoid combing damp hair.
Our Recommendation
Marc Anthony Leave-In Conditioner Spray & Detangler
Always Keep Your Hair Type In Mind
Before formulating a hair care routine, it’s essential to know your hair type well. Selecting the right products to help revive your heat-damaged hair can be challenging. Research your hair types, identify the hair problem, and look for the best products for your hair care routine.
Moisturize Your Hair
Dry hair is more prone to damage, so moisturizing it with a leave-in conditioner or essential oil can help replenish that silky shine back to your locks. Give your hair oil massages weekly.
In Conclusion
Heat-damaged hair is a common problem–it can happen to anyone. That’s where the art of taking baby steps comes in. Adding these hair care methods in a step-by-step pattern will go a long way!
The first step towards the long run could be following the most essential tips from our list, like covering your hair, using a heat-protectant spray, or adding a suitable shampoo plus conditioner to your bathing routine.
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