Thanks to the invention of hair straighteners, we no longer have to use a clothes iron to achieve straight hair. Hair straighteners can save us a lot of money from having to go to the salon, but using them can also cause hair damage, especially if done improperly. How can we make sure we minimize the damages and side effects of hair straighteners?
Choose the most suitable flat iron
Before anything else, it’s important to determine which flat iron hair straightener is the most suitable to you. This differs from hair to hair, so you’ll need to do a bit of research.
Some people have thicker hair and require the ‘BaByliss Pro’ or the ‘CHI’ whilst others have longer hair that require larger plate sizes to speed up the process. If you’re unfamiliar with the products, it’s highly recommended you spend time researching the different straighteners.
Things to look out for are:
- Recovery time: A lot of cheap flat irons have a recovery time of up to 90 seconds. Throw these away if you have them. Recovery time should be maximum 6-8 seconds and ideally should be 0 seconds (as the best flat irons are). This ensures that you don’t lose heat as you go along, and that both plates have heat distributed equally.
- Most flat irons use ceramic material which is ideal for fine to normal hair, but gold or titanium is ideal for curly hair. Some will have both which are great choices as well.
Avoid ‘Forcing’ Anything
One of the most common ways to damage hair is by forcing it to do something it doesn’t want to do. Dialing up the temperature on the hair straightener is something a lot of people do without realizing how much damage it is causing. A lot of flat irons go up to 230 degrees, which is extremely bad for hair, resulting in a reduction in it’s ‘tensile strength’ and permanantly changing it’s color.
What should you do instead if heat is bad for your hair? Use a lesser temperature of course! Even though heat is bad for your hair doesn’t mean it can’t withstand any temperature at all. You want to avoid the temperature where hair starts getting damaged (below the ‘denaturation temperature’), but above the ‘glass transition phase temperature’ where you can style the hair.
Research suggests 185 degrees celcius is the ideal number.
Even for those with thick hair, avoid cranking the temperature up. It just requires more time and effort to straighten your hair. Your hair just needs more energy, but not more heat.
Have Proper Preparation Before Straightening
When showering, hair care products that have the label ‘smoothing’ will provide a great deal of moisture to your hair, which is perfect preparation for hair straightening. Also when you step out of the shower, don’t dry your hair crazy with the towel, but gently rub it down to either side to minimize natural curling.
Secondly, ensure that your hair isn’t even slightly wet when you dry your hair! This is extremely important, because damp hair can be damaged more easily with lower heat. You want your hair to be completely dry when you straighten it. After the shower, don’t put any product on your hair that’s not designed for flat irons. If you see any steam, or if your hair starts to sizzle, stop right away.
Be Gentle On Your Hair
The heat is already a problem for your hair, you don’t want to amplify the damage by pulling your hair too hard or by clamping down harder than necessary.
Uneven plates or rough plates can also cause more friction, which may result in painful hair pulling. Some hot plates are coated with natural oils or low friction material to combat this.
Divide Your Hair Into Sections
Divide your hair into multiple sections (the thicker your hair, the more sections there should be). If you grab random chunks of your hair, you’ll unecessarily reheat the same spots and you’ll miss some spots which the plates can’t reach.
Each section should be about 1 or 2 inches thick to get the best result. As you straighten a section, the other sections should contain clippings to make sure they don’t get in the way.
Overall, hair straightening is a simple task with a few precautions. As long as you are smart with the temperature and follow these precautions, using straighteners will not cause significant damage. Finally, the last thing you can do to avoid damages is to use the iron plates less frequently, although some may prefer to do it daily which is fine if done sensibly.
For those this useful guide for comparisons between different flat irons: http://www.hairstraightenerstudio.com/comparison/
