Is it alright to blow-dry hair if you don't flat-iron?

[cutiepiesensei]

I'm just wondering because today I tried my hardest to rollerset and it was a complete fail. I sat under the dryer for an hour and it still was a bit damp on the ends, PLUS it just looked bad :/ I ended up blowdrying my hair the rest of the way dry and put my extensions in. I actually didn't end up flat-ironing today though (ok, well I flat ironed a couple strands at the top, but that's it). I'm still trying to avoid a whole lot of heat, but I'm in a situation where I don't have a lot of time to wait for my hair to dry. With rollersetting today, it took from doing them to dry like 3 hours. Blowdrying took 2 minutes. BUT no flatiron for 95% of my hair after blowdry. Is this still horrible for my hair? Any tips?

 

[demlew]

cutiepiesensei - Congrats on your rollerset attempt! The next one will look even better I remember your story and I know you're trying to improve the health of your hair,so the less heat the better. BUT if you're pressed for time, it's ok to blowdry as long as your hair is properly conditioned and protected with a leave-in or heat protectant.

My favorite leave-in is a mix of 2 Aphogee products: Keratin Green Tea spray and Pro-Vitamin leave-in. I mix them 50/50 and I end up with a great protein/moisture balance spray. Alot of ladies on here use Chi heat protectants, but my personal fave is Redken Smooth Down Heat Glide.

Do a keyword search for the category you're looking for (leave-in, conditioner, etc.) and you'll find tons of lists with recommendations. Good luck!

 

[317537]

I blow dry to 80-90% dry then put in a few bantu knots. If I'm stretching ill flat iron roots then use 5-6 hot rollers. I do this every 5-7d n I'm relaxed WL. I use coconut oil prepoo and wash once, then cowash and dc. Haven't seen any ill effects. I use Davines relaxing fluid and serum after towel drying. I also use aphogee keratin spray on ends before hot rollers and sometimes use the provitamin leave in spray. I'll have to try mixing them! I don't use any other heat during the week.

 

[NaturalPath]

I am now starting to blow dry weekly, to stretch my hair and prevent single stranded knots.

Its perfectly fine to blow dry and not flat iron as long as you are using gently techniques to blow it out. I prefer using a wide toothed comb in comparison to a round brush. I dont necessarily use a heat protectant because I blow dry on cool-low heat; if im in a rush and need to use hotter air then ill use grapeseed oil to blow dry.

 

[Raspberry]

I blow dry to 80-90% dry then put in a few bantu knots. If I'm stretching ill flat iron roots then use 5-6 hot rollers. I do this every 5-7d n I'm relaxed WL. I use coconut oil prepoo and wash once, then cowash and dc. Haven't seen any ill effects. I use Davines relaxing fluid and serum after towel drying. I also use aphogee keratin spray on ends before hot rollers and sometimes use the provitamin leave in spray. I'll have to try mixing them! I don't use any other heat during the week.

317537 What is your blow drying routine? Do you use a comb attachment, round brush, etc ...?

 

[cutiepiesensei]

hm....well I'll still try to continue to rollerset, but honestly blowdrying might be the move lol. I wrapped my hair + extensions last night. This morning there is little breakage and my hair laid down extremely well considering I didn't flat iron all of my hair like I normally do. And I'm like 11 weeks post right now. Thanks ladies! I'll be looking to up my leave in conditioner and heat protectant game

 

[317537]

Raspberry
My blowdry routine is I detangle in shower put on turbie twist. Then undo put in frizz ease serum plus whatever leavin usually davines. Then I part down middle comb thru then blowdry with just hands fluffing until mostly dry. No comb attachment or anything. Then pin up 1/2 hair n dry one side with paddle brush until feels dry but still slightly damp. It'll look frizzy. I then twist into a princess leia bun n dry the other side. When done il take down both sides flat iron roots if they need it. Then spray a little aphogee on the ends only and roll in 5 hot rollers. The twisting in a couple of buns straightens out the length without an iron. The hot rollers ate from Sally's. I have the jumbo ceramic travel set. I do this every 5-7 d. HTH

 

[nappystorm]

I've been blow drying and bunning for the past couple of months. My hair is fine.

 

[cutiepiesensei]

Well I'm getting my hair trimmed this week. I'll do it again and see if I get breakage. If not, I might be sticking with it since it's MUCH easier for me to keep up lol. I actually really like the way my hair turned out this week

 

[Poranges]

I find myself rarely using the flat iron. My hair is thick and shiny/smooth.

I blow dry it straight with the comb attachment and pin curl for style. Love it.

As long as you're DC'ing and moisturizing as well as being gentle you should be fine.

 

[cutiepiesensei]

Quick update: So once again, I tried rollersetting. I almost broke down because with trying to comb through all that wet hair and manipulate it on rollers and what not, so much wet hari broke off (and I used a widetooth comb). So once again I said "*** it" and used the blowdryer with comb attachment on sections of hair. MUCH LESS BREAKAGE than when I was trying over and over again to rollerset. Even after I did one pass over the top with the flat-iron, the breakage was much less than when I was trying to rollerset. This for now will be my way of drying it. I only used it on warm, not high heat.

 

[Supergirl]

Yes, blowdrying is still damaging even if you don't flat iron. In my opinion, blowdrying is more damaging than flat ironing. If you must use heat, then skip blowdrying, allow your hair to airdry and then run a flat iron over it. However, you'll get the most growth retention by avoiding heat as a habit and only using it occasionally.