Hands up who knew there was a right and wrong way to dry your hair? Not many hands hey? Well, it turns out that there are techniques and tools that can make drying the difference between good and bad hair days and the good news is, we’re about to let you in on the secret.
Hey, That’s The WRONG Towel
Most of us dry our hair with the same towel that we use on our bodies. They may vary in absorbency, softness and durability, but most often bath towels are made of cotton. Usually towelling or terry cloth – fabric woven with loops that help it absorb more water. So, what’s wrong with that? Nothing. For your skin. However, if your hair is fragile, weakened by styling, diet, medicines, environment…then the average bath towel could be contributing to splits, snaps, breaks and frizz. Simply because the towel is coarser and drier than your hair. That can raise the cuticle, making damage more likely, or cause weakened strands to fray or snap.
Consider upgrading the towel you use on your hair to a different material like bamboo or microfiber, or a different weave like gentler jersey. We think you’ll see the difference – we know we have.
Squeeze Me
Anyone wring the water out of their hair the same way you would out of a facecloth? For most of us, twisting our hair in this way is far too aggressive, risking the creation of damage that shows up as frizz, flyaways and uneven ends.
Rough drying (that classic scrubbing motion) can raise the cuticle – think of this as stroking a cat the wrong way up. Not only does this reduce shine and make it harder to instil discipline so strands lie nicely against one another, but it can make any weak spots, split ends or damage worse. It’s a fast way to frizz. Instead, gently squeeze excess water out of your hair in the bath or shower, then wrap it in a towel and squeeze more water out.
75% – The Magic Number
Some more Noughty science for you. Optimum blow drying for less damage is all down to thermal conductivity. That’s the way scientists and engineers describe the ability of a material (in this case water) to conduct heat. Water does a great job of this – think about what happens if you use a damp dish towel instead of a dry one to remove something from the oven. Ow. That’s because water is around 20 times better at conducting heat than air.
We all know heat is not great for our hair, but most of us don’t think about how much more damage is done by blow drying too early. Simply because of the water. By squeeze-drying your hair in a towel, allowing it to air dry to 75% before reaching for the dryer, and always, always reaching for a heat-protective product, like To The Rescue Anti-Frizz Serum, before using a blow dryer, you can significantly reduce damage caused by heat.
Three simple tweaks that will help transform manes everywhere.