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Does heat damage hair? [real facts + solutions]

If you are in this article you will surely ask yourself, does heat damage hair? The most honest and direct answer is yes. When we expose our hair to high temperatures, the cuticle of our hair suffers an abrasion, and therefore we are damaged.

But don’t worry, there are always ways to minimize the damage. Having good quality heat tools, not overheating your hair, and using a proper heat protection will minimise the damage to your hair.

The reason why our hair gets damaged with heat is because every time we expose our cuticles to high temperatures, they surface of our hair will break and start to fall apart. Using heat once every while is ok, however if you overuse heat tools without proper care, you will be very weak and you will have breakage.

Let’s learn more about this:

Does heat damage hair?

The heat will always damage our hair.

However, there are always ways to minimize the damage.

The important thing is to have a balance between how much you use heat tools, and how much you protect your hair.

If you want to avoid damage when using heat on the hair, the three most important points are:

How you use heat tools and how often.
What kind of heat tools do you have?
The thermal protection you use.

Let’s look at each of these points separately:

How you use heat tools and how often

Heat does damage hair depending how you use it

If you want to keep your hair healthy, you shouldn’t use heat tools more than twice a week.

By heat tools I mean any type of:

Hair straighteners
Dryers
Hair curlers
Other similar tools

If you use any of these heat tools more than twice a week, I assure you that your hair will be highly damaged.

When you style your hair, you should take these precautions into account to avoid damaging your hair:

Do not go through the hair straightener more than 2-3 times per section.
When you use the dryer, have a gap of at least one inch and never stick it to the hair.
In other tools such as the wand to curl the hair, do not leave the lock for more than 10 seconds taking heat.

If you have this caring habits, you will see that you damage your hair much less, and in the long run you will have healthier hair.

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What kind of heat tools do you have?

The type of heat tools you use is a key point when it comes to caring for your hair.

Honestly, cheap dryers and straighteners get very hot, they don’t distribute the heat well and they will damage your hair a lot.

You have to get yourself some good quality heat tools.

If you use a dryer, the best options are:

Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium (professional dryer at affordable price).
T3 micro Cura (the best no damage dryer for healthy hair.)

If you use straighteners, these are the best:

Hot Tools Professional (amazing straightener at affordable price).
Babyliss Pro Nano Titanium Prima (ultra silky effect with almost no damage).

The main difference that these professional heat tools offer is that they distribute heat in a better way. That means your hair will be styled easier and with less damage. Nevertheless remember that the less you can use heat tools in your hair the better! Even with the best quality ones, try to do not use hear in you hair more than two times a week.

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The thermal protection you use

Heat does damage hair depending on heat protection

Using good thermal protection can reduce heat damage by up to 80%.

Please, never think of using heat on your hair without a good thermal protector.

When the surface of the hair is exposed to heat without any protector, the cuticle erodes and your hair will be damaged a lot.

Regardless of the styling tool you use, you should always use a heat shield first.

The best are:

Kerastase Extentioniste Thermique (the best heat protector in a creme texture).
Osis Flatliner (the best heat protector liquid spray).

I recommend that you use the cream texture protector when your hair is wet, and go to use the dryer first.

On the other hand, I recommend that you use the spray type protector if you have dry hair and you are going to use the iron to refresh your hairstyle.