Hair Styling Tools

Are you concerned that you are going to damage your hair if you continue to blow dry it?  To answer that question begs the question of  when was the last time you bought a hairdryer?  The reason for the question simply stated,  is that there have been, and will continue to be, ongoing changes to the mechanics of the hairdryer.  Modern technology will continue to be applied to the functionality of this all important hair styling tool.  Having said that, unless your hair is in extremely bad shape from perhaps over-processing or just plain neglect, using an up-to-date blow dryer is not going to make the damage any worse.

If you haven’t heard of ionic technology by now, then it is time to get educated.  When the hairdryer is turned on and you have it pointed at your hair, there is a stream of negatively charged ions that are injected into the airflow and onto your wet hair.  These negative ions break apart water molecules and make them smaller so they are more easily absorbed by your hair or dried through evaporation.  This process results in hair cuticles staying moist and thus, less brittle.   The final result is that your hair dries quicker.

We can actually take this one step further.  If you find a hairdryer that is infused with tourmaline, the tourmaline nano particles naturally generate far-infrared energy when heated.   When the hairdryer is on this penetrating form of heat passes through the hair cuticle,  going directly to the cortex to dry it first.  The cuticle of the hair is no over-dried and resists brittleness and cracking.  This helps your hair maintain its softness and shine.  Tourmaline also helps cleanse hair of odors and impurities.

Now I have hopefully dispelled any concern you might have about a hairdryer ruining your hair, that is,  if you are using a current model.  But what if your hair is still dry and damaged and you are using a current model ionic hairdryer?  Are you using other hair styling tools?  Usually the answer to this is yes.   And, usually, these same people are also coloring their hair, bleaching it, and doing everything that is possible to their hair but now suffering the consequences.  Regardless of all of the new technology in hair styling tools, whether it is a hairdryer, flat iron, curling iron, etc., a head of hair can only take so much.  Not all of the haircare products available to you will be able to save your hair if you are not treating it with some caution and limiting the amount of things you are doing to it.

If you are fortunate enough to have enough hair to be able to air dry it rather than blow dry it because you need the body, lift, and style that can be accomplished with a styling brush, then go for it.  Let’s face it, if your hair is long and straight, or your hair is naturally curly and you wear it that way, and,  if you have the time to let it air dry, then do it.  Most of us don’t have the luxury of time and rely on whatever electronic gadget there is to help us get out the door faster.

Most of us are used to picking up our curling iron to curl our hair.  Some of us use hair straighteners if we are looking for a loose curl, and then there are the hot rollers that will provide our hair with curl.  For those of us who have short hair, or layered hair with shorter lengths, I have found a wonderful, fairly new to the marketplace, 1″ styling brush.

Spornette, who makes a wonderful collection of styling brushes, has now added what they call the Spornette 1″ Boar Rounder.   This lightweight styling brush is aerated and has boar bristles.   Boar bristles on this brush are great because not only will you be contributing to  your hair health, boar brushes also remove shed hair which is great while you are in the process of styling.  Any time that you can integrate a boar bristle brush into your styling routine, you will be glad that you did.  The benefits of a boar bristle brush, whether it be for curling, styling, or just brushing through your hair, you will be enjoying the fact that these type brushes help distribute your natural healthy oils from the scalp to the ends.

What I liked about the Spornette 1″ Boar Rounder brush was that the bristles held my fine hair extremely well while blow-drying each section of hair.  The aerated feature helped to calm down some of the heat  coming from the dryer and as I unrolled each section of hair from the brush, the hair came out very easily and the curl was just as tight as if I had used my curling iron. 

My only word to the wise is to just be aware that any styling brush that has a metal core, will take on the heat from your hairdryer (this is what helps form the curl with your brush)  and you want to be certain you are not touching it with your fingers or getting it close to your face or scalp.

I was out shopping recently to see what the marketplace had to offer in the way of professional hairdryers to see just how many came with attachments.  First of all, most of the professional hairdryers that I am familiar with seem to be only sold in beauty supply stores and hair salons.  The web has far more to offer.  Secondly, the majority of hair dryers only come with concentrators and not diffusers.  So, the hunt was on on for finding diffusers that were sold separately.  This became a very difficult task so I gave up and came home to shop online.

What makes shopping for a diffuser for your hair dryer complicated, is not necessarily where you can find them, but what will fit on the hairdryer you already are using.  Many brands make diffusers for their line of dryers, but not all.  The other thing to take into consideration is what type of diffuser do you need?  Do you have curly hair, straight hair, wavy hair, and what is your goal?

There are basically, three types of diffusers available in the marketplace.  Two of the three are made from a very hard plastic and are typically found as cone shaped.  These usually can be found in a couple of different sizes (small or large) and with prongs or fingers or without.  The third type of diffuser is the Hot Sock, which is made of soft, flexible lightweight foam that adds volume to your hair. Its unique design gives you better overall diffusion.  It literally is so small and weighs only ounces that you can take it anywhere with you.  

So, which diffuser is right for you?  No matter what type hair you have, if you are looking to increase the volume of your hair and don’t really need to style the hair , the prong-type diffuser will work best.  The reason is simple.  While you are blow drying your hair, the diffuser is restricting the bolt of air to a milder force of air, that would otherwise be blowing out an extreme force of air.  At the same time, the fingers of the diffuser are lifting your hair from your head to create volume and maintain whatever type hair you already have.  If your hair is curly, it stays curly.  If your hair is wavy, it stays wavy.   This gentler force of air and diffusion of heat results in less damage to the hair and definitely less frizz.

The second type of diffuser mentioned above is one that does not have prongs.   This type diffuser looks like small round speakers.  Diffusers without fingers generally do the same job as the ones that do have fingers, however, in my opinion typically takes a person a little more time to dry their hair.  Of course it also depends on the size of the diffuser that you are using as a larger model will dry more hair at one time than the smaller.  If you are not necessarily looking for extra volume but still want to reduce the air flow and heat concentration, then this is the one to buy.  The Hot Sock does a similar job but the difference is that this diffuser fits on any size blow dryer, is easier to travel with, and focuses on a smaller section of hair at a time. 

Now, to get to the point of finding a diffuser that fits.  There are many universal diffusers to choose from.  If the nozzle of your blow dryer is perfectly round, the universal diffusers will generally fit.  However, many of the newer brand hairdryers are coming out with elliptical shaped nozzles and some other shapes.  The universal diffuser will not fit these and you will have to contact the manufacturer of your hairdryer to see if they sell one that fits.

One of the more common diffusers sold in the marketplace that a shopper can pretty much rely upon to fit their hairdryer if the nozzle is round shaped is the Helen of Troy Euro diffuser.  The reason this is so popular is that it comes with 4 different size adapters to fit different size round nozzles.

Whatever hair type you have, or hair dryer you have, if you are looking for yet another way to protect the health of your hair, then the diffuser is for you.

When you need a flat iron, the first thing most professionals will tell you is to make sure that whatever you buy has ceramic plates.  Well, what about tourmaline?  What is significant about having tourmaline in the plates of  flat irons?

First of all, whenever the term tourmaline is used with regard to hair straighteners, the reference is really in conjunction with ceramic.  Tourmaline and ceramic go hand in hand.  Both tourmaline and ceramic produce negative ions.  With the addition of tourmaline you are getting more negative ions.

Negative ions are what protect your hair cuticle from damage.  Tourmaline, which is a semi-precious gem, is crushed to a fine powder and then infused into the ceramic plates of the flat iron.  When tourmaline is heated, it becomes charged and generates far-infrared energy.  This penetrating heat passes through the hair cuticle going directly to the cortex to dry it first.  As a result, the hair cuticle does not become over-dried and is resistant to brittleness and cracking.  The natural oils of your hair are sealed and thus this process is what helps your hair maintain its shine and softness.  Tourmaline also destroys odors like smoke, pollutants and perfumes. 

Tourmaline flat irons are available in the marketplace but are not as prevalent as just ceramic flat irons.  You still can’t go wrong with a ceramic flat iron but if you are really concerned about the health of your hair, try to find one that has tourmaline.  Some brands of tourmaline flat irons cost more than just ceramic, but in some cases you will find they are less.   Who knows exactly why that is?

Reading through the all of the popular fashion and women’s magazines I am constantly finding articles written that describe certain hairstyles that are achieved by using different attachments on the hairdryer.  I began to wonder if there were actually very many hair dryers for sale that actually came with the necessary attachments or if they would have to be bought separately.

I narrowed down my research to professional hairdryers and salon style hairdryers as these are typically the most durable and have the most variety of features that I know will help keep my hair healthy.  What I found is that most hair dryers in the $40.00 or more range come with concentrators.  A select few hairdryers in the higher price ranges come with both a concentrator and a diffuser.  That is not to say that all higher price dryers come with diffusers.  I actually found a few lower priced hairdryers that come with a diffuser.  Hot Tools is one of these brands.  One brand that I came across that comes with a diffuser and concentrator is the h2pro brand.  I actually ended up testing one out and was very pleasantly surprised at how powerful and lightweight this blow dryer is. 

The h2pro hairdryer comes in an 1800, 1900, and 2000 watt model.   I especially liked the 1900 watt model for several reasons.  The dryer is actually called The Nano Ultra Light 1900.  This model weighls 25% less than the other models weighing in at 12.65 ounces.  The compact design allows for easy carrying and storage.  One of the features of the dryer is the ceramic tourmaline which helps to seal in moisture while reducing drying time by 50%. There is also a cool shot button to set styles and a turbo button for a little extra boost.   While this dryer is over the $100 price range, I feel it is well worth the money when you take into consideration the features, especially when diffusers are not a cheap attachment.

Every time we look in a magazine, we see a different hair style that has become popular with the celebrities.  One month it’s curly and the next it is straight.  Maybe it’s age, but I have been of the school of thought that straight means casual and curly means dressy or formal.  NOT TRUE!  It really all boils down to how you feel at any particular given moment in time and how much time do you want to spend or how much time you actually have to spend on your hair.

In my book, it is all about taking the least amount of time to get ready as humanly possible.  Since the majority of us don’t have stylists at our beck and call, or someone just waiting in the wings to help us get ready for the day, it’s extremely important to get your timing down and find any way possible to cut back on the time it takes to do our hair.

So……if we are going for a sleeky straight look, blow dry your hair  after washing it.  If you are accustomed to bending your head over to get the underneath hairs dry, remember that this results in volume and volume is something that you DON’T want with the new straight hairstyle.  Instead, use a paddle styling brush and make sure you have a concentrator attached to the end of your hairdryer so you can focus on specific sections of hair and avoid as many flyaway hairs as possible.  If you have thick hair, you are obviously going to need to pin up the top sections of your hair while you are drying the under layers.

Now….if you have naturally curly hair, wavy hair, or any type hair other than straight, flat irons or hair straighteners are in order.  Contrary to belief, larger plates on a flat iron do not necessarily mean that the hair is going to get straighter quicker.  Most of the time it is the temperature of the flat iron that dictates how fast the process will go.  Taking small sections of hair and a one inch flat iron will allow the heat to penetrate your hair and straighten it at a much faster pace.  If you have really course hair you will want to make sure the temperature is set at a minimum of 300 degrees but generally somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees will work better.

Lastly…..if you want that straight sleek hair to give off that radiant shine, you are going to need to use some product.  Haircare products that produce shine can be anything from a shine serum to a smoothing cream.  Whatever you have tried and works best for you is what I recommend, however, if this is all new to you, I recommend Potions International Super Serum and the use of a tourmaline flat iron.  Now go dazzle someone……

Is your hair sticking together with hair product and collecting dirt?  Is your hair also looking limp?  More than likely you are facing the oily hair dilemma and are getting tired of dealing with it.  If it is your tendency to get oily hair, there are several ways you can manage this problem and it doesn’t have to be difficult or costly.

To manage oily hair problems, it is helpful to understand why this happens.  Most of us who have oily hair think that the reason our hair looks oily is because we have an oily scalp.  FALSE.  Typically, it is a dry scalp that motivates the oil glands in your scalp to generate more oil.  As a result, the excess oil then transfers to your hair.   The excess oil in the hair then starts to attract more dirt and dust and haircare products.  Ok, but why does this happen?  Well, if you are a teenager, blame it on the hormones.  In your teens the scalp can secrete more oily sebum.  As an adult, pharmaceuticals can affect our hormonal levels and can also have an effect on the oil in our hair.  This coupled with stress, or your basic skin problems all factor in. Are you also a person who likes to brush their hair, and brush often?  This too, can stimulate the glands resulting in more oil.

Now that we have identified several reasons why we might have oily hair, what can we do to diminish or even eliminate the problem?  Aside from the fact that a healthy diet will certainly contribute to the improvement of your hair health, something as simple as the type shampoo you use and how often you shampoo is important to monitor.  Use a mild cleansing , oil-free shampoo and if possible limit the number of times you shampoo.  If you are someone who feels they need to shampoo daily, only shampoo the hair and not the scalp.  As for a conditioner, you will also want to use one that is labeled for oily hair or something that is mild and oil-free.  Be sure to rinse your hair with cool or luke-warm water. as

Home remedies are bountiful when it comes to trying to deal with oily hair.  A vinegar rinse of one part vinegar to four parts water can be used as long as you avoid using it on the scalp.  A similar rinse using lemon juice might also be something to try.  A diet that is low in saturated fats will help as will drinking plenty of water.

Since we all have different body chemistries, it is extremely difficult to properly diagnose and come up with an all tried and true remedy, so experimentation is needed.  However, if some common sense is used as well as applying some of the previously stated suggestions, I am confident you will end up with the shining, beautiful hair that you so much want to have.

Is your hair lacking luster?  Perhaps your hair is needing a moisturizing pick-me-up.  So how does one go about it?  If you are looking for a quick fix, there might be some temporary solutions out there, but the solution is to find out what works on an ongoing basis so you are not always fighting an uphill battle.

There are many shampoos and conditioners designed to handle dry hair.  Obviously not all of them are going to work, but the question is which ones do?  There is no simple answer to this question because not everyone’s body chemistry is the same and what might work for one individual just might not work for another.  The key is to first find a shampoo that gives your hair a nice soft texture before even getting to the step of using a conditioner.  Good moisturizing shampoos will stand alone if they are really good.  Another thing to remember about shampooing when you have dry hair is that you may be shampooing too often.  If you are shampooing more than twice a week it just might be too  much so cut back.

Hair masks are also a good way to hydrate, moisturize and nourish your hair.  Applying a hair mask about once a week should show some marked improvement in a very short period of time.  Another option is to try a rinse-free,  leave-in conditioner, or deep conditioner.

Regardless of the number of haircare products that are out there for you to discover, some genuine common sense always needs to be factored in.  If you are using hair styling tool on your hair on a daily basis, cut back.  If you color your hair often (and don’t need to because you don’t have gray hair to hide) then stop for awhile to give your hair a chance to repair.  

Lastly, but not any less important is the health-minded or natural approach to taking care of dry hair.   Using foods such as avocado, mayonnaise, coconut oil, olive oil, or even egg mixed in the right amounts and applied to mainly the ends of your hair may have some benefit.  Certain over the counter vitamins that are specific to hair health may also be the answer.  Again, this along with all of the other recommendations may require some trial and error, but don’t lose hope because the right recipe is there for you to find.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, what exactly is “normal hair”?  I think most of us would answer the question with normal hair is not too oily or not too dry.  Additionally, if your hair doesn’t have split ends,  isn’t damaged in any other way,  and is fairly well behaved, one might classify their hair as normal.

So, if your hair is normal, what exactly does one need to do to keep it that way?    The most logical answer is to make sure you wash your hair at least twice a week with a mild shampoo and conditioner for normal hair.  If you are not a person that lets their hair air dry, then when using a hair dryer, be sure to blow dry from at least five inches away, whether your hair is normal, dry or oily.  

There are many shampoos and conditioners in the marketplace so finding the right one may be a process.  You can certainly go by the advice of your hair stylist or if that isn’t an option, I suggest you look for a product that says it is a hydrating shampoo or conditioner.  Let’s face it, using hair styling tools and just the natural exposure that our hair gets on a daily basis can certainly dry out our hair so something that adds moisture or hydrates the hair is essential.

Lastly, as I just mentioned, using hair styling tools on a regular basis will eventually break down the hair cuticles or folicles and some repair will be necessary.  So, the best thing you can do is to keep up the process that works best for you and so you can continue to be able to call your hair “normal”.

I don’t know how many of you have asked this question, but with so many types of conditioners available to buy, it can boggle the mind as to which one to select.  Besides helping your hair feel softer, and in some cases it helps with less tangles after you have washed it, what exactly does hair conditioner do for your hair?

Scientifically speaking, conditioners actually replace the sebum that is lost from your hair.  And, what is sebum?  Sebum is an oily substance secreted by the sebaceous glands in mammalian skin. Its main purpose is to make the skin and hair waterproof and to protect them from drying out.

More than likely you will agree that hair conditioners will, however, make your hair dull and lifeless if you use too much, and if you don’t use enough, your hair ends up with static electricity and definitely is unmanageable.

So, now that we have established that your hair requires conditioning, all that is left is to figure out what is the best conditioner for your particular hair type.    There are basically four types of conditioners available in the marketplace.  The first are the instant conditioners that are applied immediately after you have shampooed your hair.   These conditioners  contain additives such as aloe, balsam, herbal extracts, lanolin, and vitamins.  Your hair will end up shiny but in actuality only do a mild conditioning job on your hair.  The second type of conditioner is the deep conditioner.  This type of conditioner is a more concentrated version of the instant conditioner.  The only difference is that the deep conditioner is intended to remain on your hair for a longer period of time before rinsing it out.  Deep conditioners are intended for use by those who really have a need for conditioning due to damaged hair.  A deep conditioner should be applied at  least once a month.  Some deep conditioners come in the form of hot-oil treatments or protein packs.  The next type of conditioner for  your hair is  the leave-in conditioner.    Leave-in conditioners are applied to your hair after shampooing and towel drying.  There is no rinsing needed and it does not get washed out until your next shampoo.  This product will make your hair look shinier but it doesn’t take care of split ends or frizzy hair.  The last type of conditioner is the protein conditioner.  Protein conditioners are sometimes used as a temporary application to make your hair appear thicker.  They are just that….temporary.  The main benefit to a protein conditioner is that it keeps your hair lubricated between washes.  Although the protein conditioner contains proteins, the proteins do not penetrate the hair shaft.

Now that you know what the different type conditioners can  do for your hair, have fun picking out a couple to try on your hair and by process of elimination you will find the one that is best suited for you.