Hair Styling Tools

In the world of hairstyling, there is a cornucopia of different hairstyling tools. So many so that it can get a bit confusing, even if you’re generally familiar with beauty products. To that end, there is one hairstyling contraption that is known as a hot air brush. This can best be understood as a mix between a hairdryer and a round brush. In this way, hot air brushes have the shape of a round brush, but they blow hot air from their center.

This has one distinct advantage over the standard hairdryer and brush technique, and that’s convenience. After all, when you blow dry your hair and try to brush it at the same time, it yields great looking results, but it leaves both hands occupied. With a hot air brush, you have one hand entirely free. This means you can hold the ends of your hair taut, thus creating tension. This tension helps you yield even better results.

Here we show you how to use a flat iron.

Note: Flat irons should be used only on hair that’s been thoroughly dried. We suggest you buy a flatiron with a ceramic plate. If you want really straight hair, flat irons are a must: They diffuse heat better and result in less damage. Here are some steps to take to get the best hair possible:

Step 1: Apply styling cream to damp hair from mid-shaft down. If you have curly, coarse hair, use a straightening balm.

Step 2: Coat strands with a heat-protective spray.

Step 3: Part hair into four to five sections and blow each section dry.

Step 4: Take a one or two-inch section of hair and clamp the iron down as close to the scalp as possible. Slowly pull iron down the length of hair. (Be sure to read directions to see what heat setting you should have iron on and how long to keep iron on hair).

Step 5: Rub a serum gloss between your hands and palm over hair for extra shine and to keep hair in place. To keep frizzies along the hairline at bay, spritz hairspray on an old toothbrush and ‘brush’

It is all about hair health these days, and using hair styling tools on your hair can cause damage unless you follow some very simple rules.  For those of us who either like to,  or need to use a curling iron on our hair, there are some very important considerations to be made if you are needing to purchase a new one, or if you already have one and are noticing that your hair is dry and breaking off.

DO’S

Make sure your hair is completely dry before you use your curling iron.  A curling iron can reach temperatures hot enough to cause the water that is still in your hair to turn into steam and result in a skin burn or burning the hair strands.  This ultimately results in the hair strands breaking.

1. Use a curling iron that has adjustable heat settings. to choose from.  If you have      thin or damaged hair about 150 degrees is all you will need to curl your hair.  If you have thick or course hair all you need is a temperature setting of 180 to 200 degrees.
2. Separate your hair into small sections before you wrap your hair around the curling iron’s barrel.  If you work using small sections of hair, you have the ability to get just the right amount of curl quickly, without exposing your hair to potential increased hair strand damage.
3. When curling your hair, keep the curling iron barrel at least one half inch away from your hair roots to avoid burning your skin and avoiding damage to your hair’s cuticle.
4. Gold barrel curling irons provide even heating while curling your hair and are somewhat better than chrome barrels, especially if you are curling your hair often.
5. Teflon coated barrels are great for curling hair as they help prevent your hair from snagging and overheating.
6. If you want a curling iron that has been determined to be the least damaging to all types of hair, a ceramic barrel is the way to go.  The ceramic coating typically has tourmaline technology which results in even heat distribution and a smooth finish to your hair.  These types of curling irons work faster than the infrared technology that is used in gold and chrome coated curling irons.  Most of the professional curling irons in the marketplace have the ceramic features that are discussed here.
7. If you have frizzy, dry, or colored hair, do use a ceramic coated barrel curling iron.

DON’TS

1. When curling your hair with a curling iron, do not leave your hair in contact with the heated barrel for more than 8 seconds at a time.  Extended periods of time will dry out the hair and result in hair breakage and split ends.
2. After curling a section of hair, do not comb it, use a brush on it, or pull on the strands of hair until they have had a chance to cool down.  Hair that is still warm is more prone to breaking and other damage.  Let your hair cool and then proceed with styling it.
3. Try to not curl your hair using a curling iron every day.  Prolonged use of any heated hair styling tool will ultimately cause some damage.  If you feel you must use heated hair styling tools on a daily basis,  try to give your hair a break every 5 or so days for a 24 hour period.

If you can ultimately follow the recommended do’s and don’ts of using or selecting a curling iron, you should expect to keep your hair looking healthy and in style.

Go Green” and “Save Our Planet”. It’s one of those all important topics that is on our minds and that many are diligently working at on a daily basis. So what does going green with a hairdryer have to do with this? Several hairdryer manufacturers have attempted to contribute to the “going green” cause by creating hairdryers with low emf. So you ask the question, “What is EMF?” EMF stands for electro magnetic fields. Electric and magnetic fields are found everywhere. They are part of the natural environment and present in the atmosphere. They are also produced wherever electricity or electrical equipment is in use. When you turn on your hair dryer you are being exposed to EMF. While the long term affects of EMF have yet to be totally determined, there is still concern to those that are conducting the research on this very topic.

So, for those of us who are committed to saving our planet and yet still needing to blow dry our hair, what is the safest hairdryer out there and which one contributes in other ways to “going green”?

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Have you asked yourself lately what type of styling brush really works when blow drying your hair?  There are so many sizes and types of brushes in the marketplace, so what does really work for your particular hair length and the style you are looking to achieve?

So let’s talk about the type of brush that is best to use.  If you are concerned about keeping your hair healthy and shiny looking, it is important that you look for styling brushes that have aerated barrels and are made with ceramic ionic technology.  If the brush has nano-silver and tourmaline technology that is even better and certainly a plus.

So why should the brush have an aerated barrel with ceramic ionic technology?  Aerated round barrel brushes are made so that they can roll through the hair quickly and are not made to hold sections of the hair due to the relatively short bristles.  Thus, the aerated barrel enables air to flow quickly without bouncing hair off the barrel when used with a hairdryer.  The ceramic ionic technology results in the ceramic barrel heating up very quickly and uniformly.  This allows for faster drying time and less time needed to dry and style.  The shorter time the better so as to avoid drying out and damaging the hair.

Styling brushes that are reinforced with tourmaline additives help promote the breaking down of the water molecules for hair absorption.  When nano-silver technology is added to the bristles this helps keep hair clean and smelling good.

Now that we have determined the type of brush, what about size?  What size brush should be used for the various hair lengths and the type of style you are going for?  Generally speaking,  styling brushes usually come in 1″ or 1  1/2″ sizes and go up to about 4″ in diameter.  You can use the following brush diameters as a guide:

Very Short Hair Lengths – Use a 1 to 1 1/2″ barrel

Short Hair Lengths – Use a 2″ barrel

Short to Medium Hair Lengths – Use a 2 1/2″ barrel

Medium Hair Lengths – Use a 3″ barrel

Medium to Longer Hair Lengths – Use a 3 1/2″ barrel

Longest Hair Lengths – Use a 4″ barrel

As for the style you want, a lot depends on whether it is volume that you are going for, are you looking to curl the ends of your hair under, are you wanting your hair to flip up, or do you want a bouffant style?  Do you want to create some bangs?  Again, based on the length of your hair, you can easily achieve these various styles by selecting the right size barrel.  If your hair is layered and you want the shorter lengths to display some curl, selecting a smaller barrel would be the best route to take.  Generally, for any style that has curl, the smaller barrel sizes work best.  If you are looking for a slight wave or a smooth look, the larger barrels generally work the best.  Sometimes it takes trying out different barrel sizes to get the exact look you desire, based on the fact that everyone’s hair is different and what works for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for everyone else. 

So what hair styling tools (styling brushes) out there meets the criteria for styling your hair while blow drying it?  Spornette makes several styling brushes that will fit the bill.  In particular, the Spornette Prego brush has all of the features mentioned.  So the next time you are in the market for a styling brush, give the Spornette Prego a try and see if you agree.