Hair Styling Tools

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.