10 biggest blow-drying mistakes

misskris816

Well-Known Member
I saw this helpful article on Stylelist and saw some adjustments I need to make in my regimen.

Here's the body of the article:

Are you committing one of these most common mistakes Hair Drying mistakes?

1. Not Sectioning Hair First. Flipping your head over and blow-drying until you get dizzy, feel light-headed -- or both -- isn't going to help your cause. Keep a claw clip or duckbill clips near your blow dryer, so that you can easily section hair into the bare minimum of three horizontal sections as you dry.

2. Standing Up As You Blow-Dry. "One of the best pieces of blow-drying advice I can give is to have a seat. You will not believe the difference this makes," says Scrivo. When you're comfortably seated, you can fully harness that upper-body strength without getting tired. Plus, it always helps to steal those precious rejuvenative moments for yourself, wherever you can during the day.

3. Holding The Brush In The Wrong Hand. Many women lift the hairdryer with their dominant hand, while working the brush with the weaker one. You'll get better results by instead holding the brush with your stronger hand, as you'll need the improved dexterity to get the job done in less time. "Even many professional hairdressers learn this incorrectly," says Scrivo. Well, now you can style with even more finesse than them.

4. Overtwisting The Brush. When you brush that first stroke into a section of hair, you don't want to go it more than a quarter turn, which is just enough to give it some smoothing tension without risking snarl. After you pull the brush away from the scalp to the midpoint of strand length, then you can safely start twisting the brush to create shape and curl while under the pointed jet stream of your blow dryer. This is where the magic happens!

5. Pulling The Hair Downward At The Crown. The natural inclination is to pull your brush downward, but that will only give you flat results. That just won't do if you want a roaring mane of silky smoothness. Instead, pull your hair up towards the ceiling, imagining a horseshoe shape coming out of your crown. (Stick with us here.) Hair in the horseshoe should always be blasted in an upwards direction, while hair falling below the horseshoe can be styled downwards for smoothness.

6. Holding The Dryer Too Close. It's totally counterintuitive; holding the mouth of the blow dryer right on top of hair doesn't dry it faster, but only leaves tell-tale damage and pouf in its wake. Always dry with a plastic nozzle in place to regulate and direct heat, and keep it at least an inch away from strands. We had to try it to believe it, but it really does speed things along faster by providing a more even dry -- kinda of similar to a rotating dish in a microwave.

7. Holding The Dryer In The Wrong Position. Your goal: keep that nozzle parallel to each section of hair you hit. Otherwise, the heat will irritate and rough up the cuticle, leaving you with flyaways, damage and smoking strands. And by that, we don't mean sexy.

8. Keeping The Dryer Motionless. Some shake, rattle 'n roll is good for your hips, and apparently, your hair too. Keeping that dryer moving ensures that hair will dry at the same rate all over, and it will actually prevent your shoulder and wrist from hurting from the strain of staying in one spot. "To a stylist, this is second nature, and we do it almost subconsciously," says Scrivo.

9. Going Too Fast. "Women often blow-dry..as if they're in some kind of panic. This is not a race against time. Slow down the process, be more methodical and careful," says Scrivo. In fact, if you race through the process, you'll likely find that you need need to keep going back and re-doing sections anyway, wasting more time in the long run. If your hair dries rapidly (lucky you) before you get a chance to style the section, simply keep a spray bottle of water nearby for a refreshing spritz.

10. Not Drying The Hair Completely. This is for the frizz afflicted out there; if the pouf starts growing almost immediately after you've finished blow-drying, it means you didn't dry it 100 percent. Sometimes hair looks done, but is cold to the touch -- which is the dead giveaway that water is still hiding out in there. "Your hair should be room temperature after blow-drying," advises Scrivo.

http://www.stylelist.com/2011/04/19/blow-drying-mistakes/?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl3|sec1_lnk3|57183
 
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alive

New Member
"Women often blow-dry..as if they're in some kind of panic." LOL too funny. this is so helpful thanks for sharing. i'm guilty of holding the blow dryer too close and standing up while blow drying. i'll have to try some of these other tips when next i get my hair straightened
 

shunemite

New Member
"When you're comfortably seated, you can fully harness that upper-body strength without getting tired". I liked that one, even though I don't currently blow dry.
 

GoodMernin

New Member
Don't forget:

Please stop ripping out your hair with that dang near toofless comb attachment and purchase a new one with all of it's teeth.

Thank you
 

Stella B.

Well-Known Member
Very helpful article!! I've been sitting down for the process for a while now, and it really does make a difference. I really need to learn bow to work that comb attachment tho...
 

IMFOCSD

Well-Known Member
1, 7 & sometimes 10 are my issues, when i do decide to blowdry which isnt often.

nice thread, thanks OP .
 
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misskris816

Well-Known Member
I'm most curious about #5 - blasting the hair in an upward motion. I'm definitely going to try that this weekend and see if it makes a difference!
 

Bnster

New Member
Thanks for the tips. That means I can now sit down in front of the computer watching youtube hair videos while blow drying. Bonus!
 

ladylibra_30

Well-Known Member
Interesting...
I thought applying too much styling product/leave-in and drying large chunks of hair vs smaller sections would be on that list.
 

Mische

Well-Known Member
Sitting down while blowdrying definitely helps! I tried that tonight and found myself being a lot more patient and taking smaller sections. :yep:
 

ladylibra_30

Well-Known Member
bb09 it depends on the leave-in - liquid or creamy or serum ...

Ex -

My staple leave in is Giovanni Direct (creamy) + CHI Silk and it only takes a pea-sized amount of each product for me. Anything more, I get a stiff/heavy rollerset or blowdry.

My next fave leave-in is Elasta QP H20. I can spray this generously and still have bouncy/fluffy/silky/swingy hair.

Typically, when I blow dry I use KeraCare Silken Seal and I can only use a tiny bit (less than pea-size) or I get stiff and stringy results.

I also notice if I blowdry smaller sections I get a silkier/smoother result vs drying bigger chunks of hair. I still get smooth results but it doesn't get silky/bouncy until heat is applied. When I dry smaller sections I can go without heat (just bump the ends) because my hair is just that smooth.
 

bb09

New Member
@bb09 it depends on the leave-in - liquid or creamy or serum ...

Ex -

My staple leave in is Giovanni Direct (creamy) + CHI Silk and it only takes a pea-sized amount of each product for me. Anything more, I get a stiff/heavy rollerset or blowdry.

My next fave leave-in is Elasta QP H20. I can spray this generously and still have bouncy/fluffy/silky/swingy hair.

Typically, when I blow dry I use KeraCare Silken Seal and I can only use a tiny bit (less than pea-size) or I get stiff and stringy results.

I also notice if I blowdry smaller sections I get a silkier/smoother result vs drying bigger chunks of hair. I still get smooth results but it doesn't get silky/bouncy until heat is applied. When I dry smaller sections I can go without heat (just bump the ends) because my hair is just that smooth.

ladylibra_30, Thank you. I'll definitely take heed to doing it in smaller sections ! I use like half a tbsp of conditioner just to moisturise my hair though. I'm not sure how I'm ever gonna be able to use just 'enough' (e.g. a pea size amount) -esp when I have a lot of NG.
 
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