If you’ve ever experienced hair loss, you know how frustrating it can be, and what a toll it can take on your self confidence. Oftentimes hair loss is hard to treat because it takes time to get the root cause. Our skin and hair are both windows into our internal health, so hair loss is commonly a byproduct of things like nutritional deficiencies and stress. However, there are external factors that could be making it worse. One thing that can exacerbate hair loss and damage is using excessive heat and product on your hair. While it is ok to use hot tools generally speaking, if you are experiencing hair loss it may be a good idea to cut back on any heat when styling. But are there any tools that are worse than others? We asked hairstylists to weigh in.
Mal Strong, owner of Goldplaited, a premier finishing salon in Chicago, shared the most common causes of fallout and breakage that she’s seen. “Washing and drying your hair everyday and overusing styling tools are the classic damage causing factors. Hard water and environmental chemicals can also exacerbate dryness which leads to breakage.”
When it comes to hot tools, one newly popular product she has seen that could be making fallout and breakage worse is the blow dry brush. “Blow dryer brushes have recently exploded in popularity (born of the at-home zoom meeting DIY trend) and are available from a range of brands.”
One of the main reasons for this is because people commonly use them incorrectly. “Users think this item is an all in one miracle tool, and will often put the blow dryer brush to their very wet hair. Instead, the brush should be used as a finishing tool after your hair is fully dry. By trying to take the hair from wet to dry and then smoothing and styling, blow dry brush owners are often going over the same strand hair way too many times, resulting in their tresses becoming fried.” She says.
Rita Hazan stylist Jennifer Matos also weighed in on the potentially damaging effects of blow dryer brushes. “In most cases, people have the setting on very high thinking it will dry the hair quicker, but in reality it’s burning their hair. This is especially for clients who are not used to using the tool, and are not using a heat protector along with the tool.” Using a blow dryer brush on wet hair, with the heat setting too high, may seem to give you a better, salon-quality dry, but it could be ruining your hair in the long term.
With that being said, you don’t have to throw out your blow dryer brush altogether! According to Strong, you can continue to use your blow dry brush, just make sure your hair is dry first. “I would suggest washing the hair the night before and letting it air dry overnight. Once dry, use the blow dry brush for smoothing and styling, or use a flat iron or curling iron for waves. I don't recommend using more than one hot tool per styling session— so never smooth with the brush and then curl with an iron.”
Matos also emphasizes the importance of using products that are designed to protect the hair from heat. “A heat protection product plays a major role when styling your hair with certain hair tools, such as the blow dryers with brush attachments. By using a heat protector when styling your hair with the tool, this will prevent breakage. R+Co Hypersonic Heat Styling Mist can help prevent thermal damage to the hair,” she says, “This product can be sprayed on wet or dry hair. I recommend using the blow dryer with an attachment on a lower setting, especially if it’s your first time using it. Once you get used to using the tool then you can turn the setting higher.” While it may be a good idea to cut back on your use of blow dryer brushes, you can use them safely by doing things like keeping the heat setting low and using heat protectant on your hair before use.
