Hair Care

To Blow Dry or To Air Dry?

Should the hair be blow dried or air dried?
It is a matter of preference, actually. Some people do not have much time to devote to styling their hair, or want to achieve the maximum styling they can get for their hair, so they opt for blow-drying it. On the other hand, there are some people who think that blow-drying is a waste of electricity and is the quickest way of damaging the hair, so they opt to have it air dried.

Which is better, you may ask?
Both ways of drying the hair have their advantages and disadvantages, and there are proper and improper ways of doing both. Read on and find out what these are.

Air drying. Air drying is usually done by people who have short and low-maintenance hairstyles, or by people with curly hair. There are also people who have long hair yet have their hair air dry, as air drying does not subject the hair to excessive heat. Therefore, the hair is not as susceptible to damage as hair that is blow dried.

If you are going to have your hair air dried, it is very important to remember that the hair is at its weakest when it is wet. So, take care not to rub your hair dry with the use of a towel. The friction caused by rubbing the hair with a towel will make the hair brittle and eventually break. Rather than rubbing it, you should instead blot the moisture out of your hair with the towel. Also, be careful not to tug or pull at your hair that much when it is still wet. Once the water is blotted out of the hair, fluff it out with your fingers.

Blow Drying. Blow drying the hair is the most convenient way of doing it, and because most people live fast-paced lives, blow drying the hair is the way most people want to do it. Moreover, drying the hair using a blower adds volume to the hair. But inasmuch that blow drying is very convenient, it is also dangerous to the hair, especially if overdone. It can make the hair very brittle.

If you blow dry your hair, make sure that it is not soaking. Blot the water out with a towel first. Do not hold the dryer too close to your head; keep it at least six inches away from your hair and move the dryer constantly around your head. Protect the outer strands of your hair from being over-dried by bending over and blow drying your hair with your hair hanging upside down. Also, try not to dry your hair completely with the blow dryer. Stop while the hair is still slightly damp.

Whether you air dry your hair or you blow dry it is completely your own choice based on your own lifestyle and preferences. But whatever you do, always remember that the hair is fragile. Be careful while handling it.

By Anna Lynn C. Sibal

Most of us think we have this all down pat, but for all we know, we might be wrong. After all, we have been washing our hair all our lives. How could we go wrong with something like washing our hair? However, we might be washing our hair the wrong way and contribute to its damage without actually knowing it.

What we should remember about our hair is that the individual strands of our hair, no matter how thick or strong it looks, is actually very delicate. So we cannot just tug and pull at it, or else it would break. We would not want to have hair breakage, would we?

So, what is the right way of washing the hair?
The first thing you should do is to comb the tangles out of the hair before you wet it so the hair would wash easily and the tangles would not worsen. And then, wet your hair thoroughly under the shower. You can use either warm or cold water if you like, but for best results, you can wet your hair with warm water to open the scale-like cuticles of the hair and wash all the oil and dirt off. And then, you can rinse your hair with cold water afterwards to close the cuticles and add to the shine of your hair.

Rinse your hair under the shower to rid it of the leave-on conditioner and styling aids you have used previously, using gentle strokes of your fingertips. Then, pour a dollop of shampoo in the palm of your hand. Rub your hands together, and then apply the shampoo to your scalp. Take note that you should put the shampoo on your scalp and not at the ends of your hair, as the shampoo would dry your hair's ends and cause it to weaken and split. Also, do not mix your hair all over your head as you shampoo because it will get all tangled up. After this, rinse the shampoo off.

More often than not, we need to shampoo our hair for a second time. The purpose of the first shampoo is to clean the oil and dirt off; the second shampoo is supposed to let the shampoo treat our hair. So, repeat the process, but let the shampoo sit on for around a couple of minutes. Rinse the hair completely after this.

To get the excess water off your hair, just squeeze the water out. Do not pull or tug at the hair because the hair is at its most delicate when it is soaked. When the excess water is out, apply a dollop of conditioner - mane event - and apply it along the hairline, the nape and the ends of the hair. Pile your hair then inside a shower cap and let the conditioner stay there for around ten minutes. And then, rinse it off completely.

The process described here does seem tedious and time-consuming. But remember, having great hair takes time and effort. And it is definitely worth it for a picture perfect hair.

Introduction

I met Jay (pictured to the left) last year while I was participating in a project for Cybergrrl Aliza Sherman.  I felt a very special connection with Jay from the very first email that we exchanged. Jay and I found that we had lots of things in common and bonded during work on Aliza's project.

Once Aliza's project was finished Jay and I still corresponded on a regular basis.  We emailed about a variety of topics and at one point I asked Jay her thoughts and feelings about her hair.

Although Jay has been growing her beautiful hair longer these days, she did go through a period where she had almost no hair.  Jay noticed a major difference in how she was treated.  

I asked Jay to share her experiences, insights and thoughts about how her hair or the lack of it played such a powerful part in how people reacted to her as a person.

During The Late 80s............

When I was 17 years old I shaved off half of my hair. I was in the midst of a punk phase and wanted a complementary haircut. It was the late 80s, so this sort of thing was still in the air. About a year later, shortly after arriving at college, I shaved off the other half, leaving but a fringe of bangs in front. I discovered a lot of things when I did this. I found the removal of my hair to be an extraordinarily liberating experience, and I also saw first hand how we humans, every day "judge the book by its cover." 

Soon after my date with the clippers, I went to the one and only frat party I would ever attend in my college years. I should also tell you that I was in an extremely vulnerable place in my life, having gone through a really rotten summer prior to starting school. I was not looking to make myself more attractive in the typical sense of the word. I was rather, looking to amplify the chip on my shoulder, and avoid dealing with guys as potential boyfriends. The haircut worked. The guys at this party hardly noticed me, at least not in the way that guys usually notice me. This was okay since I don't go for frat boys, especially at frat parties. 

In some ways, this was really refreshing - it meant I was being regarded, not as a potential conquest, but instead as just another person. I especially liked that it weeded out the guys who would not be able to take a righteous, proud feminist like myself. This was really cool at first, because it was pretty different from what I was used to, and made life easier in some ways. Now people wanted to pat my head to feel the fuzzy sensation. They thought I was cute, almost like a little pet. 

Eventually though, this started to annoy me. It really seemed ridiculous that I would be treated so differently just because of a few passes of the clippers. Men who didn't know better were often a bit nervous around me, almost as if they felt threatened by my masculine hairstyle. Women (not my friends) didn't know what to make of me either. It was as if I suddenly started speaking another language. Why would I want to make myself (in their opinions) LESS attractive? And even though I reveled in the freedom of it, I also started to miss the attention I was used to getting. Then I started to get mad. It seemed so unfair that I would be judged on such a mutable and surface-based factor. Of course I know that when we chose our mates, sexual attraction is a primary concern, but did they not see that I was just as sexy with my fuzzy, chia-pet head? 

Conclusion

Even now, when I tell my head shaving story, there's always someone why can't believe I would have done such a strange thing. But I would not do it differently. It showed me the power of physical appearance in every aspect of our lives. Every day we make judgments, whether we intend to or not. Now, my hair is at its longest, and I find the opinions generated by this development to be just as fascinating.

About Jay House

Jay Lamar House is a freelance writer based in New York City. She also does community development and marketing for Cybergrrl, Inc.  If you would like to share your feelings about this article you can email Jay.

Time waster: Washing your hair every day.
Fast fix: Suds up every other day. Washing every day can strip hair of its natural moisture and necessitate unnecessary styling. If you want, on your "off" days, absorb dirt and oil with a dry shampoo like Rene Furterer Naturia Dry Shampoo ($24) or Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat ($18).

Time waster: Washing and styling hair in the morning.
Fast fix: Shower before bedtime and give it a quick dry, then sleep on it―it'll behave better after a night of ZZZs. (To refresh it in the a.m., give it a shot of cool air from the hairdryer and style as usual.)

Time waster: Blow-drying sopping wet hair.
Fast fix: To minimize damage and cut back on styling time, apply heat only when the hair is about 50 percent air-dried.

Time waster: Blow-drying with a tired old model.
Fast fix: Switch to a tourmaline model that generates negative ions―basically, drying the hair in nearly half the time without cooking it with heat like traditional models. Two to try: the Revlon Tourmaline Ionic Dryer 1875 Watt ($30) and the T3 Tourmaline 83808 Professional Featherweight Ceramic Ionic Hair Dryer ($125).

Time waster: Straightening, ironing, and curling hair that doesn't cooperate.
Fast fix: Consult a trusted stylist and ask how to make the most of the hair nature gave you―curly or stick straight.