new thread
I will be at the long awaited 3 year mark next month but believe it or not never used a hairdryer once until two weeks ago when I needed my hair dry quick (cause I was late for school >.<)
But my question is, what do you guys do exactly in terms of drying, I'd be interested in a step by step of exactly what you all do, as in whether you squeeze out excess water and then leave/towel dry or use a hairdryer, or maybe some of you even have special methods?
I don't want to use a hairdryer again as I've been told they are bad for the hair and scalp but the speed in which my hair dried was really satisfying as it usually takes the best part of a day to completley dry naturally..so I'm kind of tempted to use hairdryers now
Please post your opinions and drying routines if you have time!
Thanks!
I have been growing for around 2.5 years now.
Methods I use commonly are to "head bang" after a wash to remove excess water and sleep with my hair like this (silk pillowcase will help to avoid damage to the hair while wet)
If I want my hair to dry a little straighter i'll braid it and sleep like that, the centre of the braid is sometimes still wet in the morning, but it's hardly noticeable.
For a straight haired person these might not work too well, I don't brush or otherwise detangle my hair unless before a wash.
Very simple, after the shower I soak up as much water as I can with a towel and after that just let it dry.
Haven't had any problems but my hair wasn't very long last winter.
I've been growing out for nearly 30 months, and I never use a hair dryer. Before getting out of the shower, I squeeze out as much water from my hair as I can (no twisting or wringing out - just squeezing), then put it up in a towel for about 5-10 minutes or so. this eliminates all dripping, and my hair then air drys for a couple hours. I prefer to wash my hair at night, so it can air dry loose, but this is method even if I do it earlier in the day. I'm just a little more gentle tieing it back when I go out, if it's still damp.
hope this helps.
Jim
Right after I turn the shower water off I squeeze the excess water out a couple times so there is no water dripping from my head. I then gently comb it with an afro looking comb, to make sure there's no tangles. After that I sometimes just go about normally, letting it air dry, nothing special. Other times, which is most of the time, I'll headbang which actually works fantastic, especially headbanging to my records :P To get me in the mood for tomorrow's show, I think I 'dry my hair' some Swedish Death Metal tonight after washing my hair ;)
Cheers,
Hegg
Stay away from hair dryers/blow dryers unless you're using the cold air feature on them.
I've never tried to headbang my hair into being dry. Doesn't that put tangles into it?
If you comb your wet hair gently before you headbang, you shouldn't get any severe tangles at all, nothing a simple finger comb can't fix.
I was thinking more along the lines of Unleashed, since I'm seeing them tomorrow with Obituary :P But I do have some Grave records I'll give a spin!
Hi Cillian, this is (or can be) a real hot topic here. Please excuse the pun. From my experience I have gotten good results using the warm setting and not suffered hair damage. Hair can certainly withstand temperatures of 50 degrees C (122 F) without damage. Otherwise those who live in desert climates would have terrible hair. (Southwest Native Americans have gorgeous long flowing hair despite extreme desert heat.) And remember black hair gets well above ambient temperature in the hot sun on a wind free day, possibly as high as 70 C.
If the hair dryer does not cause discomfort to exposed skin, it probably won't harm your hair either. Here is the rig I use to keep both hands free while drying my hair. I air dry when practical. In winter, I have to use this hair dryer.
Scott
Wow, that thing looks really cool! Also thanks for the info on temperatures :)
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I haven't used one in years but I suppose it's down to person but you must use a low setting.
Cheers,
John.B
No. I do not use hair driers. I use the towel to soak up the moisture in my hair till it no longer drips, and then I let my hair air-dry.
Regardless
Cillian,
I use a blow dryer less and less now, opting to wrap my head in a towel. I usually just watch a little TV while waiting...usually an hour. Occasionally, I'll remove the towel and turn it around to a less damp part of the towel and wrap it again on that side.
Take care and keep it growin'!
Brett
Hi there,
I use a hair dryer everynow and then in winter when my hair wont naturally dry itself as quickly. I use a dryer with a very low heat setting, some have a cold setting too. Also it helps to have a dryer with a low blowing power to stop your hair tangling.
Neil
They are bad for your hair if you set them too high, I suppose, but plenty of longhairs use them on a lower setting.
As long as you keep it away from your head you should be fine. I cna't use them; my hair hates heat in almost all it's unnatural man-created forms. D:
I have some super-absorbant turban towels. I'll put my hair up in each for about ten minutes after my shower while I shave, etc.
Then I'll let it hair-dry for about 30 minutes. Then I do finish it with a blowdryer.
All blowdryers are not created equal. My wife and I got the ceramic type that produces far-infrared heat. It dries the hair from the inside to outside. We both couldn't believe the positive difference in our hair! It dries the hair faster, yet leaves it in much better condition than a regular blowdryer.
We bought ours at a Sally's. It has a medium heat setting that is barely warm. I use that medium setting for heat, and the low setting for the fan. It works great.
I tried a cheaper ceramic one once, but it was horrible. You get what you pay for.
After reading this thread, I decided to finally do something I'd been wanting to do. I washed my hair, towel-dried it, combed it, then left it to dry on its own with no blow drying. After it dried, instead of lying straight and flat, the hair below ear-level on the sides had dried in wavy curls, and the hair in back was straight with an upward flip on the ends. Surprised and pleased, I left it that way and today, a day and a half later, it's still wavy, but a bit relaxed. I think I'll keep doing this for a while. One of the things I haven't liked doing as my hair has gotten longer is spending the 10 minutes or so in the morning drying and styling it to be straight.
Thank you everyone, I'm now using the hairdryer on the cool setting, after towel drying, which I didn't even know about!