Many people with natural hair choose to use heat tools. Though there are many benefits to heat styling tools, improper and excessive usage can cause hair damage and dryness. When styling your natural hair, there are a couple of key guidelines to follow to achieve flattering results without jeopardizing your hair’s health.
We’re all about ensuring you walk out of the house with healthy locks, that’s why we outlined our do’s and don’ts for everything heat styling below.
Do’s for Heating Styling Hair
There’s a right way to heat style your hair—and a wrong way. From product application to diversifying your hairstyles, there are many ways to maintain healthy hair while regularly heat styling.
Check out a few of our heat styling do’s for your ‘do:
1. Apply Heat in Moderation
Heat styling products can reach temperatures up to 347ºF-392ºF. High temperatures are known to open the hair cuticle (hair protection layer), effectively drying up natural moisture, and leading to brittleness, split ends, and damage. Because of this, it is important to use a thermal protectant.
- Our Vitale Olive Oil Thermashield Polisher protects hair from heat damage by sealing hair cuticles for a silky and frizz-free finish. We recommend thermal protectants for all hair types, especially colored and chemically altered hair.
2. Use Products With Quality Ingredients
With cosmetic shelves stacked full, it can be difficult to know which products to use. The key is to find products with quality ingredients that cleanse, condition, and detangle. This is increasingly important when frequently using heat-styling products.
- Our Sleek Oil Shine Mist offers a radiant shine and long-lasting smoothing effect for sleek, frizz-free hair. With a lightweight formula, hydrating proteins, and Moroccan Argan Oil, the mist brings instant protection to each hair strand, limiting damage from heat styling, color, and chemical processing.
- A Hydrate Define Shampoo with triple butter hydration is a sulfate-free solution that leaves hair fresh, soft, and beautiful. By removing excess product and oil buildup, Hawaiian Silky shampoo hydrates and detangles every strand leaving behind a clean canvas for heat styling.
- Hawaiian Silky’s moisture-rich Hydrate Define Conditioner, perfect for all hair types, nourishes dry, brittle hair. Detangling your tresses and locking in moisture helps leave your hair feeling fresh and protected.
3. Invest in Quality Styling Tools
Quality heating tools ensure your hairstyles are within one to two strokes or twists of a straight iron or curling iron. The fewer times you use a tool each time you style your hair, the less damage your hair will have.
4. Make Haircare a Priority
To keep your hair in top-notch shape, you must regularly hydrate and trim it. Try deep-conditioning with a hair mask 1-2 times a week. Regular deep-conditioning maintains the moisture balance of your natural hair, replenishing moisture and aiding in length retention.
5. Invest in a Good Leave-in Conditioner
A leave-in-conditioner is important to any hair care routine because it locks in moisture and reduces hair breakage. Our Silky Leave-In-Conditioner not only keeps your hair looking silky and smooth but reduces frizz as well.
Don’ts for Heat Styling Hair
1. Do Not Apply Directly To Wet or Damp Hair
When it comes to heat styling, it is key that your hair is blow-dried or air-dried. If hair is wet when heat styling with a tool like a flat iron, you risk long-term hair breakage and heat damage to your hair.
2. Don’t Set Heat Tools to the Highest Setting
As we mentioned, heating tools can get as hot as 392ºF. Not only can this temperature cause severe damage and the loss of curl pattern, it can seriously burn your skin. For this reason, it is important to stick to low and medium heat settings to protect your hair from irreversible damage.
3. Don’t Make Several Passes Through the Hair if Not Necessary
Using heating tools on the same section of hair for an extended period in one styling session can cause significant damage. It is key to move the heat styling tool continuously throughout different parts of your hair to ensure proper heat distribution.
4. Don't Prolong Haircuts
To prevent split ends and the appearance of dry, brittle hair, routine haircuts are key. Every 6-8 weeks it is recommended that you get a haircut to proactively limit the risk of hair damage.
Common Heat Styling Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
1. Use the Correct Temperature Settings on Your Blow-Dryer
Blow dryers, similar to other heat-styling tools, can reach extreme temperatures. For this reason, it is important to use cool or warm heat when blow-drying your hair. If not, you risk stripping your hair of moisture and making it harder to curl or straighten afterward.
2. Make Sure Your Hair Is in Good Shape To Start With
It’s important to assess the state of your hair before using any heat styling tools. If your hair is already damaged and you continue using heated tools, you risk frying it and burning it off. If your hair is damaged, prioritize increasing moisture through hair masks and leave-in conditioners.
3. Only Straighten or Curl Clean Hair
Using heat styling tools on dirty hair risks penetrating built-up products further into your hair strands. When this happens, it becomes harder to wash your hair. Because of this, it is important that you only use heat-styling products on freshly shampooed and conditioned hair that is completely dry.
4. Heat Protection Is a Necessity
The most common mistake people make when using heat styling tools? Skipping heat protection. Heat protective spray creates a barrier on your hair follicles, limiting damage, and improving the longevity of your hairstyle.
Shop Heat Styling Products
If you’re looking for a convenient way to temporarily alter the appearance of your natural hair, give heat styling tools a try. Before trying to use a curling wand or straightening iron, take some precautionary steps that protect your hair from irreversible damage like breakage.
By prioritizing hydration and limiting the frequency you use heat styling tools, you can protect your locks. Check out our website for more information and products for more heat styling tips and products.