Air Drying or Blowing Drying: Which Is Better For Your Hair?

The air drying vs blow drying debate. Everyone has a different view and preference on it when it comes to their own hair.

In terms of which one is actually less damaging to your hair, it’s hard to know. We’ve done some investigating to figure out which hair drying method is actually the best for your hair.

How does hair get damaged in the first place?

Which method is the best choice ultimately comes down to which has least chance of damaging your hair. How does our hair get damaged in the first place though? It’s all to do with the protein keratin.

Keratin remains strong as long as it is moisturised and isn’t damaged. Keratin (and thus your hair) becomes damaged when too much heat is used, it doesn’t get the right balance of moisture (not too much and not too little) or it is being washed too regularly with too many cosmetic products.

What’s the difference in impact between air drying and blow drying?

Air drying in itself doesn’t cause damage but allowing moisture to remain on your hair for hours will. Too much moisture causes your scalp to become over hydrated. This causes your hair to lose some of its strong protein structure resulting in limp and weaker locks.

Just like air drying isn’t the exact cause of hair damage, the same goes for blow drying. What does cause damage with blow drying is too much exposure to heat and over drying your hair. Blow dry damage does the opposite of air drying. It pulls out all of the moisture in your hair making your hair more prone to breakages.

So what’s a person to do?

So both do cause damage. Now you might be thinking how on earth am I supposed to dry my hair then?

It is easier to control the damage of blow drying than damage associated with air drying. For that reason it is recommended to mostly blow dry your scalp and moderately blow dry your hair. The key is to use a medium heat level and brush your hair directly after as to avoid frizzy, tangled and knotted hair.

As well it is advised to blow dry at an angle away from your scalp as this will re seal the wet cuticles for a tighter seal and all round shiner look! Yes please!

Consider investing in a good hair dryer to help protect your hair. Yes, the Dyson Supersonic is very expensive, it’s a purchase that you will get a lot of use out of especially if you share it with others in your house.