Which does more damage to my tresses: a hair dryer or a hair straightener?

Answer 1

Both damage your hair, however there are brands that are better for your hair than others. Most of them are rather expensive and only sold in salons or beauty supply stores.
For a hair dryer, usually the hotter the air, the worse it is for your hair. CHI makes several that are low heat but don't lack on the amount of air that flows out. I recently switched to one of these and while there is drastically less heat, my hair dries much faster. CHI is not the only one that has perfected this technique, it's just the only one I can think of off the top of my head.
On a flat iron or curling iron, find one that uses ceramic plates and has adjustable heat, then set the heat to the lowest setting that your hair will respond to.
Also, use products on your wet hair to protect from the heat of the blow dryer and some sort of heat protectant or flat iron spray to protect from the direct heat of the iron. I like Redken Align for when my hair is wet and then I switch between several products by TIGI, Bumble and Bumble and CHI for use with the flat iron. The use of products at this point in your styling process also helps out for your final look because you'll have something to help hold your style.
If money is an issue (because these products and appliances are expensive) consider trying to buy the appliances off of eBay - sometimes you will have to try through several auction/bids, but it's worth it when you pay less than half for one - just make sure you research how much one costs at salons first so you don't overpay. And for cheaper hair products, check out the discounted section in the mall salons or at your salon. Many times there is nothing wrong with the actual product, just the packaging has changed and the maker wants the new packaging on the shelf. In fact, Redken just went through a packaging change and you can still find many of their products at a discounted price.

Answer 2

Hair straighteners work by breaking down the hair's hydrogen bonds, which cause hair to bend and become curly. Once the bonds are broken, hair is prevented from holding its original, natural form.
As the people above mentioned, they both do a lot of damage. But the straightener (especially a cheaper model without a ceramic heating element) definitely does the most damage. The straighteners with ceramic heating elements do not damage the hair as much but they may cost a great deal of money, usually around $100. Some may claim to have ceramic plates when in actuality they only have a paint-like coating on the plates to give the appearance of a more expensive ceramic straightener. You may also want to talk to a professional hair stylist and ask about hair products that can help from damaging your hair (like straightening balm) if you find that you use a straightener and /or hairdryer often. Also, using an ionic hair dryer helps minimize the damage to your hair.
If you're asking this question because you have curly hair but use these items to achieve straight hair, look at the following link that shows how to use a hairdryer successfully to straighten hair with minimal damage to your hair.
http://www.thehairstyler.com/Blow_Dry_Professional_Hairstyles.asp
Take care.

Answer 3

If both (or one, really) are used everyday, then straightener. The heat is more direct to your hair, and it's continually trying to straighten it out, versus just a light blowdry (that can be changed to a warm setting instead of hot)

Answer 4

Hair Straightener! Flat ironing causes breakage and dry ends.
So does hair drying....
Try a straightening conditioner after shampoo.

Answer 5

They both do drastic damage to your hair because of the heat. My advice to you, because I do this for myself, if you are going to straighten your hair, let your hair air dry first. That way your hair will not be as damaged. A good way to help fix damaged hair is Biolage Conditioning Balm. It helps alot.

Answer 6

A straightener does more damage to your hair because it is alot hotter & it applied directly to your hair....

Answer 7

A hair straightener. As long as you are using your cool shot button on your blow dryer.

Answer 8

Hair straightener, no doubt about it.

Answer 9

both do alot of damage because of the high heat....
try and use therma silk it helps get the heat out....

Answer 10

straightener will burn any moisture out of your locks, towel dry is best