Category: Lifestyle | 2-Minute Read
1) Aggressive towel rubbing can break your hair strands.
When your hair is wet, it is most vulnerable and susceptible to breakage. Wet hair is more likely to break because when wet, hair’s cuticles swell and stretch. When your hair cuticles are weakened to a certain limit, they being to fall out. Does that make sense? No?
Ok, so imagine the hair cuticle is the plastic tubing that contains all your hair shafts, when this covering is damaged or removed, the hair shafts underneath become frayed and break.
In such a fragile state if you’re rough while towel drying, it’s just a recipe for frizz, breakage and ultimately hair fall! How often do you see lots of hair in your towel or on the bathroom floor? What you need to do is soak up the excess water without stripping the hair of the moisture.
So let’s stop taking out all our frustration on our hair and take a more gentle approach by using a soft microfiber towel. A microfiber towel is the best option for drying your hair as microfibers are a hundred times finer than human hair so they provide a large surface area for the towel to absorb moisture.
The most significant benefits of using a microfiber towel is the lack of friction caused therefore less damage, the less time required to dry your hair, they last longer than cotton towels and your hair will look AMAZING!
Did you know… that cotton T-shirts also work well for drying your hair!? Yes, your old gym tee can be the hair-taming revelation you’ve been pleading for! The t-shirt just soaks up the water while sliding over the hair and you’ll notice that with less pulling of the hair strands! This is best used for those with curly hair as it helps define those curls!
2) Hair dryers cook your hair!
Hair dryers expose your hair to excessive heat and while this damage may not be visible to you, under a microscope, bubbles or micro-cavities can arise and this result in the breakage of the hairs. This disruption can also cause damage to the core of the hair shaft and as a result your hair is no longer soft and shiny.
Studies show that high temperatures at prolonged times can result in hair surface damage. It has also been reported that use of a hair dryer for 60 seconds at a distance of 15cm using a temperature of 47℃ causes less damage than letting the hair dry naturally. So if you decide to use a hair dryer, choose your hair dryer carefully…. One with multiple heat and air settings. For those with curly hair, I recommend a diffuser as it filters out the air from the hair dryer that will disrupt the curl/wave textures. Let’s not forget to mention hydrating conditioners and heat protection products!
Fear not: There are things you can do to mitigate the damage.
Depending on your hair texture, the time you have on your hands and what suits you, you can pick from one of the above methods to dry your hair quickly.
My hair drying routine!
Once I have washed my hair, I gently squeeze out the excess water starting from the scalp to the hair tips. I do NOT twist my hair and do NOT tie it up in a bun while it is wet!
I use my microfiber soft towel to gently blot my hair and when it’s damp (not dripping wet!), flip my hair forwards and loosely tie it in a microfiber turban. These are available in many stores with a button at the back so you can never twist your hair too tightly! I absolutely love mine!!
I leave my hair in the microfiber turban for 15-20 minutes such that all the remaining water is soaked into the towel.
I then use my hair dryer to blow ionised cool air from my hairdryer with a diffuser to dry my hair a little more and then leave it to dry naturally.
It is important to understand the best way for you to dry hair without causing damage.
I really look forward to hearing your experiences!
So that’s all from me folks!
If you found this blog helpful, please like, share and comment below!
As always,
Prioritise yourselves! 
Dr Natasha Verma 💕
References:
https://skinkraft.com/blogs/articles/how-to-dry-hair-without-damage
Monselise A, Cohen DE, Wanser R, Shapiro J. What Ages Hair?. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2017;3(1 Suppl):S52-S57.
Lee Y, Kim YD, Hyun HJ, Pi LQ, Jin X, Lee WS. Hair shaft damage from heat and drying time of hair dryer. Ann Dermatol. 2011 Nov;23(4):455-62.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/aggressive-towel-drying-hair-fall_n_578fb8a3e4b0f180da6413ab
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