Air Dry Thick Hair
Air drying hair allows its natural texture to blossom as opposed to blow drying hair, which uses heat to fight the hair strands' natural positions. Although the heat from blow drying dries wet hair quickly, it can also damage hair, leaving dry, brittle hair strands that break easily. Air drying hair takes more time to dry than using a hair dryer, but you can see benefits from the process. These tips can also be beneficial during a power outage.
Steps
- Select a hair cut that is low maintenance if you are going to air dry your hair often. Take your hair type into consideration. If your hair is wavy or curly and you have a style best suited for straight hair that requires blow drying and other heated styling tools, air drying your hair can lead to frustrating results.
- Wash your hair at night, which leaves hours of opportunity for it to dry while you sleep.
- Encourage your hair to dry faster after you wash it. Your hair will air dry faster if you take care to remove excess water from the hair.
- Use your hands to squeeze as much water from your hair as you can prior to using an absorbent towel to dry your hair. Start by gathering your hair into a ponytail with your hands at the back of your head and move down the length of your hair, squeezing the water down as you go. Excess water will run off the ends of your hair. This creates optimum opportunity for the dry towel to absorb more moisture, further drying your hair.
- Blot your hair with an absorbent towel. Do not rub your hair with the towel. Wet hair is more susceptible to damage than dry hair. The friction of rubbing not only results in frizz but also breakage. To wick out more moisture, you can also wrap your hair in the towel and leave the towel on your head while you finish getting ready.
- Separate strands of hair so your hair can dry more quickly.
- Brush your hair with a wide tooth comb. Start combing close to the ends of your hair. With each stroke, start with the comb a little higher on the hair. Work upward until you are at the roots and combing down the entire length of the hair.
- Run your fingers through your hair. Slide your fingers through your hair at the scalp. Lift your hair at the roots, and then run your fingers through your hair down to the ends. This allows the air to work through the hair, decreasing drying time. This can also add volume to your hair; however, thick hair does not always appreciate more volume, especially if the hair has some body to it.
- Fight frizz with anti-frizz products and leave-in conditioners. Apply a detangler or leave-in conditioner suitable for your hair type to get silky, shiny hair. Do not use products intended for blow drying as many of them are activated by the heat of the blow dryer. Apply hair products like serums and oils to help control your hair while it dries.
- Add body or control uncontrollable curls by braiding hair or twisting it into a bun and letting it dry. Doing this also gets your hair off your back and away from your face while it dries.
- Go outside to air dry hair. The sun and breeze that meet your hair outside assist in speeding up the time it takes for your hair to air dry.
Things You'll Need
- towel
- comb
- anti-frizz serum
- leave-in conditioner
Related Articles
- Care for Naturally Curly or Wavy Thick Hair
- Manage Thick Hair
- Wash Thick Hair
- Blow Dry Hair
- Create Cute Hairstyles for Long Thick Hair
