8 Common Mistakes People Make When Straightening Their Hair
Sleeks, straight air is a timeless hairstyle that goes with almost any fashion trend and can perfectly complement most people. But when done wrong, it can ruin your hair, damage it, and deter you from using this innovative and effective hair styling method. Thankfully, we can avoid doing it wrong altogether by learning from the mistakes others have made.
Another mistake we’ve made a few times and seen others make often is turning the temperature on their straightener up too high. Flat irons can get extremely hot, often exceeding 200°C. To protect your hair, you should use a heat-protectant spray when straightening it. But even with this, the excess heat can damage your hair or cause hot spots.
While heat is still the primary culprit in hair damage, clamping onto your hair in one area for too long can also result in damage. Stable exposure to an appropriate temperature allows you to style your hair. Holding your straightener on one section of your hair for too long exposes that section to more heat than it should have, which can lead to damage, too.
Once your hair is straight, do you think it could be straightened more? This is one of those things we did as teens that makes us cringe now. No, once your hair is straight, your chances of getting it even straighter aren’t high. You stand a higher chance of damaging your hair because of the excessive heat applied to it.
Stubborn sections that refuse to fall in line like the rest of your hair can happen to even the best hairstylists. Don’t give in to the temptation of straightening it repeatedly when this happens. It might get it to straighten eventually, but it’s definitely not worth causing irreparable damage. The more your hair is exposed to high heat, the more damaged it becomes and the less healthy it’s going to look over time. Remember, healthy hair is gorgeous hair.
You might think straightening wet hair would work, considering that heat helps dry your hair faster. However, this is a bad idea. When you try to straighten wet hair, the beach from the flat iron rapidly draws moisture out of your hair, causing the hair to expand and break. This may also result in your hair becoming frizzy, and it might take a few washes to restore your hair’s health before you can straighten it.
Trying to straighten your hair when damaged is like swimming against a current. Ultimately, you’ll probably end up doing more damage to your hair. The better approach is to lay off using your straightener for a while and instead use products that add moisture to your hair, rejuvenating it and making it look healthier again. Once this is done, you can return to styling your hair.
This is an important one. Whenever you use heat-related devices to style your hair, you must use a heat-protectant spray or cream. Heat-protectant sprays cover each strand of hair with a layer of protection, locking in moisture to ensure that your hair maintains its health and vibrancy while you straighten it.
Certain heat-protectant products contain ingredients like vitamins, oils, and minerals that enhance your hair’s health, improving its strength and look. Using these heat protectors while straightening your hair increases your chances of the final result looking more sleek and polished.
While we aren’t completely against buying a cheap straightener if you cannot afford a mid-to-premium one, we encourage you to avoid them. The main reason is the lack of quality materials and the inconsistencies they produce.
Cheaper hair straighteners usually have ceramic-plated irons. Over time, these ceramic layers wear out, exposing the material underneath and creating an inconsistent temperature across the heating plate. When applied to hair, these hot spots can damage different hair sections while producing an inconsistent result.
Buy the right straightener the first time
One of the best things you can do to avoid most of the common mistakes, is to ensure you buy a good-quality hair straightener. GHD hair straighteners are some of the best hair styling tools in Australia, with their ceramic plates and air-fusion techology. Consider shopping through the range of GHD hair straightening products instead of buying a cheaper one. The initial cost may be higher, but it’ll last you longer and is sure to help you serve gorgeous styles every time.
Final thoughts
Don’t sacrifice the health of your hair for a style that lasts a day, but aim to make your hair styling routine one that optimises hair health to keep it looking and feeling beautiful always. Learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before you and use heat-protective products and good-quality straighteners so you don’t end up with hair damage or sub-par styles.
