If you’ve ever straightened your wet hair, it's not something you forget easily. The sound of the crackling hair and the cloud of steam in the aftermath definitely raise panic and can lead to serious hair damage. If this sounds a lot like a certain wet-to-dry flat iron from your teenage years in the late aughts, here’s to leaving that in the past and not looking back.
Today, wet-to-dry styling tools have gone through serious upgrades so you have more (and less damaging) options when it comes to coiffing your wet hair. With that said, there are always going to be precautions you want to take when applying heat to your hair, especially when it’s wet. Read on as we share why flat ironing wet hair isn’t the best idea, plus, tips for straightening wet hair the right way.
Is It Bad to Straighten Your Hair When It’s Wet?
Running a flat iron through your dry hair is damaging enough, often leading to split ends, breakage and thinning hair when you overdo it. Your hair is in its most fragile state when wet, so, you can imagine the damage straightening wet hair with a normal flat iron can cause. If you can’t, think of severe hair breakage and potentially even burning your hair off.
Using a normal flat iron to straighten wet hair should be avoided at all costs. Even if your hair is just slightly damp, your strands are still at risk for intense damage. Ultimately, the only time you should be picking up a flat iron to style your hair is when it’s 100 percent dry.
You may be thinking, “What about blow dryers? They’re used on wet hair.” And that is true, but when you blow dry your hair, hot air is blown onto your strands to dry them at a distance. When you use a traditional flat iron on wet or even damp hair, your hair is clamped between super-hot plates that dry and shape your hair in a matter of seconds. This can cause even more damage to your hair than heat styling dry hair and it’s not something that heat protectant can shield.
How to Straighten Wet Hair the Right Way
A simple way to style your wet hair straight is with a blow dryer, the concentrator nozzle attachment and a large round brush. As you blow dry, turn the brush and work it slowly down the length of your hair, rotating the brush to ensure every strand is dry and smooth.
Source: L'Oreal
Paris
