What Actually Happens To Your Hair When You Air-Dry It?

Things To Take Note When Air-Drying Your Hair

Most of us don’t think twice when we air-dry our hair after our shower, but do you know that air-drying not only has advantages but disadvantages to the health of your hair as well? A lot of us are misled to think that air-drying our hair is much better than blow-drying them with heat, but we’re here to debunk those misconceptions and share some hair care tips.

In fact, there is no one better option to dry your hair because both of them have different pros and cons. We all know that while it takes a while to air dry your hair, it can prevent damage to your hair in the long term. Air-drying your hair is also not the best option if you want to style your hair in a certain way, because there is no heat to manipulate your hair to look a certain way. However, there are many other things that happen to your hair when you air dry it. So what’s the choice for you? Read on and find out when you would want to air-dry or blow-dry your hair.

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Pros

1. 1. Keeps your hair smooth

Air drying will obviously prevent the damaging effects of blow-drying your hair, including heat damage. What heat damage does to your hair is make it dehydrated and frizzy. The heat will expand your hair cuticle, damaging the outer layer of your hair strands.

Using heat on your hair over a long period of time will also mean that the color of your hair fades over time. This includes styling your hair with heat-powered products to blow-drying your hair especially if you don’t use a heat protectant. So when you air-dry your hair instead of blow-drying, your hair becomes smoother and moisturized.

2. 2. You lose moisture more slowly

Contrary to blow-drying your hair with heat, air drying can help seal the moisture in your hair better. The moisture from our hair will be lost, definitely, but it depends on how fast it’s being lost. With blow-drying and heat styling, the moisture from our hair is lost immediately, but will slowly be lost throughout the day with air drying. Furthermore, your hair loses more moisture when you blow-dry than when you air-dry your hair.

3. 3. You prevent breakage of hair

A lot of people will discourage you from blow-drying your hair because it makes your hair more prone to breakage. So with air-drying, you actually prevent this. This is because blow-drying your hair means that there is a concentration of heat on a certain section of your hair. The heat being blown onto your hair shaft will weaken and therefore break very easily. Air drying avoids this process so your hair remains stronger and healthier instead of breaking.

4. 4. It’s better for those who dyed their hair

As mentioned in the beginning, both air-drying and blow-drying have their own pros and cons. What is the better choice for you depends on the type of hair you have. Other than your hair texture, such as whether it is thick or thin, is one of the factors that play a part. Another important factor is whether you have dyed your hair or not. Air drying is generally recommended for those with colored hair. The heat from your hairdryer and hair styling tools like irons are not friendly to colored hair because it damages the hair cuticle, so even if you have been blow-drying your hair previously, it’s time to change up your routine now that your hair is colored.

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Cons

1. 1. You could cause bacteria to grow

When you let your hair air dry and it doesn’t actually dry properly, you could end up going to bed with your hair still wet. While it may be seemingly harmless, you could actually be allowing bacteria to grow in the long run. This happens because there is not enough air that gets in your hair, so your hair stays wet for a longer period of time. Bacteria and mildew can thus grow because the moist conditions are perfect for their growth. Although this may not happen often, it is best to be cautious and consider blow-drying your hair if you take showers before bedtime often.

2. 2. It damages your hair in the long run

Your hair keeps the moisture from the water longer when you air-dry your hair, which sounds good, but is actually damaging in the long run. Consistent water exposure to your hair is actually not beneficial for your hair, according to experts. It swells your hair and causes the membrane in the cells to burst, thus diminishing the strength of your hair over time. Don’t allow your hair to remain wet for a long time since your hair loses its shape over time. One way to prevent this is to air-dry your hair for a while before you go in with a hairdryer.

3. 3. Your hair can get dehydrated in the cold

This might surprise you because you’d never think that wet hair can get dehydrated. However, this happens more often than you think. During the cold winter times, there is a chance that your hair can get dehydrated when you go out with your hair still wet. This dehydrates your hair to a great extent, even if you don’t get sick from going out with your hair wet. So just because it’s the wintertime, don’t leave your house with your hair wet thinking it will help keep the moisture in your hair.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, it is important to ask your hairstylist which is the best for you, because air-drying can be easier for certain hair types than others. It also depends on which type of drying you prefer, and your lifestyle can influence your choice as well. Obviously, blow-drying will be much faster than just letting your hair dry naturally.