Today’s post is dedicated to the hair dryer. I’ve recently rediscovered this timeless tool and would like to take a moment to appreciate it in all it’s glory. Before we hop into it though, let’s go over a little back story and the long road I’ve taken to get here.
My earliest memory of a blow dryer dates back to the age of about 13 or 14. Though the details are foggy now, what isn’t foggy is the feeling of sitting under a drugstore blow dryer with a small motor while my arms ached and my hair only half dried. My long, thick, low porosity hair took ages to dry with the aid of a typical drugstore dryer, and was far more hassle than it was worth. After about 45 minutes of punishing work, I was left with a head of frizz that still wasn’t dry. As you can imagine, this experience and many of the blow drying experiences that followed, led to a general distrust of this tool and started me down a path of experimentation that welcomed the arrival of new tools and routines. Things like a straightening iron, for example.
Fast forward to young adulthood (and tons of experimenting) and I figured out a routine that was manageable for me and my lifestyle. Essentially, I would wash my hair at night, let it air dry about 80-90% and then rough dry it the rest of the way. Then, in the morning I would straighten or curl my hair using either a flat iron or curling iron - ceramic and ionic to reduce damage. Unfortunately, this routine controlled much of my schedule (I had to allocate at least 6 hours of air dry time in the evening) and often left me working my life around when I would wash my hair which is a) no fun and b) incredibly stressful when you already have a million things to worry about and juggle. Plus, the constant heat wasn’t the best for my hair.
Also, while this worked for me well enough, and gave me results that I could live with, it didn’t hold up in the heat and humidity of the South East which became increasingly obvious the first month I relocated from NYC to Charleston. After about a year of living in swamp like conditions, I had had enough and started on a hair rediscovery journey of sorts. Beginning with going completely heat free earlier this year I’ve tried a multitude of things in pursuit of achieving hair that’s manageable, shiny and most importantly, healthy.
I’ve tried no heat, air drying then following with a straightening or curling iron, foam rollers, braiding and most recently, a keratin treatment that has transformed my hair in ways I can’t describe. For me, my hair texture, lifestyle and climate (helloooooo southern humidity) the keratin treatment has been a game changer and it’s allowed me to have the most low maintenance hair of my life. Gone are the days of air drying for hours (10+ usually) and fighting frizz around every corner only to be disappointed once again. Instead, I have hair that’s shiny even without heat and has become so easy to manage that I can once again make changes and strides toward healthy hair. The very fact that I don’t need (I use this loosely because it’s strictly for vanity reasons that I use heat at all) to use heat for a style I like has helped my hair become stronger, healthier and shinier.
As a result, I’ve recently made another switch in my routine - not using a flat iron or curling iron and instead only either air drying, or if it’s cold outside or I have somewhere I need to be, using a blow dryer (thanks to the keratin I can now get the job done in well under 20 minutes - more like 15 most days). Since adopting this new routine I am completely confident in sharing that I’ve fallen head over heels with my blow dryer and can’t believe I’ve been overlooking it for so long now.
