Liz wants to learn…What specific products would you recommend to help minimize the damage of flat ironed hair?
The Right Brain’s Response:
The key to minimizing flat iron damage is to keep the hair lubricated while the iron is in contact with the hair.
Non-sexual lubricants
Normally we’d let Sarah Bellum answer any questions related to lubricants (if you catch my drift.) But we can tell you that there are MANY products that will do a fine job of this. It’s just difficult for us to recommend one for you without knowing anything about your hair type. At the bare minimum you should be using a good rinse out conditioner. It doesn’t really matter which one but we’d recommend looking for dimethicone on the ingredient list because it does such a good job of protecting the hair from damage.
You should also be using some kind of leave in conditioner that you apply right before you flat iron. You might consider a spray (which is very easy to use but provides less lubrication) or a cream (which provides more protection but might weigh your hair down) or a silicone gel (which will really lubricate your hair but may be a bit harder to work with.)
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Which brand of conditioner should you use? Good question. But our specialty is explaining how products work, not making personal recommendations. Perhaps our other Beauty Brainiacs could share what’s worked for them? Leave a comment and tell Liz which products YOU’VE used to fight flat iron fatality.
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Baby fine, over-highlighted hair–I love Frederic Fekkai’s Technician Color Care Mask–it’s really really heavy, but it works–only use it if you have a lot of damage already! The cheaper option is the Clairol conditioner that comes in the color kits, which I have seen for sale separately in CVS. For leave in, nothing beat Giovanni, and it doesn’t weigh down my hair, or the L’Oreal Everpure Moisture stuff in the pump bottle–that will weigh my hair down if it is not damaged. Then I use the Chi Iron guard spray right before I iron. Whew! It does work, though.
Almost all hair products I’ve used to prevent heat damage cause little blisters on my scalp eventually, so I just gave up using heat at all. I use a curling iron but no products, and I don’t even blow my hair dry.
I have been using Matrix Vavoom Gold Heat for a couple of years. I really like the product & have seen no heat damage. I use it with both my flat and curling irons. Check it out~
My hair is between coarse and curly (african and indian inheritance). I use TIGI products for shampooing and conditioning my hair (the line S Factor is formulated for straightened hair) and CHI silk infusion serum before flat ironing. It protects your hair against heat damages.
Most of all, I use the very expensive GHD flat iron. Around $200. But it really worth its price. It changed my life.
Hope that helps.
Currently I’m using Charles Worthington Heat Defence Spray. Not bad, though I seem to get breakouts the next day after using it, not sure whether my skin is allergic to something in it…
I’ve been using Matrix Biolage Ultra Hydrating Balm conditioner for the past 4 years! I absolutely love it! I currently use Pault Mitchell Super Skinny serum then Joico Silk Results Thermal Smoother Spray. Concentrating on the ends before I flat iron. I alternate flat irons too, FHI heat technique 1″ pink (my holy grail) and the original 1″ CHI.