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How To Use Heat Protectant Spray

Let’s face it, when it comes to our hair, we want an easy routine, everyone’s pressed for time in the morning, and we often skip heat protectant on our hair in the rush of the moment.

Trust me; you’re not alone.

Whether you’ve just blow-dried your hair and had that ‘oh crap’ moment or forget altogether, knowing how to use heat protectant spray quickly and efficiently makes you less likely to forget it in your daily routine.

Forgetting heat protectant spray is the worst thing you can do for your hair, though. It causes havoc on the ends of your hair, causing breakage and brittle ends– it’s the worst feeling.

But wait, let me tell you something.

To make things easier for you, I’m here to show you how to easily use heat protectant spray and incorporate it into your daily routine without the hassle.

Let’s jump in!

What Is Heat Protection Spray?

Heat protectant spray is a godsend for protecting hair against thermal heat from blow-drying and straightening.

You’ll find it in a spray, cream, oil, or even serum formula. They can also typically come with ingredients that help tame frizz, condition dry hair, add shine and even block out humidity.

It provides a protective barrier on the hair shaft to protect the cuticles from high levels of heat. It is a leave-in conditioner used just before heat styling.

It can even enhance the effectiveness of heated styling tools as it takes less time to style your tresses, reducing the chance of damage– it is a win-win, really.

It helps keep hair looking sleek, soft, and shiny, making styling your hair easier and look nicer.

How Does Heat Protectant Spray Work?

Heat protectant adds a protective layer to your hair, it keeps it safe from heat produced by heat tools. This spray seals in moisture in your hair and smoothes the cuticle.

It provides a protective barrier on the hair shaft, leaving a shiny coating with added silicones which help the effectiveness of styling tools. It acts as a s

How To Use Heat Protectant Spray:

Using heat protectant when you style your hair is super easy and quick. Once you’ve washed your hair with shampoo and conditioner, use heat protection on your damp hair on the mid-lengths and ends.

Try to avoid the scalp as this can leave your hair looking greasy; comb through the ends to ensure they are evenly covered.

If you divide your hair into sections, you can ensure you cover every section and protect your hair more than just spraying a couple of pumps on the top layer of your hair.

Once you’ve combed through your heat protectant spray, you should blow-dry and straighten your hair.

hair pictures

What Happens When You Don’t Use Heat Protection Spray:

When you expose your hair to heat styling without a heat protectant or heat protection spray this can cause damage to the strands of your hair.

Heat can dry out the ends of your hair, cause split ends and breakage. It can also cause your hair to look dull and become easily knotted.

When you don’t use heat protectant spray when using a styling tool your hair becomes extremely damaged, dry, and even causes excessive breakage on the ends.

The heat strips off natural or artificial color pigments in your hair, breaking down the keratin protein which gives your hair strength and elasticity. This can cause split ends and even frizz.

Now while heat styling is unavoidable, as a girl we need to blowdry our hair and in some cases use a hair straightener and curler. Heat protectants prevent damage when you use heat on your hair.

It is definitely worth a few extra minutes for protecting your hair from heat. Using it on wet hair can also lock in moisture, natural oils and protect against damage when applying a heat tool.

How To Choose The Best Heat Protectant For Your Hair:

As you may already know, there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all with your hair, skin, and body in general.’ The best way to determine what heat protectant your hair needs is based on these factors:

Consider Your Hair type:

Heat protectant sprays are customized based on different hair types; if you suffer from frizz, you may want to get one designed to tame frizz.

Or, if you have curly hair, there are some great heat protectants curly hair that are free of ingredients that can damage curls, which you may find in heat protectants designed for straight hair.

Consider The Texture Of Your Hair:

The best kind of heat protection spray for your hair uses a non-greasy, lightweight formula that doesn’t leave residue on your strands.

If you have color-treated hair, then looking for a heat protectant for hair that is color safe is the best thing to do. The same goes for keratin-treated hair; heat protectants free of sulfates will prolong the keratin treatment.

Sulfate-free and paraben-free formulas:

If you have keratin-treated, color-treated, or naturally curly hair, you should consider a sulfate-free and paraben-free formula; you don’t want hair damage due to these ingredients.

Some heat protectant sprays contain dimethicone and Cyclomethicone, while others contain water-based polymers like polyquaternium and acrylate copolymer.

Humectants:

You should look for humectants like panthenol and propylene glycol. These ingredients attract moisture from the air and help lock in moisture in damp hair.

Keeping your hair hydrated is super important when heat styling, as when you have dry hair, your hair is more likely to split on the ends.

These are the ingredients that attract moisture from the air and lock it in your hair.

Keratin:

This is another crucial ingredient in a heat protectant for hair. Any amino acids like keratin help strengthen the hair as it is the structural protein that makes up your hair.

Keratin promotes healthy hair, so preventing your hair from heat damage from excessive styling tools without a heat protectant will transform any hair type.

Natural oils and extracts:

Most commonly in heat protection hair products, you’ll find ingredients like aloe vera. These act as brilliant heat protectants and offer the best results by protecting and sealing the hair’s cuticle.

Check out my guide of my top picks for every hair type here

 

What Happens When You Don’t Use Heat Protection Spray:

When you expose your hair to heat styling without a heat protectant or heat protection spray, this can cause damage to the strands of your hair.

Heat can dry out the ends of your hair, cause split ends and breakage. It can also cause your hair to look dull and become easily knotted.

When you don’t use heat protectant spray when using a styling tool your hair becomes extremely damaged, dry, and even causes excessive breakage on the ends.

The heat strips off natural or artificial color pigments in your hair, breaking down the keratin protein which gives your hair strength and elasticity. This can cause split ends and even frizz.

Now while heat styling is unavoidable, as a girl we need to blowdry our hair and in some cases use a hair straightener and curler. Heat protectants prevent damage when you use heat on your hair.

It is definitely worth a few extra minutes for protecting your hair from heat. Using it on wet hair can also lock in moisture, natural oils and protect against damage when applying a heat tool.

Should You Put Heat Protectant On Wet Or Dry Hair?

While this depends on which heat protectant you are using, I would reccomend using it on wet hair before you use heat tools like a blow dryer or flat iron straightener.

This will help lock in moisture from the conditioner you have used and leave the ends feeling soft and silky.

However, some sprays work on both wet and dry hair; make sure you check the label before you buy; some formulas can even be applied and rinsed off in the shower, which are also handy.

Summary:

So there you have it, when and how you should apply your heat protectant to prevent heat damage. We all want to look after our hair, and switching to the right heat protection can do the trick.

Whether you’re straightening, curling, or blow-drying your hair, using heat protection can keep your locks looking luscious and like you’ve just walked out of the beauty salon.

Why not give it a go!

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