I've been asked by quite a few readers about my hair drying process. How do I dry my hair? What products do I use? How long does it take? I have a lot of hair on my head, especially now that I'm almost done growing out my long bob. I dry my hair for speed, to avoid frizz, and to add in volume that my heavy hair will otherwise weigh down.
I can tell you that my hair drying is an ever evolving process, and it rarely is the same one week to the next. I swap out products depending upon how I'll be wearing my hair that day (or even in the next few days), and it will change depending on the time of year. But, the process itself isn't too different!
First, let's talk about the products that I use. I always add products one at a time to my damp hair, combing my hair in between applications. While I change out the products I'm using each day, I usually have 2 or 3 products (at least) in my hair, and several of them will offer heat protection. Always heat protect your hair! Having fried my hair once, I will never do it again!
Leave In Conditioner
Because I color my hair and heat style it, I pay a lot of attention to the condition of my hair. If it is getting dry at all or my ends are starting to split, I will use hair masks in the shower and usually add a leave-in conditioner to my drying routine. I apply the leave-in to my hair mid-shaft to the ends, and it is always the first product applied.
Mousse
If I'm planning on curling my hair at any point in the next 3 days, I'll add mousse. My hair is very slightly wavy, but without mousse and/or high heat, I have a very hard time holding a curl in my hair. I need about the size of a large egg, and I apply mousse from the roots where it will help hold volume, down to the tips where it helps hold curls.
Cream
Because of that slight wave I mentioned in my hair, I usually add a straightening cream in to my hair as well. While I can skip this product if I feel like I've already added too much into my hair, the truth is that a cream of some sort will make my hair straighter, softer and I'll have less frizz.
Oil
Oh oil... how did we live without you? I really love a good hair oil, and I'm not a girl that is picky about my silicones. I tend to add oil in to my hair for drying just during the winter to help keep down frizz from the dry air. I always add a few drops at the end of styling as well. Mid-shaft and below, too close to the roots makes my hair look greasy.
Drying my hair:
Once I have all of product in place, it is time to start drying! Since I'm after volume, I always dry my hair upside down. This helps to train the roots to go straight up, drying standing up makes my hair much flatter!
When I'm first drying, this is a very rough blow dry. I don't even have a brush, I'm just moving the dryer all around and trying to hit all of my roots and somewhat my hair down to the mid-shaft. I move my hair around with my fingers just to help the process.
I've found that the ends of my hair get hit enough by the dryer that I don't need to worry too much about them until my hair is about 80-90% dry, when I'll break out a brush. Now I'll tip my head a bit to the side and will go through my hair all the way to the ends with the brush to help smooth everything out.
I only stand back up when my hair is completely dry! First, I do a cool shot all over my head while still upside down. Then I'll stand back up and part my hair, looking to see if I need to do any smoothing. I usually have smooth hair and can just call it quits. However, if my hair needs any smoothing, I'll use my brush and just do the very top layer of my hair, trying to stay away from my roots. I want my volume to stay put!
The dryer I'm currently using is the Conair Infiniti Pro 3Q Brushless Motor dryer. It's brand new, and I'm kind of in love! Why?
First, this thing is pretty fast. I mentioned my crazy amount of hair. It's no joke, I have about 4 heads worth of hair on my head. I need a pretty powerful blow dryer to dry it in under 15 minutes, and even then there is usually quite a bit of heat involved. This dryer gets the job down in about 12 minutes with less heat. It's nice not to be sweating like crazy while I dry my hair!
Second, it's very quiet for a blow dryer. Yes, it's still a blow dryer, but it really is much quieter than other dryers that I've used. I've cut her out of the pictures, but up above where I'm drying my hair? There's a sleeping 6 week old in a bouncy seat just out of the frame. Yes, a sleeping baby was present for those pictures.
Third, it's a Conair. I always come back to Conair for my blow dryers, they last a lot longer for me than other brands, and they're at a much lower price point. This particular dryer is brushless (more info on why brushless motors are cool), which is something typically found in much more expensive dryers, easily 4-5x the cost of this one. It uses magnets and electronics to power the motor, which results in much less wear. It should have a much longer life than other blow dryers!
How do you dry your hair? Do you have any tips for adding volume that I've missed?
Product Sent for Review Sponsored Post
Infiniti Pro by Conair 3Q is the world’s first hair dryer featuring a brushless motor available at mass retail. The dryer’s name is derived from three of its key benefits, all of which begin with the letter “Q:” quick, quiet, quality.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Conair. The opinions and text are all mine.
