How Hot is Too Hot? The New John Frieda Flat Iron Tests the Limits

I fully admit that I'm not afraid of heat when styling my hair. (Remember when I totally fried my hair last year? And as a result I've been babying it with hair masks for about 9 months now?) As part of my hair rehab, I've been avoiding using heat over 400 degrees, though when I found out that John Frieda and Conair recently released a Titanium Plated Flat Iron to mass market retailers, I thought this was something worth looking in to further.

Why? Are titanium plates any different from the typical "ceramic" we usually see?

Yes, they really are. Usually you'll see titanium only in very high end flat irons (such as the BaByliss), and to see it at this price point (this flat iron is about $55) is basically a steal (no pun intended).

Titanium will distribute heat more evenly than ceramic, will be more durable, and puts off more negative ions when used (which hair looooves. I found a few references on-line stating that hair can handle higher temps from a titanium flat iron because there is more "slip", so when your hair is moving more easily through the plates you won't have as much damage, and when combined with better overall heat distribution and the negative ions, the titanium is better for your hair.

But does that mean you should test the upper limits of a flat iron that can go up to 455??

To find out, I asked one of my favorite hair stylists, David Hensley, the Chief Creative Officer for Laid Brand Hair Care, and who has done a great job of answering hair questions on 15 Minute Beauty in the past.

@15minbeauty @LAIDbrand different hair types&cond. Is the determining factor for correct temp. settings! I use the BaByliss Nano Titanium pro

— David L. Hensley jr. (@RockerStylist) March 6, 2013

@15minbeauty @LAIDbrand this iron has temp settings from 300~450 degrees! Fine, soft , or over processed hair should always have a low to med

— David L. Hensley jr. (@RockerStylist) March 6, 2013

@15minbeauty @LAIDbrand more coarse hair or stronger wavy hair can have the highest setting to achieve a smoother&straighter look!

— David L. Hensley jr. (@RockerStylist) March 6, 2013

So, basically, just because the flat iron can go that high, does not mean that you should set it that high! If you have fine hair or like me you've processed your hair to death, you should probably still be under 400. Higher temps really are for the girls with coarser or more difficult to style hair. Which means that the girls who have had a hard time finding a flat iron at a "regular" store should rejoice! There's an option for you!

@15minbeauty @LAIDbrand it's MOST IMPORTANT that any hair type or cond. use a heat protectant to control and minimize breakage!

— David L. Hensley jr. (@RockerStylist) March 6, 2013

@15minbeauty @LAIDbrand and what better thermal protectant than LAID Brands 'Straight Kinky'!!! laidbrand.com

— David L. Hensley jr. (@RockerStylist) March 6, 2013

Yes! Any time you are applying heat to the hair you must not skip your heat protectant spray. A lesson I learned the hard way. The product David mentions, LAID Brand Straight Kinky is a multi-purpose spray that helps to make hair easier to style, protects from heat and UV, adds shine, prevents frizz, etc. You name it, this spray does it! I love that it makes my hair easier to manage.

If you want a less expensive heat protectant option, there's John Fried Heat Defeat Protective Styling Spray, though I haven't tried it out.

John Frieda
LAID Brand

I've received Straight Kinky in the past from LAID Brand. Though, I really do like it!

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Confession: I Fried My Hair, Now I Need to Fix It

So, I have a confession. It's really, really horrible. I completely. I mean really fried my hair. I went too crazy with my Beachwaver, using it way too often, using it at max heat, and being lazy and not using my heat protectant spray like a good beauty blogger. I thought that stuff didn't do much except make my hair a bit greasy. Apparently it actually does something...

So, roughly the top 1/3 of my hair is basically feeling like a brillo pad. Whenever I wash it, I just cringe. I need to dry my hair if it gets wet (it takes well over 6 hours to dry on its own otherwise), and that just seems to make it worse. Luckily if I do that at night, by the next day the brillo-padness seems to calm down quite a bit. For better (or worse?) I can't follow David Hensley's advice and just cut off my hair, it's the entire hair shaft for the top 1/3 of my head. I guess I could shave it off.... but I've always had long hair and things are just super frizzy and dry, nothing is breaking off. I can save my hair!

So, I've been coming up with a plan of attack. First, I bugged my beloved Shannon, who did my hair when I lived in the OC. Her advice (via Facebook):

Go get a good hair cut and conditioning treatment. Also, you can put Coconut oil in it at night if it's really dry. (Use a crappy pillow case.) Use the Purple (for moisture) Pureology and wear a hat in the sun.
~Shannon
My former hair stylist, who I miss dearly

Luckily, I already had an appointment with Heather, my hair dresser here in Michigan. (Who I also like, but she just isn't Shannon, so it isn't the same. Does that make sense? It does to me.) I got a hair cut, Heather did some "texturizing" in the top layers that took out more of the damaged top bits, and we did a very intensive moisturizing treatment. She had some advice as well.

Avoid heat, but if you must, use nothing over 390. Use your heat protectant spray all the time, wash at the most every other day and use the intensive treatment twice a week. When you use the treatment, try to put your hair in a shower cap or a towel to keep it moist, and the longer you can leave it on your hair the better. It will take time, but after a month or so you'll be better.
~Heather
My Michigan hair stylist

So, I've purchased Heather's preferred intensive treatment (Keratin Intensive Treatment), I have my Pureology Hydrate Shampoo and Conditioner Duo in the shower, though I also have Matrix Total Results Repair products to test out. I've discovered that Laid Brand Shady Girl Shampoo & Conditioner are the ones that give me the softest and healthiest hair after washing (almost no frizz at all pre-styling products), so I'm already preferentially using those. I've broken out all of my leave-in conditioners as well, and I even bought some coconut oil, so I'll let you know if I turn into a grease ball with that.

So, watch for a lot of intensive hair treatment posts in the near future!

PS I forgot to add, that after my hair cut and intensive moisturizing treatment at the salon, my hair felt AMAZING. So healthy and silky. I know it can be saved, I'm just going to need to spend a lot of time with conditioner on my head to do it!



I received some of the mentioned products for consideration, though some of them I purchased myself.

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Ask David: Dealing with Damaged Hair

Today I thought we'd deal with 2 very related questions that readers had for David, dealing with damaged hair! Obviously this isn't a black or white issue, there are all sorts of degrees of damage. Whether you're a heated styling tool addict (like me), color your hair (me again) or any number of other things, chances are that you also have damaged your hair. Here are a few tips for dealing with it!

I am always looking for tips on how to combat damage secondary to highlights. Specifically, how to add more protein to the hair. I have a few treatments that I like. But, I am always looking for more information in this area.
~Pam

Adding protein to the hair can be key, but you do need to remember that too much protein also can be bad, there's a balance. In fact, too much protein can cause more damage to your hair. It is ok to continue with minimal protein applications, but use a moisturizing conditioner to help balance.

Christine's note
I had a similar discussion with the owner of my salon about a year ago. Luis felt that if you really wanted to add protein or moisture to the hair it was fine to use products to do so, but to alternate the products. Add moisture one day, protein the next.

I asked David about this, and he said: "Yes, that does make sense. By alternating the products you'll find that balance, but I recommend trying to stretch the days between washings. Go 2 or 3 days and alternate between a "normal" product and add in the moisture or protein every now and then. That's probably the balance most people need."

My hair is damaged, when I say damaged, I literally mean it breaks off (you can SEE it on my shirt,etc) even when NOTHING it touching it, let a lone trying to brush it. What are the best products or salon treatments (that don't cost a FORTUNE!) that can help this? I know less or as little to NO heat as possible, don't tug/pull, don't wash EVERYDAY, etc.
Thanks!
~Amanda

Unfortunately, with hair this damaged... it is so damaged that you just need to take the plunge and cut it. Find a cut that is shorter than the damaged area to fit your face shape and personality, cut your hair off and just start over. There aren't any products that would be able to fix this kind of damage. There's no sense in having long hair just for the sake of your hair being longer, especially if it is breaking off so much and looks so unhealthy. Chop it off, leave the healthy roots behind, and work on growing your hair from that point.

David L Hensley is the Chief Creative Officer, Head Stylist and basically hair guru for Laid Brand Hair Care, one of my newest obsessions. David has worked in both Los Angeles and Florida and works with both celebs and us normal people. He has a great understanding of hair and how to work with hair to create great looks!

David has agreed to help with a series of posts answering your hair care and styling questions. Please let me know if you have questions you'd love to see addressed!




Laid Brand Hair Care
David L Hensley

Image: Federico Marsicano | Dreamstime.com

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Ask David: How to Add Volume to Your Flat Braid Without Backcombing

Yes, see that braid? It has volume, is a very small piece of hair, and this is second day hair and I didn't even use a dry shampoo to do it! I did it following David's directions below. First, here's this week's question!

How to braid your hair so it doesn't look thin and limp? (Without backcombing or teasing?)
-Shannon

David's Answer:
First, you'll need to improve the appearance of your hair's thickness.

Blow dry your hair with a volumizer, this will add the fullness that you need.

When you are braiding, you'll want to be careful not to braid tight to your scalp. Instead, start about 1/2 to 1 inch off of the scalp, this will add a lot of volume. If you're going to be braiding your hair all the way down then start the braid at midshaft and braid all the way down, rather than starting at the very top of your hair. The free flowing section from your scalp to mid-shaft will add the appearance of more volume.

So, this morning I spent a little time playing around with David's directions. You can see that I braided my hair with his directions and the "traditional" french way, which was wrong. There's actually a lot more hair in that flat looking braid, I couldn't even pin it in place! Hence, the ugly little butterfly clip. Obviously I wouldn't wear it like this in real life, only on the interwebz for 2 minutes!

David's little tip makes a huge difference! Do anything and everything you can to avoid pulling that braid tightly against your head. I loosely held my 3 sections, started braiding roughly 1" from my scalp, and kept each "fold over" nice and loose. Pulling extra hair from only 1 side, rather than both sides, also helped. In person my hair looked quite a bit larger, so I skipped the step of pulling my braid a little bit in certain areas to make it a bit looser, but you could certainly do that as well.

David L Hensley is the Chief Creative Officer, Head Stylist and basically hair guru for Laid Brand Hair Care, one of my newest obsessions. David has worked in both Los Angeles and Florida and works with both celebs and us normal people. He has a great understanding of hair and how to work with hair to create great looks!

David has agreed to help with a series of posts answering your hair care and styling questions. Please let me know if you have questions you'd love to see addressed!

Laid Brand Hair Care
David L Hensley

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Dear David: What's the Deal With Sulfates?

So, for years I've heard that sulfates are something to avoid in hair care and skin care products. I know it can cause irritation and dryness for skin, but what do they do to the hair?
Thanks!
-Christine (Yes, me! On the phone with David)

Sulfates are primarily used for creating a more lathering effect in your hair products. They do help to clean the hair, but as they remove product build up, they take everything out of the hair like natural oils. Your hair will definitely feel more dry when you just shampoo it, you need to add some things (eg- the benefits of those natural oils) back into the hair with conditioner.

Wait, I know the lather doesn't really help us get any cleaner, but we all just love the lather!
-Christine

Without the lather you really feel like you're not getting the cleaning effect. But, often you are really getting clean. That's the whole thing behind those **** products (product name removed to protect the innocent). I don't feel like my hair gets clean with them. It tried it and I felt like something was wrong. I stopped using them.

As you use them, sulfates will strip your hair and can affect your scalp, leaving it dry. The weather here (David is in Florida) can affect the scalp a lot as the humidity shifts. Your scalp gets dry and itchy, you scratch and flake. As you scratch you're harming the surface of your scalp, opening it up. You have areas that aren't quite healthy, they're irritated and harmed. Add on some products, maybe alcohol based styling products for example, then it irritates the scalp further and the whole thing gets even worse. It's a vicious cycle, setting you up for an unhealthy and irritated scalp.

Some people say there isn't much effect from what is in your shampoo, but think about this... There are so many things going into your shampoo. If you can eliminate some of those harsher chemicals without an issue, then it's better.

David L Hensley is the Chief Creative Officer, Head Stylist and basically hair guru for Laid Brand Hair Care, one of my newest obsessions. David has worked in both Los Angeles and Florida and works with both celebs and us normal people. He has a great understanding of hair and how to work with hair to create great looks!

David has agreed to help with a series of posts answering your hair care and styling questions. Please let me know if you have questions you'd love to see addressed!

Laid Brand Hair Care
David L Hensley

Image © Federico Marsicano | Dreamstime.com

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Ask David: Will Coloring My Hair Affect it... Forever?

I am so scared to dye my hair and I was wondering if dying my hair a lighter or darker color (I am currently light brown) will change my texture and color FOREVER.... obviously it will change it immediately, but will it have long term effects?
-Marla

First, nothing is forever, after you dye it new hair will grow.

You need to have healthy hair before you can have great color. I'm a big fan of depositing color. This will add more health, you're adding molecules into the hair instead of stripping something from your hair. This can help to restore the hair's natural strength.

Anytime you are bleaching, whether that is highlighting or all over color, you are stripping color from the hair. The result is that the natural integrity of the hair is jeopardized. Highlighting hair will definitely cause more damage than color because you're stripping color from the hair rather than putting something in the hair with color depositing.
-David


So, no long term effects. But color will always look best on healthy hair. Coloring your hair can damage it, especially if you are intending to go lighter. Consider going darker instead!

David L Hensley is the Chief Creative Officer, Head Stylist and basically hair guru for Laid Brand Hair Care, one of my newest obsessions. David has worked in both Los Angeles and Florida and works with both celebs and us normal people. He has a great understanding of hair and how to work with hair to create great looks!

David has agreed to help with a series of posts answering your hair care and styling questions. Please let me know if you have questions you'd love to see addressed!

Laid Brand Hair Care
David L Hensley

image via brandon milner

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