Hot tools like Marcel irons and curling wands are easy, convenient means for curling your hair. An important thing to know and remember is that because tools can be very hot, they can cause damage to your hair if used incorrectly. There are three ways that heat weaken and damage hair.
The first way is by weakening and destroying the proteins that hair is composed of. Secondly, heat can disrupt the oils that help keep the strands together in the hair. And lastly, heat will dry out hair by withdrawing the internal moisture. If this happens too often, hair can be damaged easily through daily styling, which leads to split ends and breakage.
7 Steps to Minimize Curl Wand Damage
Get clean
Be sure to wash, condition, and blow dry your hair first. Applying heat on top of product build up is never a good idea. Different ingredients react differently to heat so your end results won’t be as good.
Deep condition
Preparing your hair before you style it is important. Make sure you’re doing your deep conditioning treatments weekly and moisturizing those ends every night.
Use protection
Use a good heat protectant. This will help create a barrier between your wand and your hair. Try to find one that contain either proteins or silicones. The protein will help to strengthen the hair and silicones will prevent moisture from penetrating the hair, which cause frizz. After applying the product, comb through to evenly distribute from root to tip.
Dry thoroughly
Dry your hair completely before curling it. After you’ve washed your hair, blow dry it thoroughly so you’re not frying those curls!
Go slowly
Try to only curl each section one time. Go slowly on each piece and remember that it’s how the curls are shaped when they cool off is how they’ll remain.
Start low
Never start styling your hair on the highest setting. You can always turn your wand higher but heat damage from high heat is irreversible.
Limit re-application
Try to limit re-applying heat. There are a lot of ways to fake the use of a curling wand. Check out this pin curl tutorial to preserve your style.
The bottom line is this: any type of heat applied to any texture of hair can be damaging. However, as long as it is used correctly and carefully, you can enjoy beautiful, long lasting results without having to sacrifice the health of your hair.