Hand Dry Hair Glove
One of the more interesting, not to mention fun-to-use, innovations for the curly world has to be the Hand Dry Hair Glove.
Invented by Patti Coyne, a stylist-entrepreneur from Toronto, the gloves offer a great way to dry curly hair and scrunch shape and volume into it at the same time.
Having heard about all the various drying methods from different curl experts, and having a couple curl experts on her own staff at Delineation salon, Coyne said she knew “there had to be a better way” than paper towels or t-shirts.
“I was in the right place at the right time, and saw the perfect fabric,” Coyne said. She bought the fabric and sewed the first prototype herself.
She had stylists in her salon try the gloves. They loved using them and customers loved the results. Coyne’s mother-in-law helped her sew additional test units, using them in the salon for close to a year before manufacturing and selling the gloves at her boutique, website and other select locations, including CurlMart.
Patti Coyne
Coyne recommends clients apply their styling products first, then use the glove to gently wick out excess moisture.
How do the gloves absorb the water but not the freshly applied styling product? “Water is a larger molecular structure so it absorbs out faster,” Coyne asserts. And what about the deep-pile fabric? It doesn’t rough up the cuticle, causing frizz? “It’s fluffy and doesn’t disturb the cuticle; it smooths it down,” says Coyne.
Customers love it: “I have been using the hand dry hair gloves for 2 weeks now, and my hair feels more amazing then ever, and I am not the only one noticing it. My curls feel so healthy, now that I have stopped using a blow dyer and switched to the gloves, which take the same amount of time!” writes Jenna Lebert.
Industry leaders, too, are adopting the glove. Says Jonathan Torch of the Curly Hair Institute, “The Hand Dry Hair Glove is perfect, especially on those cold winter days. The Hand Dry Hair Glove made such a difference; it reduced drying time by half. As you know that drying speed is a great issue for curly hair styling. It was quick and easy to use.”
Coyne recommends using the gloves to dry the hair about 75% through, then air drying or diffusing the rest. “Low heat and low air flow” on the dryer, she reminds us.
“I have a lazy curl, so I was good candidate. My hair would get so matted.” The gloves seal the cuticle and prevents the matting,” she says. “Second day, you can comb out your hair with a wide-toothed comb, rehydrate with your favorite hydrating product. Then re-scrunch with the gloves and your curls are re-perked!”
One of the beauties of the glove is that it allows you to style your hair while you’re drying it, Coyne says. Cleaning the glove is a cinch, too: just throw it in the washer and then let it air dry.