Protect Your Hair From The Holiday Heat Under $30
With end-of-year holiday gatherings comes gingerbread men, chocolate garlands, glazed hams…and bouncy hairstyles. Cold winter weather and hot styling tools are never a good mix. This holiday season, maintain and protect your natural locks with our pro tips:
Don’t be afraid to condition deep
While you may already be conditioning your hair regularly, the holidays are the perfect reason for extra TLC with deep conditioning. Moisturized hair is everything and can especially withstand high heat. We love the Moroccanoil Intense Hydrating Mask ($16) – perfect for any hair type and formulated with argan oil to restore damaged hair. Linseed extract in the mask is a fatty acid that improves the overall condition of the hair in just 7 minutes. For added hydration, apply the mask, cover your hair with a shower cap and enjoy a relaxing steam shower.
Let your towel do all the work
This form of drying tends to be frustrating when you’re rushing to a holiday party, but we promise, it’s worth the wait and causes less damage than heating tools. Using a microfiber towel like Coco & Eve Microfibre Hair Towel Wrap ($24) quickens the process without causing frizz. The towel we subconsciously grab for our hair is usually the least of our concerns but it can have a major impact on how wet hair dries. Removing water quickly – without applying heat – helps keep hair strong against damage and breakage. Microfiber towels also tend to dry quicker than common cotton towels, within 10 minutes.
Become acquainted with low or cool setting
We acknowledge this is counter-productive to heat styling – but less heat is a much safer option for frazzled ends. Using heat to keep our hair cute doesn’t mean we have to compromise the condition of our hair. Low heat tools - like the Revlon Salon One-Step Hair Dryer and Volumizer (on sale for $29 at Target) with a cool option for styling flexibility - are the real holiday heroes. If you are accustomed to the tools you already have, use the heat setting on lower temperatures and minimize exposure times.
Don’t skimp on the hair oil
Apply a concentrated hair oil rich in nutrients like Olaplex No. 7 Bonding Oil ($28) first thing in the morning so your hair has time to soak up all the goodness before styling. Heating tends to break down hair strands, causing them to become brittle and crunchy, especially color treated hair. A reparative hair oil can provide superior strength to strands that are on their way to breakage and provide much needed preventative heat protection.
Heat-protecting spray is an ultimate must
Keep a lightweight heat protectant spray directly next to your heat styling tools. This. Is. Non-Negotiable. We suggest combing the Living Proof Heat Styling Spray ($28) through your natural tresses (wet or dry) to keep them from burning. The coverage should be effective up to 450°F/230°C. You can also layer the spray after your hair oil or a leave-in conditioner for added protection.