@Fine-haired girls: Can you blow-dry promptly after showering?

CurlyCowgirly

I'm curious what other fine-haired people have experienced upon blow/diffuse drying their curls an hour or less after showering.
If I diffuse dry my hair 1 hour or less after my shower, I have 50x more frizz and my hair looks terribly sucked dry and feels straw-like. My curls become really thin, I lose curl at my crown, and my hair gets overall poofy. However, if I wait until my hair is about 70% air-dried and diffuse dry the remaining wet area (my crown), I get much better results.
This is THE reason I cannot shower in the morning before work.

I have a theory why blow drying promptly after showering gives me bad hair. Protein is lost when you use heat on your hair, so if you're drying soaking wet hair, heat will be used for a longer period of time than it would be if you're drying 70% air-dried hair. When your hair loses protein, you loose the structure of your curl, thus you end up with wavier hair. Does my theory makes sense?

Anyone else on the same boat as me?

aislin

I put in my products right after showering pretty much, scrunch with an old t shirt to get out excess moisture, and then diffuse right away. It's like at most 15 minutes after I get out of the shower that I diffuse. I have the opposite effect from you it seems- if I wait for the hair to air dry longer, I get more frizz, less enhancement, less shine, and just poorer results over all.

Maybe it's because my hair is fine and thin? I dunno. I just know the longer I wait, the looser my hair will be and the worse it will look in terms of frizz and hold.

RedDelicious

I put products in straight after getting out of the shower. If I diffuse straight away my hair goes very frizzy and fluffy. ...But then if my hair is too dry when I chuck a hairdryer on it I have the same problem!

I wait until my hair is probably 50% dry and then diffuse. Maybe half an hour to forty minutes after my shower?

I get up 1 1/2 hours before I need to leave for work just so I can do my hair and allow enough time!

ssourgirl

Yep, same boat. If I diffuse too soon while still wet I get limp curls. Let air dry to 70% and I'm good.

I don't think I agree about the protein but its a good theory. I think it has more to do with the weight of the hair with the water in it.

curlypearl

This is a very interesting thread. I swear I learn something new on this board every day! My hair is thinning and I'm not sure what the effect of diffusing is on it. Also, I wonder if low/high dewpoints affect the diffusing factor. More experimenting! Thanks, ladies.

Starmie

I have to leave my hair to dry for about an hour before I can diffuse it otherwise I get tons of frizz and lose definition. I have to do it in the mornings too - there's no way I could sleep on it and have it looking decent the next day. More's the pity, I'm so not a morning person and would love that extra time in bed.
Don't know about you theory on protein, I try not to think about these things too much so haven't a clue!

CurlyCowgirly

aislin wrote: »

I put in my products right after showering pretty much, scrunch with an old t shirt to get out excess moisture, and then diffuse right away. It's like at most 15 minutes after I get out of the shower that I diffuse. I have the opposite effect from you it seems- if I wait for the hair to air dry longer, I get more frizz, less enhancement, less shine, and just poorer results over all.

Maybe it's because my hair is fine and thin? I dunno. I just know the longer I wait, the looser my hair will be and the worse it will look in terms of frizz and hold.

I also put in my products right after showering and scrunch with a tshirt. My hair is fine and thin too. Just goes to show you can have pretty much the same hair and routine as someone else and still get completely different results from each other!

RedDelicious wrote: »

I put products in straight after getting out of the shower. If I diffuse straight away my hair goes very frizzy and fluffy. ...But then if my hair is too dry when I chuck a hairdryer on it I have the same problem!

I wait until my hair is probably 50% dry and then diffuse. Maybe half an hour to forty minutes after my shower?

For what you stated in the first paragraph--I'm exactly the same way. I wait about an hour at least before diffusing.

RedDelicious

I think air-dried hair works best of all though....but unfortunately we don't always have the time to sit around and let it dry, especially in winter!!

slivola

I think it's more of a matter of what look you're going for. For me, diffusing right away for the entire drying time adds more volume and with that, a little less curl definition than air drying would offer (like in my profile pics). If I wait an hour and then diffuse at the end, I get more curl & definition with a little volume but not as fluffy as if I diffused the entire time. But I suspect that for more wavy curls (2 types), waiting an hour before diffusing would result in very limp curls and flat hair.

aislin

CurlyCowgirly, so very true! That's the beauty of natural hair :toothy8:.

Slivola- maybe it is a 2 thing, would make sense to me, at at least it rings true to my situation. But I know some 2's IRL who will wait to diffuse, but their reason being they are thick and coarse 2's. So who knows .

slivola

Aislin- good point about the courser hair 2s waiting to blow dry. I know some, too, now that I think of it. Maybe it's the finer 2s who need to dry right away to keep the hold and curl.

WurlyLox

aislin wrote: »

I put in my products right after showering pretty much, scrunch with an old t shirt to get out excess moisture, and then diffuse right away. It's like at most 15 minutes after I get out of the shower that I diffuse. I have the opposite effect from you it seems- if I wait for the hair to air dry longer, I get more frizz, less enhancement, less shine, and just poorer results over all.

Maybe it's because my hair is fine and thin? I dunno. I just know the longer I wait, the looser my hair will be and the worse it will look in terms of frizz and hold.

+1.

I apply product to dripping wet hair, blot/scrunch, partially diffuse - I almost never dry it completely - then air dry. The longer I wait after showering to apply product and get the curls going (by diffusing), the worse mine does. Total air drying doesn't work for me usually either - I need that bit of initial diffusing for curl formation and volume.

xcptnl

auntnett wrote: »

aislin wrote: »

I put in my products right after showering pretty much, scrunch with an old t shirt to get out excess moisture, and then diffuse right away. It's like at most 15 minutes after I get out of the shower that I diffuse. I have the opposite effect from you it seems- if I wait for the hair to air dry longer, I get more frizz, less enhancement, less shine, and just poorer results over all.

Maybe it's because my hair is fine and thin? I dunno. I just know the longer I wait, the looser my hair will be and the worse it will look in terms of frizz and hold.

+1.

I apply product to dripping wet hair, blot/scrunch, partially diffuse - I almost never dry it completely - then air dry. The longer I wait after showering to apply product and get the curls going (by diffusing), the worse mine does. Total air drying doesn't work for me usually either - I need that bit of initial diffusing for curl formation and volume.

Add me to this group. I also never fully dry by diffusing but I do diffuse right after my shower and total air drying is a not a good look at all for me.

CurlyCowgirly

slivola wrote: »

I think it's more of a matter of what look you're going for. For me, diffusing right away for the entire drying time adds more volume and with that, a little less curl definition than air drying would offer (like in my profile pics).

Haha if it comes down to being a matter of what you're looking for than my choices are:
A: Diffuse dry promptly (even for 2 minutes) for a frizz-tastic 80s fly-away curl style.
or B: Air dry for a looonnng time, then lightly diffuse for defined curls. I do agree with what you said--I too don't get as much volume from air-drying alone. My key is to clip the hair up around my crown.

So I don't really have a choice if I want a good hair day, sadly. That is, unless I want to wake up super early in the AM and shower then. That's life I guess!
BTW your curls are gorgeous slivola!

slivola

CurlyCowgirly- thanks, I love your curls (actually everyone here has fab curls!)

I think the way I typed that sentence about diffusing verses air drying made it sound like the pics I posted were from air drying when in fact it's the opposite. Like you, I rarely air dry because it takes too long. I actually don't mind a some frizz and a little less definition from diffusing. I just always have to add a serum/oil type product and a dab of texturizing cream when I'm done to calm it down a bit and keep it from poofing back up. I think now that my hair is longer it doesn't get as poofy from diffusing.

WurlyLox

I get excellent frizz-free definition with the right product(s) and using a combination of the Super Soaker and Smasters methods, even when I diffuse totally dry, though the best is with just partial diffusing. And it's always the best when starting with dripping wet hair right from the shower.

CurlyCowgirly

auntnett wrote: »

I get excellent frizz-free definition with the right product(s) and using a combination of the Super Soaker and Smasters methods, even when I diffuse totally dry, though the best is with just partial diffusing. And it's always the best when starting with dripping wet hair right from the shower.

Yes the right products do indeed make all the difference! I'll look up the super soaker and smasters methods...I'm assuming they're on these boards somewhere.

I'm limitedly allowed to move my head/neck when I get out of the shower up until my hair is about 70% air dried or else the shape of my hair up gets unforgivably messed up lol. So I'm willing to try anything!