The way to a head of grease-free healthy bouncy hair is NOT to put down the hairdryer but to pick it up and use it, according to one budding hair specialist.
Ages-old advice for sustaining healthy looking glossy hair has revolved around avoiding the blowdryer, but now a hair expert studying to become a trichologist has discovered that the advice could be topsy turvy, saying that “you’ll never air dry ever again after I tell you this.”
While true that heat damage from drying, straightening or curling your tresses can change the structure of the hair, it turns out that styling with heat damages its ability to retain moisture and grease.
If you struggle with greasy hair, TikToker Abbey Yung recently shared some information that could permanently change your hair washing routine. The content creator, who is training to obtain her trichology certificate, came upon a surprising argument during her studies.
Taking to her TikTok account @abbeyyung, Ms Yung says letting your hair fully air dry can be more damaging, as reported by The Mirror.
“You will never air dry ever again after I tell you this,” the trichologist in training stated, referring to research first published in 1981 and presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society.
She said: “In that journal I found one of the most mind blowing sentences I’ve ever read about hair science. It says ‘hair dried in air lost its sebum, or oil, at a slower rate than hair dried with a hot-air dryer’.
“So if you’ve ever wondered why your hair doesn’t seem to get greasy as quickly when you blow dry it versus when you air dry it, this is exactly why.”
In a follow-up comment, Ms Young clarified the scientific jargon, saying: “Losing sebum at a slower rate equals more sebum left on the scalp.”
According to the expert, your hair will naturally lose excess oil in other ways, but blow-drying your hair essentially kickstarts it.
She added that you lose between 40 and 60 per cent of the sebum after a few days through brushing your hair, sleeping on a pillow or other activities — but using a blow dryer makes it happen faster.
It remains the case that heat damage is not good for your hair, which is why Ms Yung said she air dries her hair 80 per cent of the way and blow-dries the rest. As an added tip, she said: “You can also just blow-dry your roots.”
Her video on TikTok has been seen by more than 850,000 people, with many expressing gratitude at finally understanding why their hair gets greasy more quickly by letting it air dry.
One said: “That makes so much sense! I’ve always noticed the difference but never knew why.”
Another stated: “So here I thought I was doing my hair a service by not blow drying it and that’s what is causing my hair to be so greasy after a day!”
A third said: “I’ve always wondered why I can go with more days between washes when I blow dry it! But I don’t have time to do it every time.”
