Prestigious beauty and personal care products formulator and inventor Philip B. of Philip B. Botanicals has always lived by the concept that beautiful styling starts with healthy hair.
Even if you’re experienced with heat styling, the way you’re currently blow drying may not actually be doing your hair any favors. Here Philip offers his tips to get the best results:
- Start with 90% of the water out of the hair: It’s healthier to blow dry from damp locks rather than soaking wet hair. You can do this any number of ways, the first being partial air drying after you thoroughly blot (not rub back and forth) the hair after washing and conditioning. “Your personal sweet spot for the pre-blowout air dry is individual,” advises Philip. “It depends on your own hair and it depends on the weather where you live. If you’re in Palm Springs, for example, where summer temps top 115°, this could be as little as 5 minutes. If you’re in Boston in the middle of winter, it could take hours.” If you don’t have time to air dry, move on to the next step.
- Keep it moving: Says Philip, “The number one mistake I see is that people burn their hair because they’re holding the dryer (or flat iron) in one spot for too long and literally frying the hair. A good guide is to not hold the heat on a spot on your hair longer than you would comfortably hold it on your skin. Keep your heat source in motion at all times, gliding down the hair shaft in the direction of growth from roots to the ends. Three to four passes should be enough. “
- Apply a heat protection spray or serum: Keep a light touch on this and concentrate on the areas that get the most exposure to the elements, i.e. the top of your head and the front. You don’t want the product to be dripping.
- Start by spot drying the roots using your fingers: Using the pads of your fingers, gently rub the scalp back and forth in a small area while hitting it with the dryer. Keep the dryer moving with small movements.
- Choose the right brush: Philip notes, “The best brush to use during your blowout will depend on your hair. If you have thin or fine hair, use a natural bristle brush throughout. If you have thicker hair, use a nylon/natural bristle combination while you dry. But, no matter what, you’ll always want to finish the natural bristles because these are what close the cuticle and polish the hair to deliver glossy smoothness.”
Philip concludes, “Developing a solid blow drying technique can initially be awkward because you’re juggling a brush and the dryer and your hair at the same time. But practice makes perfect and the payoff is huge.”
YA-MAN Spa Styler Collection is a series of heated hair styling tools and treatment products developed by Ya-Man Ltd., an innovative Japanese beauty tech company renowned for its device sophistication and formula efficacy. The first two collection offerings to launch in the U.S. are the YA-MAN SPA STYLER Blow Dry + Scalp Massage and the YA-MAN SPA STYLER Straight + Wave.
“The number one mistake I see is that people burn their hair because they’re holding the dryer in one spot for too long and literally frying the hair.”
–– Philip B.
Founder, Philip B. Botanicals
w philipb.com
IG @philipb
