Who doesn’t like hair falling down their back? Many enjoy experimenting with their hair, especially during the holiday and wedding season: from straightening and curling to frequent blow-drying. However, heat damage is very real, and using hot tools on your hair every day can cause it to become weak, brittle, and break more often. Additionally, different hair types can handle different temperatures when it comes to hot tools and can actually withstand heat better than other types.
If you’ve been wondering just how much heat from hot tools your hair can withstand, here is a quick overview of temperature for different hair types:
Different Hair Types Require Different Temperature Settings
Generally, thick and coarse hair can usually withstand higher heat than thin or fine hair. So, if your hair is thicker and coarser, you can probably set your hot styling tool to a temperature between 375°F and 400°F. For thinner, finer hair, consider staying between 280°F to 350°F. With any kind of hair, don’t set your hot tool to be hotter than 400°F, as that can lead to serious damage and breakage.
The Material of Your Style Tool Affects the Health of your Hair
The material of your hot styling tool definitely affects how healthy your hair is after styling. This is because different materials conduct heat differently, and most higher-quality tools will be safer for your hair. If you are buying new hot tools, consider buying those that are made using baked ceramic, tourmaline, or titanium. Before settling on any tool, research how the material it is made of will affect your hair.
How Can You Tell that the Temperature is Okay for your Hair?
Being able to tell if you’re using the right temperature for your hair is mostly an intuitive guess. Does your hair feel smooth and healthy? Or does it feel brittle and damaged? Depending on the feel of your hair, you can probably tell if the temperature is too high or too low, and you should treat your hair accordingly. If your hair feels damaged, cut down on using the hot tools, try using them at a lower temperature, or start using heat-protectant products.
What Happens If You Set the Heat Too High or Too Low?
If you set the heat too low on your hot tool, it likely won’t style your hair effectively, and you’ll keep having to redo certain portions of your hair. This isn’t too bad since it doesn’t cause many problems other than taking some extra time. On the other hand, if you set the heat too high, you might be in serious trouble, and you can seriously damage your hair or even burn it off. So, to stay safe, start with a low temperature and increase it if you think you need to.
We hope these tips on hot tool temperature help you style your hair perfectly without causing any damage. And remember, any time you use a hot styling tool, be sure to use some heat-protectant product as well!
