Cristy’s question: Is it beneficial to use a heat protector on my hair when using a hair dryer and flat iron vs not using anything?
The Right Brain’s heated reply:
Heat protection IS important for your hair, Cristy, because heat is bad for your hair. But that’s not exactly a news flash now is it? You’ve probably read that before on a zillion other beauty blogs. But only the Beauty Brains explain WHY heat is harmful and tell you what to do about it. We’ve blogged before about heat protecting sprays, but here’s some more information for all you “hot heads” out there.
How Heat Is Harmful
Coming unglued
Each strand of your hair is covered with shingle-like structures called cuticles that protect your hair from damage. Cuticles are composed of layers of protein structures called the epicuticle and the exocuticle. You can think of them as tiny protein sandwiches. These protein structures are stuck together with a natural hair “glue” called 18-methyleicosinoic acid (or 18-MEA for short.)
Sadly, this “hair glue” can be broken down by heat. (It can also be destroyed by exposure to shampoo and UV radiation.) Without the glue that holds them together, your cuticles become weakened and loose. That means your hair is more likely to be rough and dull and more likely to be damaged by combing and brushing.
Super dry = Superbad
Heating your hair evaporates the water inside it. In fact, heat styling tools can drive off more water than your hair can reabsorb from the air. (The scientific term for that kind of moisture loss is syneresis. Try using that word the next time you want to impress your stylist.) To recover from syneresis you actually have to resubmerge your hair in water to restore its original moisture level. When the moisture level is low your hair is more brittle and will break and crack more easily. That’s not good!
Swelling is not swell
Wetting hair and rapidly drying it causes the fibers to swell and then quickly contract. This cycle of swelling and contracting causes the cuticles to lift and buckle and even crack. And cracked cuticles mean rougher feel, loss of shine, and potential breakage.
Now that you understand why heat is bad, we’ll tell you what you can do about it. Here are three heat saving tips.
3 Heat Savers
1. Don’t do drying damage
To avoid syneresis from heat drying, you can wash and dry your hair less frequently. Since that’s not always practical, when you do blow dry your hair use a diffuser to avoid over heating.
2. Guard the glue
To protect your hair from heat, you’ll need all the hair glue that you can keep! And since sunlight degrades hair glue you’d better protect your tresses from UV light. Using products with UV absorbers can help a little bit, but focus on leave in products because rinse out products aren’t very effective at depositing significant amounts of sunscreening agents. Of course, you could always wear a hat.
You might also consider sulfate free shampoos that use milder surfactants, like decyl glucose, because they are less likely to dissolve the precious 18-MEA.
3. Be cautious with cuticles
Once your cuticles have become loosened, you need to do all you can to prevent further erosion. Good conditioning is the key here - you should never let a comb or brush (or even a towel) touch your hair unitl you’ve put some kind of protective conditioner on it first. Either rinse out or leave in will work, the trick is to find But you have to find one that feels right for your hair type.
The Beauty Brains bottom line
Any time your hair goes from wet to dry you’re causing some kind of damage. And using heat to make it dry faster only speeds up the damage. Hopefully this article has helped you understand exactly what is happening to your hair and these tips will help you defend your tresses from thermal stresses. (I love it when I get to end a post with a rhyme!)
What do YOU think? Do you have a favorite heat protector to share with the rest of the Beauty Brains community? Leave a comment!
译文:
三种保护你的头发不受加热损伤的方法
克里斯蒂的问题：当我们使用吹风机和加热棒的时侯，是不是在头发上用上一个热保护器比什么都不用来的好？
专业美发对于头发受热作出的回答：
热保护器对您的头发来说十分重要，克里斯蒂，因为加热会损伤您的头发。但那也不算是一个新闻，现在看不出来吗？你以前一定已经在其他很多美容博客上读过它。但只有专业美发才能解释的出为什么受热是对头发有害的，而且能够告诉你怎么去应付这一切。我们以前发表过很多关于加热保护喷雾剂的日志，但这里我们将针对你那“发热的脑袋”，告诉你更多有用的信息。
头发受热到底有多大害处
分项阐述
你的每一丝头发都是由鹅卵石形状、被称作为角质层的结构覆盖着的，保护你的头发不受损害。角质层是由许多层被称作为上表皮和外角质层的蛋白质结构组成。你可以把它们想成是极小的用蛋白质做成的三明治。这些蛋白质结构通过一种天然的头发胶粘在一起，这种胶被称为脂肪酸18（或简称为18-MEA）。
难过的是，这种“头发胶”受热后就能被破坏掉。（同时洗头发和UV线照射也能破坏头发胶。）没有这种胶的粘合作用，头发角质层会变的稀薄、松动。这就意味着你的头发极有可能开始变得毛躁、灰暗，用梳子或是刷子划两下头发就特别容易受损。
超级干燥=超级损伤
通过加热头发可以使里面的水分蒸发。事实上，受热造型工具能够蒸发掉更多的水分，这种速度远比头发从空气中再次吸收水分来得快得多。（那种使水分消失的方法有个科学的术语叫法，叫做脱水收缩。下次当你想要和造型师表达的时候可以尝试用用这个词。）为了能够让你的头发从脱水收缩中恢复过来，你实际上不得不将头发重新浸入水中，吸收水分恢复到原来的含水量。当含水量较低，你的头发就会变得脆弱，更容易折断和分叉。那可不妙！
膨胀并不是件好事
弄湿头发后迅速将其干燥会造成纤维胀大，然后极速收缩。不断地胀大和收缩会使角质层鼓起、弯曲，甚至破裂。而破裂的角质层就意味着头发粗糙、失去光泽，以及其他可能的受损。
既然你已知道了头发受热有百害而无一利，那么我们就来告诉你到底能怎么做。这里有三个头发受热后如何补救的小贴士仅供参考。
3个头发受热后如何补救的小贴士
1、不要做使头发受热损伤的事
为了避免在加热干燥时产生脱水收缩，你可以洗头和干燥毛发的次数少一些。要是那不太实际的话，当你用吹风机干燥毛发的时候可以用一种漫射器的装置来避免过度受热。
2、保护好头发上的天然胶
为了在受热时保护毛发，你需要尽可能地保护好所有头发上的天然胶。即使太阳要下山了，你最好也要保护好头发以免UV线的照射。使用一些吸收UV线的产品可以起到一定的效果，但是记住最好远离这些产品。因为当冲洗掉这些产品的时候，沉积相当数量的防晒分子的作用不是很理想。当然，你也可以经常戴着一顶帽子。
你也许同时考虑着用用无硫酸(盐)的洗发水，含有温和型表面活性剂，比如癸基葡萄糖。它们不太可能能溶解掉先前提到的18-MEA。
3、细心呵护头发的角质层
一旦头发的角质层开始松动，你要尽最大努力减少它的进一步损伤。在这里，很好的调节是关键。在用一些护发素上发之前，你不能再用梳子、或是刷子（或一条毛巾）去碰自己的头发。只要能够发现适合自己的发质，那么你就找到了诀窍，无论是将护发素冲洗掉还是多享受一会，都能起到有较好的效果。
美发概要
不管什么时候，只要你的头发从湿嗒嗒慢慢变干都会对发质产生一定的损伤。通过加热把头发弄干只会加速损伤的程度。幸好这篇文章已经帮助咱们正确地意识到你的头发正在经历着什么样的变化，同时这些小贴士能帮助你的秀发抵抗热应力的损伤。（我对这段感觉忒好，因为在段落结尾用了个押韵！）
热卖商品
你觉得怎么样？有一款特别青睐的受热保护产品要跟我们美发社区的人们一起分享吗？那么就留下你的点评吧！