Or rather, How I diffuse my hair.
One of the most common complaints of ladies trying to wash, style and go is how long the hair takes to dry. With popular products such as KCCC, Ecostyler gel drying times can take a day and a half to dry.
That need not be the case, unless you prefer to stay away from heat entirely.
I tend to diffuse if I need to be somewhere ASAP or sometimes if I just don't want to be stuck with a damp/wet heat for the most part of the day. In this pic tutorial I was using Queen Helen Curl Shaping Creme, a product heavily composed with humectants. For this reason, I decided to diffuse because I just didn't want to be stuck with a wet-head for most of the day, as experienced with humectant heavy stylers in the past.
I use a simple blow-dryer. The particular brand is Kokou. I picked this up from the local hair shop priced around £20 or so.
The diffuser attachment I got from a local Sally's. Priced around £10.
I got a large cup, because I liked the idea of covering a larger surface area, as I felt that would take less time.
There really isn't an exact science but more of a strategy in how I choose to dry.
I dry on the warm setting in each section for about 20 seconds. I start with the crown area and work my way round in a spiral fashion around my head leaving my extremities last.
I start and focus mainly at the crown because that usually takes the longest to dry. I don't linger so much around the extremities/edges, because they usually air-dry the quickest.
Why tip your head upside-down? To create more volume on the top and prevent the flat-head-helmet head look. (No offense if that is what you go for.)
Then I use the cool setting to help close the cuticles and encourage better definition. I bring the cup much closer to my hair mimicking a scrunching method.
One of the most common complaints of ladies trying to wash, style and go is how long the hair takes to dry. With popular products such as KCCC, Ecostyler gel drying times can take a day and a half to dry.
That need not be the case, unless you prefer to stay away from heat entirely.
I tend to diffuse if I need to be somewhere ASAP or sometimes if I just don't want to be stuck with a damp/wet heat for the most part of the day. In this pic tutorial I was using Queen Helen Curl Shaping Creme, a product heavily composed with humectants. For this reason, I decided to diffuse because I just didn't want to be stuck with a wet-head for most of the day, as experienced with humectant heavy stylers in the past.
I use a simple blow-dryer. The particular brand is Kokou. I picked this up from the local hair shop priced around £20 or so.
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| It's a hair-dryer, it's supposed to have grease marks! |
The diffuser attachment I got from a local Sally's. Priced around £10.
I got a large cup, because I liked the idea of covering a larger surface area, as I felt that would take less time.
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| Attachment orifice |
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| Separate components |
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| Combined components |
There really isn't an exact science but more of a strategy in how I choose to dry.
I dry on the warm setting in each section for about 20 seconds. I start with the crown area and work my way round in a spiral fashion around my head leaving my extremities last.
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| Warm setting control. Black = Cool, Red = Hot |
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| Diffuser cup further away on warm |
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| Head bent upside down to show starting area. |
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| Direction I diffuse around my head |
Why tip your head upside-down? To create more volume on the top and prevent the flat-head-helmet head look. (No offense if that is what you go for.)
Then I use the cool setting to help close the cuticles and encourage better definition. I bring the cup much closer to my hair mimicking a scrunching method.
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| Diffuser much closer to 'scrunch' on cool. |
Results...
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| Before diffusing (flash) |
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| Immediately after diffusing (flash) |
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| In sunlight afterwards (no flash) |
Great Tutorial. I am so scared of even using a diffuser.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you need to be... but I can understand your fears..
DeleteI'll just add that there is the option of diffusing on 'cool' and even warm ;)
hey deary loving the hair. so how long did it take to dry completely?
ReplyDelete