Hot Tips for Hot Tools

Have you ever seen the video of that young girl who was curling her hair and her hair fell off? We all love to laugh at it, but the reality is there is soooo much to know about heat tools and our hair! So we want to give you the 411 on everything hot tools.

  1. 350 degrees

Now I know we all love to crank the heat up and get the job done, but putting our curling iron/straightener at it’s max heat can actually be really damaging to our hair. 

  • For fine hair we recommend putting your hot tool around 200-300 degrees. Your hair has such a small cuticle that it actually doesn’t need that much heat to manipulate the hair. 

  • For medium hair, we recommend 300-350 degrees.

  • For dense/thick hair, we recommend above 350 degrees.

For colour treated hair, keep it below 350 degrees! Any higher and it starts to break down the colour molecules which causes colour fadage. 

  1. Protect your hair!

Our hair is apart of our identity so we want to keep it strong and healthy! 

 It’s like putting sunscreen on your skin so you don’t burn, same goes for your hair. Here’s some of our favourite heat protectors:

  • Redken’s Fabricate - by far our favourite for it’s lightweight texture feel. 

  • Redken’s Iron Shape - Are your curl’s constantly falling?  Iron shape has not only heat protection but hold as well for longer lasting curls. 

  • EVO’s icon welder - For the eco-conscious, it has everything your hair needs, heat protection and extra hold, but its also vegan, free from parabens, gluten, sulfates and the bottle is made from recycled plastic!

  • Redken’s Play Safe - A 3 in 1 leave in treatment for damaged hair. It not only reduces the appearance of split ends, but it protects hair from heat up to 450 degrees and has proteins to strengthen the hair (Plus we love how soft it feels in the hair and its great as a detangler too!) 

  1. What kind of hoot tool should you look for? 

We can all agree there are thousands of different tools to choose from, plus who really knows the difference between ceramic, tourmaline, titanium and all those other big words we haven’t a hot clue about (pun intended :P) 

Here’s the 411 - Titanium is a strong metal that can heat up super fast, however it isn’t as protective of the hair. 

Ceramic is said to be slightly gentler on the hair than titanium, but when mixed with tourmaline it releases negative ions which counteract the positive ions in dry and damaged hair. You’re best bet when looking for a straightener or curling iron is a Ceramic Tourmaline hot tool as it provides the most protection for your hair and neutralize the negative ions that cause static and frizz. 

Some our favourite brands are:

  • Sam Villa. This is what all of our stylists use. It’s at a higher price point, however their tools tend to be lighter and the blowdryers are quiet yet powerful, they have user friendly buttons such as a “colour treated” heat option and will last a significant amount of years.

  • Aria. Their tools are ceramic tourmaline and are a great choice for any avid hot tool user, they are at a medium price range and have a great warranty. Plus they come in super cute colour options!

  • Avanti. This is a great every day quality hot tool brand with several different options to choose from. They’re tools are affordable and offer great warranty’s. 

We could continue to list every brand out there that we love, but these offer a variety of price ranges and different hot tool options. When it’s time to upgrade your next hot tool, ask one of our stylists to see what sales are happening through our distributor and they can pair you with the best option for you!

We hope these tips help you with all of your hot tool questions! Remember to have long, luscious hair we have to protect it!

If you have any other, please send us your hot question or put it in the comments and we would love to answer it!