The small change that’ll make your hair shine like never before

tool for shiny hair

Advertorial: One swap is all it takes

Beauty Crew Editor / September 11 2018

Whether you’re someone who has stuck with the same hair colour, length and style for most of your adult life, or you experiment with different hair looks with the change of basically every season, we can probably all agree that one of the most frustrating things keeping us from a brilliant hair day is a lack of shine. 

Thankfully, there are plenty of solutions out there to help improve dull, lacklustre hair and enhance a glossy finish. The problem is that sadly many of them are just temporary fixes – glosses, serums and balms may help improve the appearance of shine, but they don’t always get to the heart of the issue. 

The good news? There’s a small change you can make that will actually help maintain the health of your hair, and, in turn, help boost your hair’s natural shine. 

Why it might be time to break up with your hairdryer

Sorry to be the bearers of bad news, but your trusty hairdryer – the one you’ve been relying on day in and day out – could be one of the main culprits when it comes to your lack of shine. You see, some conventional hairdryers can reach too-hot temperatures when working to dry and style your hair, and this can damage your hair. And extreme heat damage can compromise some of those elements that contribute to shiny, glossy hair.

Hair shine is determined mainly by strand smoothness, strand alignment and colour contrast. Subjecting your hair to high temperatures doesn’t do either of the first two *any* favours.

How to prevent extreme heat damage

We wouldn’t dare suggest ditching the drying step of your hair routine altogether – who even has the time to leave hair to air-dry regularly? Not us, that’s for sure. 

No, your beloved and efficient drying method can stay, you just need to be smarter about the tool you choose to get the job done. Picking the right hairdryer (i.e. one that’s designed to prevent extreme heat damage) can go a long way to help you achieve the shiny hair of your dreams.

The Dyson Supersonic™ hair dryer is a pretty schmick-looking device, that’s easy to see. But what’s hiding behind that slick exterior is actually a pretty genius tool – one that took years of research and hundreds of prototypes from over 100 engineers to perfect.

Basically the hairdryer has an intelligent heat control system that maintains the air’s temperature below 150 degrees Celsius, which will help protect your hair from extreme heat damage. And, PS, a proven way to make your hair shine is to protect it from incredibly high temperatures.

In case you’re asking yourself how it just knows to keep the temperature at a constant, we assure you it’s not magic, but rather it’s science. Inside the Dyson Supersonic™ hair dryer is a glass bead thermistor that measures exit flow temperature 20 times per second and transmits data to the microprocessor. The microprocessor then transmits calculated instructions to the heating element, ensuring airflow never goes above 150 degrees Celsius. Clever, right?

“150 degrees Celsius is the temperature that the hair’s protein structure will start to permanently denature.”
Fred Howe
/
Dyson
Engineer

While switching to a smart hairdryer that manages the airflow’s temperature may seem like an obscure suggestion for tackling a lack of shine, just remember this is a long-term game. Will you notice any changes within a week? Probably not. But over time, by not subjecting your hair to extreme heat damage, you’re giving it a better chance to maintain a healthy state. And the healthier and stronger your hair, the smoother and more aligned those strands will be, and that what’s going to improve your natural shine. 

Be patient, friends. Oh, and don’t ditch those nourishing hair masks, heat protectant sprays and repairing serums either! 

Hair nowhere near as shiny as you want it to be? Here’s what you’re doing wrong.

 

What do you do to keep your hair looking shiny and healthy? Please share in the comments section below

Main image credit: Getty

Carli was BEAUTYcrew’s Editor from launch in 2016 until May 2020. You can find her words right here on BEAUTYcrew, and previously on beautyheaven.