How to Use a Diffuser On Short & Long Straight Hair? – 8 Easy Steps

By Catherine Jordan

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Whether you have short or long hair, you have likely faced the dreaded prospect of going out on a bad hair day. Frizzy hair, dry hair, and damaged split ends are just some of the common problems women face daily.

While a blow dryer can be a woman’s best friend is getting her hair routine done on short notice, it is also liable to cause both heat damage and frizzing.

Diffusers offer an alternate solution, avoiding the damaging effect of hairdryers while providing the advantages of a hairdryer.

What Is A Diffuser?

A diffuser is simply an attachment for a hairdryer. They function by dividing the jet of hot air coming out from a hairdryer into multiple, smaller jets of sir.

Their functionality can be compared to the phenomenon of showerheads, where a single stream of water gets split up into multiple smaller streams of water. This results in lower pressure and diffused flow of air from the hairdryer.

Strong hot air currents from a hairdryer can result in damage to the hair, most commonly causing frizziness. They are also damaging to curls as well as straightened hair.

Advantages Of Using A Diffuser In Straight Hair

Using a diffuser on straight hair can provide several advantages. To begin with, using a diffuser gives you straight here more volume if you have long hair. Alternatively, with smaller lengths of hair, using a diffuser can give a much sought after wavy texture to your hair.

All of these advantages are, of course, in addition to the protection from heat damage that using a diffuser provides.

Read More: A Guide on How to Diffuse Curly Hair

Steps For Using A Diffuser

Wash your hair: the first step of the process is to make sure you’ve washed your hair sufficiently.
After washing, it is essential to dry your hair with a dry cloth or towel. The use of soft and absorbent fabric is recommended.
If you’re planning to go for a specific style or hairdo, it is best to apply your hair gel before starting with the diffuser.
Conditioning agents such as leave-in conditioners can also be applied before using the diffuser.
Getting the appropriate settings on the blow dryer: getting the settings just right is an important step. Set the heat settings on your blow dryer to medium, and the airflow settings to high speed. Alternatively, one can try out different settings and find one that suits their hair the best.
The massaging action: the diffuser is fairly easy to use. Each diffuser comes with small prongs. These are used for massaging the hair and scalp. This gentle drying process helps in preventing the heat damage and also gives your hair a volume look.
One can repeat the entire process after flipping their hair upside down. This further increases the volume of hair.
Make sure to get all of your hair dry properly before applying any further hair products like hair serum or spray.

Tips For Using In Wavy Hair

With short wavy hair, a diffuser goes a long way in maintaining the waves, compared to an air dryer, which is most likely to cause heat damage and, therefore, frizzy hair. This also causes loss of natural waviness.

Following are the steps to using a diffuser on your wavy hair:

The first step is to wash your hair, ensuring your scalp and hair are clean.
Next, dry your hair till it’s just about dry.
The application of a leave-in conditioner after this is highly recommended. Conditioners help in keeping your hair smooth and silky, thus preventing damage or frizziness.
The most important step for frizzy hair comes next. Apply hair serum liberally to cover all parts of your hair, especially the tips. This is because the tips are the most susceptible to damage.
Using a diffuser is done a bit differently than for naturally straight hair. First, you have to place the tips of your hair on the diffuser.
Next gradually brings the entire section of hair, with the diffuser, down to the surface of the scalp.
Next, turn on the diffuser at a medium heat and speed settings and proceed to dry that section of your hair.
The process is to be repeated until the entire head is dried.
After this, the routine can be completed by using protective products such as a hair mousse, to provide extra protection from frizzing. This step is not compulsory and can be taken up by anyone looking to keep that extra layer of protection around their hair when outdoors.

Read More: A Guide on How to Dry Curly Hair

Tips For Selecting The Best Hair Diffuser

When it comes to hairdryers and diffusers, there are a ton of options available in the market. They vary based on different properties, and one should carefully compare the different models before selecting a particular option that suits their hair care needs.

The Power Settings: The first thing to consider while choosing a hairdryer or diffuser is to find out their power settings. Understanding power settings are relatively straightforward.

Higher power settings mean your blow dryer and diffuser will dry out your hair much quicker. Models belonging to a higher wattage, such as the 1800watts or a higher model is recommended, especially if one has thin hair.

The lessening of the drying time means your hair gets exposed to the hot air for a lesser period, thus minimizing hair damage.
Material: Another key factor to consider is the material from which the diffuser is made. Generally, professionals recommend ceramic or tourmaline models over other materials.

This is due to their thermal properties and causes the equal distribution of the heated air. The thermal distributive property ensures less heat damage and quicker drying.
Different Settings: It is ideally recommended that one chooses a hairdryer and diffuser that has multiple temperatures and airflow settings. This allows you to have greater freedom while styling your hair.

A higher power setting can be used while initially drying the hair, while the last part of drying can be done under lower settings. Furthermore, it allows one to adapt to different settings for different hair types.
Attachments: It is important to select a Hairdryer that allows attachments to be added to it. This is important for a hair diffuser to be used along with the hairdryer.

Budget

The budget is something that is to be considered before buying a particular hair diffuser. However, when it comes to a hair diffuser, a higher price doesn’t always equate to higher efficiency. It is best to look through different options and their features before selecting a particular model.

Hair diffuser is an essential tool for everyday hair care. A hair diffuser allows your straight hair to be kept smooth and frizz-free while preventing any form of heat damage due to the use of a hairdryer.

By following the above-discussed steps and selecting a well-suited diffuser, one can get smooth and silky hair, and keep damaged frizzy hair at bay.

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