It’s been debateable for years whether or not hair straighteners cause any damage to hair follicles but with an ever growing trend of celebrities sporting poker straight hairstyles the majority of women do not think twice about any damage that may be caused. I remember the days when hair straighteners were expensive so teenagers found an alternative and ironed hair straight instead. Many would come into school with burnt ends as they couldn’t really see what they were doing with their head on the ironing board!

Apparently a third of women have hair straighteners and one in five men also admit to this trend too, most people who use them will not leave the house as they prefer straight hair compared to curly, wavy or frizzy. In reality relying heavily on hair straighteners will only cause hair to become more frizzy and curly. They also make hair dull and thin over time but many women argue that after having hair straightened its shinier and silky, but this is short lived.

A lot of women and young girls who are addicted to straightening hair usually start to panic when they find that their hair is falling out, it isn’t really as the hair becomes so weak from heat damage that it starts to break off eventually. Hair straightening also leads to split ends as the ends get burnt and bear the brunt of the heat.

20 years ago hair straighteners took 20 minutes to reach the optimum temperature for creating poker straight hair using steel plates. Now with better material to create the plates it takes less than a minute to heat up to 200c. Apparently the new hair straighteners are worse than before as they are higher in temperature, using plates that are 180c or less will not damage hair as much as 200c. A lot of women argue that they use heat protecting products to ‘protect’ the hair but in reality it does little to prevent any damage made.

There are a few things you can try to help restore frazzled hair to its former glory, things like deep conditioning, hair masks and even sleeping on a silk pillowcase can prevent split ends and keep hair looking silky smooth, it also helps hair lock in natural oils.

Older styled hair straighteners that use steam to create straight hair are safer but much more expensive; they do not cause so much damage as you would using a conventional straightener. This year looks like its set to concentrate on bouncy and wavy hair and curls rather than the poker straight look that has been dominating the catwalk the last few months. So say goodbye to straighteners and embrace bouncy and curly volumised hair.