This is the one mistake we’re all making when blow-drying our hair, according to a top hairdresser

Blow-drying our hair is one of those routine and fairly mundane tasks that we’ve been doing for most of our lives, and we’re probably pretty accustomed to how we do it. It’s a bit like making some toast or sticking a load of laundry on – we don’t give it much thought.

But just as we can accidentally burn our toast or shrink that dry-clean-only cashmere jumper, so too can we damage our hair if we continue to blow-dry it absent-mindedly.

Indeed, renowned hairdresser Michael Van Clarke says that careless blow-drying is the number-one culprit of dry, damaged hair amongst his clients.

“One of my clients with fabulous, thick, shoulder-length hair was struggling with the front sections always breaking, splitting, and hanging poker straight at the ends,” Michael says. “It didn’t make sense to me; her wavy hair was growing so healthy, but the front sections would continuously break.

“One day she came in and asked for a large round styling brush, saying that hers only last 4-5 months before they wear down and need replacing. I found that odd as mine last 20 years with daily professional use, so I asked her to bring in her old brush for me to see.

“I saw that the large round brush had become a medium round brush because she’d melted the stiff nylon bristles to half their length. The dryer was too hot and resting on the hair with a concentrator nozzle as well – serious over-drying. If your hairbrush is melting away, what do you think is happening to your hair?”

According to Michael, that’s the blow-drying mistake we’re all guilty of: too hot, too close, for too long. The nozzle concentrates too much heat on hair that’s already potentially very damaged, especially if it’s bleached or tinted. Resting the nozzle on hair like this guarantees over-drying and further damage.