Why has my hair decided to dry straight all of a sudden?

[Your Face]

I straightened and blow-dried my hair for three years, and about 4 months ago, I decided to stop doing both, as my hair was constantly breaking off and falling out, due to the heat. I started using a hairdryer to dry my hair again this week (I used to just let it air dry) and I dried it as I usually would, but now it's drying almost completely straight! I used to get so much frizz, and now I get slightly wavy hair underneath my layers, and all the rest is straight! How come it's straight now?

[Herbal Essences]

Hi there, I'm Vicky and I work for Herbal Essences. Let's get the science bit out of the way first: The texture of hair is determined in the cortex of the hair (the cortex is one of the inner layers of a hair shaft) and determines for instance whether a person has straight or curly hair. This texture can only be changed by chemical methods such as perming or relaxing. The overall look of your hair however is also determined by the hair cuticle (outermost part of the hair shaft). If the cuticles lie flat, your hair will look shinier and smooth (this can be achieved with conditioning, straightening, ways of blow drying etc). If the cuticle layers are roughened up, your hair will look less shiny, frizzy and even damaged.

The fact that your hair dries straighter now, could be the result of your hair being healthier already after you stopped the heat-styling, or a result of the hair care products you currently use or simply because your hair is longer than it used to be. The longer the hair, the heavier it is and the more the curls are being stretched out and your hair can appear less curly. In addition, if you moved recently, it could be that the area you live in now is generally less humid which can also help keep the frizz at bay.

As you can see, there is a number of different scenarios, so I hope I could help a little. For more help or info, feel free to send me a message or find me on Twitter (@_HerbalEssences)