He may be known for creating beautiful waves of ombré color, as well as pastel hues, but self-proclaimed hair activist, Guy Tang, recently posted this video to his Instagram, which is reason enough to lay off the straightening iron.
You May Also Like: The 6 Products You Need to Repair Damaged Hair
In the clip, the Los Angeles–based colorist warns women with colored hair to turn down the temperature on their straightening and curling irons. Tang clamps a flat iron set at 400 degrees on colored hair for 5 seconds, and when he removes the straightner, the hair colors have already faded.
“Women use their tools at high temperatures because it gives the best results in a shorter amount of time,” says celebrity colorist Amanda George. But, using these tools at high temperatures, think 400 degrees, can cause your color—especially fine, bleached hair—to fade fast.
While your best bet to keep your color looking healthy and vibrant is to limit your use of heat-based styling tools altogether, George says that if you can’t forgo your styling tools, use a barrier product like Oribe Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray ($68) or R+Co Park Ave Blow Out Balm ($28) to prevent breakage. We also like Schwarzkopf BC Color Freeze CC Cream ($21) and Redken Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer ($24).
