Does Water Work Better Than A Hair Heat Protectant?! 

I mist on a mixture of conditioner and water before I style my hair... My hair always feels shiny and soft

While this is interesting, I don't think any company would advocate using their product under such harsh conditions. We generally apply heat in short intervals or in a continuous motion where the hair is not under direct heat at all times. I'm just not convinced I should trash heat protectant completely, but I enjoyed your video :)

This heat protectant saga is so eye opening. You should try with different oils as well, coconut, argan, Moroccan. I would love to see the results for these as well.

I always thought I was crazy because I felt that when I applied my hair protector my hair felt drier and more mistreated, that confirms that I was right. Thanks for this video. Hello from Colombia

can you try flatiron your hair (or the same hairs youve been using in these videos) with and without heat protectant and then use one of those microscopes that can zoom in around 400times and see if there’s any difference when you use them as they are supposed to be used? would be very interesting! and im so confused since you posted that last video haha! 😳

Hm...what you did basically mimicked blowdrying, so water would protect the hair from burning until it’s evaporated. No surprise there. But that doesn’t mean it would be a good idea to wet your hair before using a curling or flat iron. The water isn’t just ‚on‘ the hair in wet hair, it’s ‚in‘ the hair. If you heat it so suddenly that it turns to steam while still in the hair, it might actually damage the hair structure. Kinda like a tomato ‚exploding‘ in the microwave. I would be very careful with that. I would also love tests with other kind of hair products like smoothing/curling lotion, if you feel like going on with this series. I’ve never used a separate heat protectant, but smoothing lotion seems to help with keeping the hair nice and flat. Would love to know, if it’s more harmful longterm than just clean, dry hair. Great idea testing this, in any case 👍

could you try something like repeated use of a flat iron with heat protectant compared to water??

I don't feel like this was an accurate test. Who soaks their hair with these products and then just hold the heat in the same place? Maybe you should team up with an hairdresser who's trained in the science behind hair and these products. I really like the idea behind this video, but I think it needs a do over.

Uhhhh absolutely not! By putting water on it you’re just boiling your hair 😑🤭

It’s common sense, really. Wash and dry. Use a small amount of heat protectant, lowest heat setting to get desired results, and move the heat off the hair fast. No one is directing concentrated heat onto a single spot of hair for minutes at a time. This video really proves nothing.

I think heat protectant actually works because it delays burning compared to dry hair. Water needs to evaporate before doing any effect.

I am 68 years old and have never used products on my hair until about 5 years ago when all these so called thickening, protectants, moisturizing products came on the market and I fell for it but never really saw any difference in my hair. So even though some people are skeptical I think you are right, save your money.

Wait I thought you had to let the heat protectant that you already sprayed on your hair, to be dry in order to use a curling iron or straightening iron to your hair. Not, to use curling iron when your hair is still wet? I'm confused!

But when you dry hair, you don't focus on one section that long. You constantly move the dryer. So would it damage the same?

I’m so confused I don’t know what to do😢I’m getting a wig😂😂

I have naturally curly hair and try not to use heat on my hair that often. I do dry my hair with a diffuser but I use the dryer set to cool and hold down the cold shot button. I also make sure my hair is FULL of the right products to not only enhance my curl etc… but they have ingredients on them designed to keep the hair as healthy as possible. I have also found that if I do “need” a curling wand to touch up an uncooperative curl or two later in the week, that if i set the wand to the lowest number (200*) and just fix that piece of hair quickly my hair seems to be fine, and not receiving to much damage. That being said I would NEVER do it every day. Perhaps if you test things like leave in conditioners or oil that you allow to soak into the hair first and see how they do in the place of a heat protectant? just a thought, because i have found leave-ins and cream stylers work great at protecting my hair as far as I can tell.

Normally, I love your videos, but this time, I believe that this is a bit misleading. People aren't going to be holding a hot styling tool on the hair for extended periods of time..at least I hope not. Also, no matter if it is heat protector, or water..if a sizzling, popping sound is heard the hair is too wet, and is getting cooked.

Yes, all I use is water on my hair and my hair is very healthy. I normal shower to condition well, towel dirt and while lightly damp I straighten or curl. The end result is soft hair. For years I tried using a heat protectant and it just made my hair feel heavy and dirty. I’m showing my friend who have shamed me for not using a heat protectant this video. 😛 I have been right all along😂

You were pressing on the one hair.... that's not fair.

I have never used a spray heat protectant. The only products that I use to style my hair are cream products because if you look at most of the sprays if you read the labels they state that they are flammable so how does that translate to applying them to the hair. I have been a cosmetologist since I got out of high school witch was many years ago. Truly the only product I use before styling my hair is Moroccan oil in conjunction with the Moroccan oil styling cream. I usually let my hair dry partially by itself or will blow dry it mostly before going in with any other styling tools. Much love ❤️

Heat protector has always been one of those things I just took as a given and never really questioned it, this series has def opened my eyes! We should really start questioning the efficacy of a lot of other products... 😘

I love the idea of these videos but I think the premise is flawed. What you’ve really done is proven that heat protectant makes the hair dry faster than normal water, and thus it burns earlier. I’d also be interested to see the result in a sample which combines the damp hair with the heat protectant, since that’s the way it is designed to be used anyway. You’ve shown the effect of the protectant saturating dry hair, but if it’s designed to be used in conjunction with water (damp hair) you can’t really make inferences about the effectiveness of the product for its intended use. But still love your vids!

I actually saw an INCONSISTENCY here. He was gripping and pulling on the hair soaked in heat protectant harder than he was on the hair soaked in water. If you look closely at his index finger, you can tell he was pulling and gripping harder because his nail is white as what happens when blood rushes out from the pressure of squeezing. So, he was literally putting more effort in trying to break the hair soaked in heat protectant. Therefore, these results are obviously RIGGED for views. Use the heat protectant, my friends. You can see that it was burning the hair slower than the rest.

This is so disheartening!!! So like 10-15 years ago, none of us used primer (for our eyelids or face) OR heat protectant. Now it’s pretty much a staple in most consumers’ (especially women) everyday routine. We’ve all been duped, and billions have been made..... It just really proves that the bottom line is always money. I fell for it too, without even questioning it. I wonder if there are any heat protectant brands that actually work??

Usually when I blow dry my hair I use a heat protectant over damp hair. So does that make it better, or not🤔

I wonder what would happen if you mixed water with some organic Argon Oil and sprayed it lightly!

To be fair I think cosmetics companies assume users will apply heat tools once or twice for a couple of seconds on each strand, not actually burning it directly. Which might or might not make any difference. I am not a Physicist but I know thermodynamics can be tricky depending on too many factors

Love how thorough these tests have been. Your future kids are going to have awesome science projects 📝💯

It might be a good idea to compare different heat protectants and then compare the best one with water again! :)

Omg! This was genius. Can you do one on leave in conditioner vs hair oil vs water

Hmmm I don’t know about this test. So do you soak your hair with water when you use a hair iron? Probably not. Your your hair was soakin wet, you wouldn’t be able to style your hair at all. You have to have almost dry your hair first.

Can you do a heat test with oils? I'd love to see what oils would work!!:)

As a person who flat irons all the time, I can testify to heat protectants being a racket. I tried heat protectants. I used up whole bottles of a couple different brands of heat protectant, but never noticed any difference in the quality of my hair. After I ran out of the last one, a couple years ago, I haven't bought more. My hair doesn't look any different. There might be some microscopic differences that would add up to something noticeable after years--but my hair isn't that long. It's going to get cut off before I see any difference.

If you used a flatiron on it though it would literally boil the water in your hair and damage it, wouldn't it??

AYYY WATER! Who needs to spend more money just use some water! Thanks for your experiments! I love you gurl!

Giiiiirrrrrrlllllll...... The cosmetic industry is coming for you....😳 I am rethinking my entire life right now. That’s next level! 😬

Yes "wetness" helps keep the hair from burning, however water won't keep away frizz and static. I use heat protectant for frizz and static. I have ridiculously thick hair. My actual strands are thin, I just have alot of them. I don't dry, flat iron, or curl my hair much. But I use heat protectant as soon as my hair air dries to help with frizz. And I use an anti frizz shampoo and conditioner. And I use a anti frizz serum as soon as I get out of the shower lmbo. My whole life is circled around moisture and oils lol!

Can you do this test with your dyson hair dryer and a typical flat iron? I wonder if distance of the hair dryer would have an impact. I was curious about the hot tool you used for this and the previous video.

Now I’m so torn! I just bought my Aveda heat protectant. UGG Ok Milibu! Test all the other products that companies swear we need! I’m starting to become skeptical! Open those worms girl!

Well I think it varies from person to person that what they actually expect from a heat protectant. Curly girls want the heat protectant to protect hair from “heat damage” , that means to get their curls bounce back when comes in contact with water. Some people want to prevent hair from burning. Now for me, I don’t care about my curls bouncing back when wet, because I don’t believe it depends on products, it depends on temperature and hair type (I can guarantee that on the basis of my knowledge of elasticity as a mechanical engineer). As long as burning goes, human hair is strong enough to withstand 450•F (there can be few exceptions depending on an individual that how they handle their hair). Also pretty much any leave in cream/lotion/silicone serum/spray provide coating, hence protection to the hair. My hair is very fine and I can flat iron my hair at 450. My hair doesn’t burn and my curls come back after washing. What I actually believe that the job of a heat protectant is to minimize or slow down hair damage and by “damage” I mean “breakage”. Out of all the heat protectants I have tried so far including high end, tresemme heat tamer spray is the only one that significantly reduced my breakage. So my verdict- it works and nothing is comparable to this for my hair. (Sorry for the long comment)

Very interesting! I would love to know what happens to your hair with something like leave in conditioner. Ive never really used heat protectants, always felt that I should though. What an eye opener…. Thanks!

Many (if not all) heat protectants contain alcohol or other flammable ingredients in them (Tresseme does contain alcohol) ...so yeah, logically that would defeat the purpose, right?!

If you've only tested one heat protectant, then you can't really call these results entirely scientific. Maybe it's only Tresemme that doesn't work. Now that you have some controls to compare, you can take the next steps for science, though! Next video: compare heat protectants! :)

Maybe the theori of heatprotectant is that it gives the results of styling much faster, so that you dont run the iron through your hair as Many times because you see the result after fewer Strokes. Then maybe the the little more Damage you get from using heatprotectant is still less than what you get from using more heat to achieve the result.

Maybe “heat protectant” is really for helping heat distribute more evenly through out your hair so when you flatiron a chunk the inside gets some of the heat too? That could help prevent damage to the outside strands by making fewer passes necessary

I've always just wahed my hair and go on with my daily routine since I was in high school and my hair healthy

I would love to see how other products effect heat damage. Like "naked hair" vs leave in conditioners and other styling products that are recommended to apply before styling.

In life, I would use a heat protectant on wet hair or on dry hair with much lower heat. So if I blow dry my hair w/ just a conditioning leave-in it would make sense that I wouldn't need a heat protectant. But if I flat iron on dry hair, based on your previous video, a heat protectant is not needed. Here's my question - are all heat protectants composed of the same basic ingredients? The one I currently use is quite oily because it has argan oil in it, and there are also some silicones in it as well.

this videos just made me feel so much better for never having spending my money on heat protectant

I wonder if you just did a oil if that would protect the hair better

All I wanna know does it make less damage on my hair with heat protectant when I flariron/curl it . Could you please make a video about it ?

that weird moment when you're watching three strings of hair burning in silent

I always heard it burns your hair if it isn’t completely dried when you use flat irons. So should you even dry your hair before styling???

I like the concept of the video but why don’t you try a salon grade heat proctectant? Tresemme and other drug store brands are filled with waxes, fillers and watered down so try a good quality hair product. Probably get a different outcome.

My hair is very healthy. Sometimes too soft & healthy. I only rarely use a heat protectant if it also serves as a hair spray. But it takes the right one and the right amount. I've also had it weigh my hair down & pull out the curl worse than it would with no product.

Yes, I sooo think Chemical hence the word "Chemical" will react with heat you proved me right!!! What about pure organic hair oil? I think of like putting oil in a pan and putting heat cooks the food.. would it not cook your hair? I think good old fashion putting your hairdryer on low heat is what you need. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for your videos lady!!

Thanks for doing these. I was wondering the same thing. Am not a big tool user on my hair, but to know that water can do the same as heat protector. Love ya, keep up the good work.

I do it with water and I never had a problem with it, I just try to oil my scalp a little then spray because the protectant usually adds shine where water is just that. Or you can do it after if you want but generally it's a cheap and basic way to get the job done

I don't ever use hear protestant. I wanted to but keep forgetting to buy. I just use a leave in conditioner and a touch of oil after . My hair still looks great.

Great video! Just be careful with the heat don’t shampoo everyday use good hair products and condition regularly and you’ll be fine without so called “heat protectent".

Before watching this I'd say no due to a hairdressing course I went on many years ago where our tutor taught us to always dry hair before using heated tools. They simply boil the hair from within.

Doesn't surprise me since they make wet to straight straighteners I've used one for years and don't use heat protector my hair is healthy as my friend who always uses a heat protector so I think its personal preference

Milabu I don't use anymore heat protectant and my hair is perfectly healthy, just saying... I only use argan oil and I love more than ever my hair, thank you so much for this video!!

Never used heat protectant in my life, and i always get comments on how silky smooth my hair is. I curl it every second day, but never leave the barrel on long. I dont colour my hair either, but overall, for never using heat protectant, i have very healthy hair.

Letting the heat sit (hair iron, even when blow drying) in same spot will damage your hair. You wanna pass through hair quickly.

Hahaha new business deal. Sell that water! I'd be curious about using an oil or some kind of leave in conditioner.

I’ve never used a heat protectant. I figure if you have conditioned and used some kind of styling product that’s enough protection from heat. Plus you should never use heat on the highest setting. There’s no need.

I dont use heat protector, and blow-dry my hair about 75% of the times I wash my hair. My hair is very healthy.... I dont really know what more to say

You Should recreate this test with the added effect of a microscope - to really show what happens!!

is it possible that the heat protectant evaporated faster, making the hair reach the "dry" state earlier? the hair is no longer protected earlier than it did with the water.

But as the water protects hair until it's dry, wouldn't heat protectant do the same? But it burns faster because it's the quicker one to dry(it's probably with alcohol so it evaporates faster)?

Water took longer to completely burn but I have the impression that the early stages of burning, water hair was darker than the heat protectant...but it can also be just a statistically insignificant difference between them that still doesn't justify buying a heat protectant...

I think the point of heat protectant is to dry the hair faster so that the heat is not on the hair as long. I think the true test would be to test how fast the hair dries with just water vs heat protectant.

I've never used a heat protector. I've always flat ironed or curled with dry hair. My hairdresser has never made a comment about the condition of my hair....

I'm confused now, in the previous test the hair did not change color as quickly and the dry hair burned a lot slower at 600 degrees than with the heat protectant. 😕

you should try an experiment with hair oils and or serums vs dry/wet and heat protectant. i’ve almost always used hair oils before straightening in attempt to kind of “seal in” the oil and i always get shiny and soft hair. as far as damage i haven’t noticed anything to the point of making me stop using it. but i am just curious to see the damage incase i have been causing damage to my hair and it has gone unnoticed all these years. thank you! btw i love this little experiment series! keep it up❤️❤️❤️❤️

Can I use your short hairstyles on my medium length hair? Your hairstyles are very creative! Hope you see my comment! Please like!

As a stylist I find this to be fascinating. I would suggest trying a high end heat protection vs drug store heat protection. See if they are the same or better/worse. What about hair oils?

Is it possible to test how much damage argan oil can cause if used before styling?

Maybe we understand the mechanism of a heat protectant wrong. I guess heat protectant makes your hair straighter at lower temperatures so for example if your hair type needs the applied heat to be 190"C to straighten, with the heat protectant you just reach 150"C and thus less heat more protection. I'm just assuming.

What about coating your hair in heat protectant and letting your hair air dry... then comparing it with dry hair or wet hair w/ HP :)

It’s just I don’t think you can use a flat iron on wet hair

I would like to see a flat iron test. Or a test using oils. Or what IS the best protection for hair

That is naturally STRAIGHT HAIR hmmmmm and it was like a blow dryer, also different hair types won’t really work with water and if you have NATURALLY STRAIGHT HAIR your not going to notice heat damage as fast as a textured haired person

Well, yes, heat is bad for hair. I would be also curious about to compare hennaed hair VS dry and soaked in water hair.

You can't generalise and conclude that because the Tresemme heat protectant doesn't work all heat protectants don't work! Try a more higher end heat protectant and spray it in your hand and then blast the hair dryer on it and see how hot your hand is. Then try is with the Tresemme one and your hand gets hot quickly.

mmmm!! Hello from Puerto Rico (first sorry for my english). I had to travel to Minnesota and stay for one month and I don't had a heat protectant for may hair. For two weeks I had to use the blow dryer and the flat iron without heat protectant!! Believe me, I burned my hair like never I do in my life, and I understode that the heat protectant is very importan for keep my hair healthy. But now I saw this video and I don't know nothing!!

Oh my goodness, so does it work or does it not?? I’m so confused. Can you please do more videos related to this? Love your videos.

I love your channel soooo much my hair is so short and I have learned so many hairstyles from your videos!!!!

Maybe the results depend also on what heat protectant is used?

I would like to see the difference with Heat Protectant and Conditioner and Hair spray .... I condition my hair and use a Hair spray when I style my hair with a blow dryer and metal based brush .... rarely use a protectant ..... Thanks for sharing ...... Hugs ...... Shirlene

Sooo.. not only there is no reason to use heat protectant, but also instead of using hot tools on dry hair, it would actually be better to use them on wet hair? O.o

Cooking oil coats food so it doesn’t burn... I wonder what a hair oil would do? 🤔

I think the idea here is that nothing can protect our hair from heated tools or can they. What about gels, oils or creams?

I use an oil, serum or cream. Sprays do nothing for my hair, in fact it feels drier and gets dirty quicker. My hair is in good condition. I think using a good conditioner makes a lot of difference. Very insightful video 💕💕

I know that heat tools changes the color of hair especially color treated hair. I am curious how heat protectant would play on this experiment. Or maybe water is still going to perform better lol

I stoped using heat protectant years ago. I always felt they left my hair much dryer when used.

What if you use a high end heat protectant? Will the results be the same?

Bless your heart Milana, sounds like you picked up our good ‘ole middle Tennessee allergies since y’all been here. Lol. Mine are horrible at the moment! Gotta love it lol. 😘

Well, I dunno.... I recently bought a heat protectant that I haven’t tried yet. It says it protects up to 450 degrees. I guess anything after that and you’re on your own lol