If I was about to get shipped off to a desert island, I have to admit that one of the many things I’d miss, would be my trusty blow dryer. I know it’s horribly vain, but honestly, a bad hair day is well..not good, and I have annoyingly frizzy hair when it’s left to do its own thing. I am full of Tips For Healthy At-Home Blow-Outs, because I’ve always wished I could be one of those girls who gets out of a pool or shower and allows her hair to air dry into a sexy, tousled mane – that is sadly so not me. To add insult to injury, I tend to mash my face into my pillow at night, resulting in a very bizarre hairstyle upon waking. So I irritatingly have to wash and blow dry my hair almost everyday. It hasn’t escaped my husband’s attention that the Gorgeously Green girl is perhaps using more than her fair share of electricity. He even caught me packing my massive salon-style dryer when we were on our way to an eco-lodge in Mexico.
Astounded, he explained to me that my “turbo machine” would likely blow the resort’s entire generator out. “I’m sure they’ll have one there,” he said as he pulled it out of our suitcase. They didn’t thank you very much, so I had to just go with the flow or the frizz!
However, the thing that really began to worry me about blow-drying was the radiation that a regular dryer emits. When researching for an earlier blog about the dangers of cell phones, it appalled me to find out that the EMF (electromagnetic frequency,) or radiation of a regular dryer is as much that of a microwave oven (standard dryers emit over 200 mG of EMF and a 
microwave emits an EMF of 200mG!). So my morning ritual was tantamount to standing an inch away from a microwave oven (in use) for 15 minutes every morning. This set me on the path to find a hairdryer with the lowest EMF possible.
The first of my tips for healthy at-home blow-outs is to fine the right tool for the job. I’ve tried a few, which honestly, weren’t man enough for the job. I really need to be able to get my hair dry (and it’s thick), in less than five 
minutes, so a waft of warm air doesn’t do the trick at all. Finally, I came across the Barbar Eco800 Blow Dryer, which has helped me cut my drying time in half. It has a ceramic heating element, as opposed to the wire coil element of most dryers, and its 1000 watts feel comparable to an 1800 watt dryer. It emits just 5 mG of EMF radiation, which is a huge improvement from my last model. Although I probably won’t be able to sneak it into the suitcase on our next eco-trip (it’s rather large), I can rest assured that I’m saving energy and not blasting myself with scary radiation every morning.
Finally, while on the subject of frizz, I highly recommend Hamadi Healing Serum. It’s one of the few serums, which actually doesn’t make your hair at all greasy, even if you use too much. It also smells wonderful. Hamadi also makes beautiful hair brushes.
For blow-drying straight, I love the Aveda Ceramic Round brushes, which are made out of recycled materials. They do a fantastic job. If you’re after a good paddle brush, I love the Olivia’s Garden bamboo stripey brushes. I also like the innovative Duet styling brush.
You see – you can still have a glossy, straight, sexy hair-do while maintaining your eco-cred.
I have to say, sophie, I’m rather disappointed to hear that you’re secretly a curly girl and that you find your natural texture “annoying”.
As someone who fought with her hair texture for most her life, I have to say that the most gorgeously green thing you can do is embrace what you’ve been given rather than blow-frying it straight.
To each their own, but I believe you can’t truly be Gorgeously Green without fully accepting every part of you.
If you still feel like your hair “just isn’t like that”, then I recommend Lorraine Massey’s “Curly Girl” and http://www.naturallycurly.com.
Whether you choose to do so or not is entirely up to you (after all, to each her own), but I hope I at least made you think about it, even if for a second.
My Warmest Regards and Many Thanks for your Wonderful Book,
~ I
Isabela
Thanks so much for your reply. If my hair was beautifully curly, I’d truly embrace it, but it’s the frizz element that bothers me. That being said, I do try not to blow-fry it too much, and certainly on my eco-travels, I’m a natural G.G. girl all the way!
Love it! I blow dry as little as possible, but with all the life changes and choices we make in favor of the environment, I believe we deserve to feel as beautiful on the outside as we do on the inside (at least once in awhile). It’s a fine line…let’s walk it in style!
I wish I were as self-actualized as the previous poster, but as a mere mortal middle-aged mom, I’ll settle for my three times a week blow-dry knowing that with the new dryer I am walking more gently on this planet than I was last week.
Can’t wait to try this!
PS – Found the dryer on overstock.com for half price!
My husband makes me go on a family camping trip once a year! NO POWER SUPPLY!!! So for one week every year in May he gets to realise why I spend 10 minutes every morning with multiple huge brushes, velcro rollers and a turbo powered red hot hair dryer one inch from my naturally ugly strawlike fizz. Without that ritual I would be just like a scare crow, and on the ‘fourth floor’ i think you need all the help you can get! BUT, HONESTLY i hate it, I hate the time it takes and as the years advance I seem to put more effort in, for much less in return. The only way to avoid it is a pony tail, yes a pony tail! A day where I am clearly saying to all the other school run mum’s “I simply can’t be bothered today” or “Get me, off to the gym!!” It is a crazy ritual that I would love to give up, but if you were me, you really would know I had a point, as my husband does for one week every May!!
I don’t have curly hair but always wanted it. Isn’t that always the way? I wear my hair shoulder length these days. My husband prefers it long but I just can’t be bothered with all the effort and it’s hot! My prefernce would be to have it short, short or shaved. I hate spending time on my hair. I want to be able to wash it and go. I do blow dry it about twice a week if I am going out somewhere otherwise it just dries naturally.
One of my clients is TryThisTip.com and they do great tips on all sorts of things. In particular they did a great tip on getting body in hair using curl enhancers and the right method by which to use them. http://bit.ly/TTT_onefinehairday