You only get one chance drying your hair, to damage it permanently, so be careful.

Let's take a beautiful sweater, wash it in harsh detergent, use no softener and dry it rapidly on high heat. Wait! you say you would never do that? Great, but that's exactly how many people treat their hair on a regular basis.

It's easy enough, although not inexpensive, to replace the sweater, but hair is a fabric that takes time to replace itself. Hair grows, at the rate of about 1/2" per month on the average, and it takes about six months to get three inches. If it has become extremely damaged, your only choice is to have the damage removed during a haircut. With less damage, deep conditioning treatments with protein will strengthen the hair, and there are serums that will soften and protect strands from further damage.

The best way to prevent damage is to learn how to properly take care of your hair to protect it from becoming damaged.

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1. Wash your hair in warm, not blazing hot, water. No matter how nice it feels on your scalp, the hot water is not healthy for your hair.
2. Use the tips of your fingers and not the nails. Scratching the scalp causes chunks of cuticle to be ripped away, or hair to be pulled from the follicle.
3. Always use a professional shampoo and conditioner on your hair. My favorite products are by Pureology. The products I recommend are especially for your hair type under the current conditions. When your hair changes, as it sometimes does with age or exposure to the elements, your products will likely change. Conditioner is a wonderful thing. It not only lubricates the strands, but also smoothes the cuticle, so that it tangles less and doesn't tear the neighbors to shreds. You see, when the cuticle is flared out, it can catch on the surrounding hairs and literally cut through them . A shampoo brush will help to more evenly distribute the conditioner through your hair - and it feels wonderful.
4. Comb or brush your hair gently using a tool with bristles that are widely spaced. My personal choice is the Centrix III Static Free Paddle brush. Shaped with a slight V in the paddle, you can obtain a gentle bend in the hair normally achieved by using a round brush, but without all the effort and wear and tear on your wrist. The flat paddle part offers a large surface to dry the hair quickly and smoothly. And the static-free plastic control the fly-away hairs.
5. Use medium heat and medium air. Call me Middle-of-the-Road, but I have never found extremes to be good for the hair. Too little air, especially in the beginning, you will work yourself to death; too much air and you'll whip your hair around so much that it will dry out before you can direct it into a style. Then you will have to apply more heat in the form of a curling or flat iron to get it to look right.
6. Try to air dry your hair to the damp stage before styling it with the blowdryer. You will work less and your hair will be better off for it. Know that blowdrying is not the culprit in damage - but rather blowdrying incorrectly.
7. Move the dryer around constantly, and do not allow the tip of the dryer to come closer than 1" from the hair on the brush.
8. Make sure your hair is dry before using curling or flat irons. Never use a flat iron - or any other heated styling iron - on damp hair. No matter where you hear about being able to do this, don't. It causes the moisture in the hair to blister it, which causes weak spots that break very easily. Just don't.
9. Be careful when backcombing your hair. Although it helps puff up flat spots and give height to the crown, when done incorrectly, it also is responsible for the damage you see to your right. The cuticle scales get curled back on themselves, exposing the cortex. A little is okay, but overdoing it will cause hair to appear dull and be fragile.
10. Get your hair cut regularly. Regular trims keep the ends of the hair from fraying and breaking vertically up the strand. And when you are trying to grow your hair out, contrary to popular belief, you will actually realize more growth from getting a small amount cut off, rather than having it break off a little at a time. It also keeps the ends from looking ratty. You know a split end when you see it, don't you?

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Don't throw away your flat irons yet, but we are seeing a return to softer, curlier hair that can be flatironed - or just left to fall softly into its own waves. Here's how to transform your naturally curly hair from your daytime look to an after five look in minutes: Rub a bit of Texture Twist by Pureology between the palms of your hands and then stroke your fingers through your hair, gently separating and defining the locks for a more romantic look.