As much as we love our blow-dryers, flat irons and hot rollers, excessive heat during hairstyling can degrade hair's proteins and make your tresses prone to frizz and breakage. Fortunately, you don't have to give up on your favorite styling tool to nurse your locks back to health. Just check out these "healthier" ways to do it.

Condition and detangle gently

To protect healthy hair from damage, use the conditioner (make sure it's for your hair type) every time you shampoo and detangle wet hair with a wide-toothed comb to reduce breakage.

Use a heat-protectant

Always prep hair with a heat-protective smoothing cream or spray before using heated styling tools. Look for one that contains silicone, which acts as a protective coating for hair.

Dry thoroughly

Hair is more fragile when wet. Towel-dry before blow-drying, and make sure hair is 100 percent dry before using a curling or flat iron. Otherwise, you'd get a lot of steam, which can be very damaging to your mane.

Go easy with the hot tools

To minimize hair's exposure to heat, hold the blow-dryer several inches away from hair. When flat-ironing, quickly pass the straightening iron through hair so that the heat is not concentrated in one area.

Try this heat-free trick to sexy waves

Achieve gorgeous waves sans curling iron or hot rollers: Smooth slightly damp hair with anti-frizz serum at the ends, then divide into three sections. Twist each section into a bun and secure with pins. Sleep on it, then literally roll out of bed the next morning with a head of sexy waves!

Limit teasing

Backcombing creates excessive friction, which can weaken your hair structure and leave hair more vulnerable to damage and breakage over time, so don't do it everyday. To create lift and volume, try a root-lifting product instead.