While it may look harmless, this beauty tool is actually one of the most dangerous things (for long hair at least) in your bathroom. "While people understand that a flat iron is hot and they shouldn't leave it on their hair for five minutes straight, with a blowdryer, people just dry and dry and wreck their hair," says Van Clarke.

Dryers can be safe, if you use them properly. First, ditch the nozzles: "They triple the amount of heat on a section and it actually melts the hair," he says. We repeat, it melts your hair. There's no coming back from that ladies — once your hair is melted, there's not a leave-in treatment in the world that's going to repair it. So, put down the nozzle and pick up a diffuser instead: Because these spread out the heat, there's less of a chance you'll singe your strands. Van Clarke also says you should never touch the dryer to your hair and should always stop blow drying when your hair feels dry to the touch. "Unless your hair is going from super-frizzy to poker straight, does it really matter if that last two percent dries on its own?" he reasons.

Photo: Courtesy of T3