I’ve blow-dried my hair almost every day since the seventh grade—that’s almost eight years, since I’m a sophomore in college. I’ve always known that constant blow-drying tended to damage my hair, as did constant product use. Although I’ve tried to be kind to my hair by using heat protectants and restorative shampoo, the negative effects of blow-drying were still evident on my hair. Plus, I’ve dyed my hair a few times, which can be pretty harsh even without bleach.

I used to think that my hair was unmanageable without blow-drying, and that I couldn’t style my hair at all (or hide my cowlick) without blow-drying it into shape. My big problem was really with my bangs—they tended to be wavier than I wanted, and I’m in a transition period with my haircut right now. I’m kind of rocking the brown football helmet while I try to grow out the whole thing, bangs included. Sometimes between haircuts I stray into mullet territory (yikes).

You could say that my hair is kind of damaged from years of product, hot tools, and dye. However, I didn’t feel ready to give up my blow-dryer (at least temporarily) until this past week. At the advice of a friend and the necessity of a late Saturday night, I went to bed with my hair washed, brushed, and damp.

When I woke up in the morning, it was surprisingly manageable. With a little water and a comb, I managed to tame the worst of my tangles and look like a functional human being. First-time luck, I thought. My hair must just be recovering from blow-drying. The next night, I was too lazy to blow-dry my hair, and it turned out much nicer than I expected. So for the rest of the week, I made a conscious choice to only towel-dry my hair.

I did notice a difference after a few days. First, my hair was smoother and silkier. Because I wasn’t exposing it to destructive heat daily, my strands had time to heal. This meant that headbands and ponytails were a little harder to keep in my already-straight(ish) hair. Bobby pins, bobby pins.

I also noticed that my hair had less volume. I have a thick head of hair, so this isn’t a problem for me, and my hairstyle doesn’t exactly require bouffant-level heights, so that didn’t bother me.

Overall, my hair is definitely different now than it was a week ago. I don’t think I’ll start blow-drying again, but I might save it for special occasions when my hair needs to be styled. I feel a little freer with my extra ten minutes a night, and although I might never be Rapunzel, I do think that my hair is a little healthier.