One hundred percent protection from heat damage with protectant products simply doesn’t exist. Period. Many flat and curling irons can reach excesses of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no way to prevent that kind of heat from causing some form of damage to your hair. Paula Begoun said it best, “Could you imagine protecting skin from that kind of heat with a hair-care product?” Right…it’s not gonna happen.
So, please my curly divas, heat style with caution- definitely utilize a heat protectant, but know that you’re not completely protected. Also, use the coolest temperature possible to achieve results, and don’t pass the iron through each section of your hair more than once. And the most important tip- save heat styling for special occasions, it shouldn’t be your go-to hairstyle on regular days. Take it from a past abuser…heat is nothing to play with.
Later,
Nik
I guess someone has never heard of Sabino? 🙂
Anonymous, although my sister’s hair is what we’d consider healthy (i.e. not breaking, not splitting, maintaining length), if she decided tomorrow that she wanted to wear her hair ‘curly’ she couldn’t. Her hair is permanently straightened from 15 years of bi-weekly pressings. The only kink in her hair is at the roots, and she’d have to transition to wear her already natural hair, curly. A heat styler has to be willing to accept the fact that patches of her hair may or may not curl back up when she re-wets it- which is a big deal if you like your curly hair. I never had straight pieces…just breakage and splits.
If you decide to use heat, just make sure that you DT often, and never touch up dirty hair.
hth
Hi Nikki,
You did a feature on your sister who wears her hair natural but straight..in my opinion her hair did not look damaged at all..how would you account for that? I am just curious to know if heat damage is really just a result of using heat on your hair often or just how you maintain the health of your hair.
I never had issues with heat-straightening but that was because 1) I only did it once or twice a year, NEVER for any particular special occasion because I believe my natural hair is special enough for any occasion and 2) I always worked with the coolest temperatures possible. Now this was before all these fancy flat irons and heat protectants were around…at the end I was doing rollersets under the hood dryer followed by flat-ironing in order to minimize the amount of heat I used. This was late 2003, right before I locked.
Even though I’ve been back to loose hair since mid-2007, I have not straightened it. In fact I avoid heat completely and my hair has never been healthier. Consequently, until they come up with a way to temporarily straighten hair without chemicals AND without heat that doesn’t involve taking a pill or changing my DNA, air-dried rollersets are as close to straight hair as I’m gonna get. lol
I agree 100%. Heat styles should be done at a minimum on curlies.