Naturals with Heat Damage but deciding not to cut...

[a_ caribbean_dream]

What do you plan on doing?

I have some heat damage and I am thinking about gradually trimming my heat damage out. The thought of a major cut horrifies me. Maybe after I reach my hair goal-but not just yet.

If you have heat damage (and I'm not talking about just a few pieces in the front) but don't want to cut just yet- how are dealing with your hair now? Are you still straightening?
Have you tried to "revive" the damaged portion?
How are you dealing with the undamaged portion?

Need some advice

 

[Mook's hair]

I don't have any answers for you but I'd like to know how the damaged happened?
What kind of heat - blow dryer , hot comb flat iron or all?
How often were you using heat? Did you do it to yourself or was it a stylist?
what products were you using when applying heat?
How bad is it?

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

I don't have any answers for you but I'd like to know how the damaged happened?
What kind of heat - blow dryer , hot comb flat iron or all?
How often were you using heat? Did you do it to yourself or was it a stylist?
what products were you using when applying heat?
How bad is it?

Well I'm actually kind of surprised I have heat damage-I think it snuck up on me. I thought I had extremely resilient coarse natural hair that could be straightened frequently without damage.

I have tried to pin point when it happened this year- but I really can't say.

Late last year, and at the beginning of this year I started letting a stylist in my church flat iron my hair BONE STRAIGHT. I loved the results. Very silky-shiny-hair flowing in the wind results.

I went to her salon with my hair already washed and detangled with conditioner in it. All she was left to do was : rinse, blowdry with comb attachment and with a very hot 1 inch flat iron. She meticulously took my hair in tiny sections and straightened it.

Around june of this year, I decided to start straightening my own hair.
(I have straightened my hair about 4 times this year, twice with the stylist and twice myself) I also want to mention that looking back on my fotki I can notice extreme heat damage in May of this year before I decided to straighten my own hair.

Here's what I did:
I washed my hair with biosilk shampoo and conditioner then blowdried. Before blowdrying my hair with my andis ionic ceramic, I used CHI silk infusion and lightly sprayed fantasia IC heat protector. I tried to use these products lightly because as I have observed more product= less movement
The flat iron I used is called HerStyler and is goes up to 400degrees. I don't ever remember using it that high..

How bad is it?
I think its pretty bad. I would say the last 5 inches of my hair are damaged and I have very thick roots.

I hope I answered all of your questions.

 

[Irresistible]

you can transition heat damaged hair the same way you would out of a relaxer

probably faster and easier even

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

you can transition heat damaged hair the same way you would out of a relaxer

probably faster and easier even

Irresistable, could you please be more specific?

 

[aja1121]

The last four inches of my hair are heat damaged. I'm trying to reach MBL and then I will cut to BSL and maintain that length until it is all gone. If I wanted to wear my hair straight all the time, I wouldn't mind the heat damage because it would only be noticeable when wet. I like the versatility of my natural hair and I can't stand the different textures. It drives me crazy.

 

[BillsBackerz67]

Irresistable, could you please be more specific?

the heat damaged ends on your natural hair would be equivalent to the relaxed straight ends of a person who is transititoning. Treat ur hair as if ur transitioning out of a relaxer. If the ends arent breaking horribly then I would cut oFf an inch or two every 4 months until the damge is gone.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

The last four inches of my hair are heat damaged. I'm trying to reach MBL and then I will cut to BSL and maintain that length until it is all gone. If I wanted to wear my hair straight all the time, I wouldn't mind the heat damage because it would only be noticeable when wet. I like the versatility of my natural hair and I can't stand the different textures. It drives me crazy.

Thanks for your response.

How are you dealing with the undamaged part of your hair?
Are you wearing your hair mostly straightened or curly until you reach MBL? And how are you dealing with the different textures?

 

[TrustMeLove]

Most of the styles I wear don't necessitate my hair to be 100% natural. I usually wear twist or flat twist or slightly stretched hair that I pin up in certain styles. So if my hair gets heat damaged I will just work around it. I don't wear wash n go's anyway because it causes too many knots and tangles.

I would be just fine with my heat damage hair. I realized that I want a lot of hair before I want 100% natural hair. That doesn't mean I'm ever going back to chemicals, but a little loser texture due to straightening isn't going to phase me one bit.

 

[truequeen06]

I have heat damaged natural hair, which has resulted in three different textures. My roots (about 5 inches stretched) are all my natural texture, my ends are bone straight (about 4 inches) and the middle is more wavy ( about 7 or 8 inches stretched). The different textures aren't too bad on my hair if I wash n go. My ends are just straight, so I usually scrunched them with ic fantasia gel (after I've moisturized and sealed). I usually use a head band, and then you can't see the curlier new growth. Other than that, if you aren't really ALL in my hair, it's hard to tell I have heat damage because I wear buns all the time. I still straighten my hair now, but I use a lower heat setting on my flat iron and make sure i use a silicon based heat protectant / serum and apply liberally. My hair still comes out straight, but it's without the heat damage. Once I reach hip length, I'll start cutting off an inch every 2-3 months to get rid of the heat damage while still maintaining my goal length.

 

[Muse]

Well I'm actually kind of surprised I have heat damage-I think it snuck up on me. I thought I had extremely resilient coarse natural hair that could be straightened frequently without damage.

I have tried to pin point when it happened this year- but I really can't say.

Late last year, and at the beginning of this year I started letting a stylist in my church flat iron my hair BONE STRAIGHT. I loved the results. Very silky-shiny-hair flowing in the wind results.

I went to her salon with my hair already washed and detangled with conditioner in it. All she was left to do was : rinse, blowdry with comb attachment and with a very hot 1 inch flat iron. She meticulously took my hair in tiny sections and straightened it.

Around june of this year, I decided to start straightening my own hair.
(I have straightened my hair about 4 times this year, twice with the stylist and twice myself) I also want to mention that looking back on my fotki I can notice extreme heat damage in May of this year before I decided to straighten my own hair.

Here's what I did:
I washed my hair with biosilk shampoo and conditioner then blowdried. Before blowdrying my hair with my andis ionic ceramic, I used CHI silk infusion and lightly sprayed fantasia IC heat protector. I tried to use these products lightly because as I have observed more product= less movement
The flat iron I used is called HerStyler and is goes up to 400degrees. I don't ever remember using it that high..

How bad is it?
I think its pretty bad. I would say the last 5 inches of my hair are damaged and I have very thick roots.

I hope I answered all of your questions.

I see that you used heat protectant but when the stylist did it did she use a heat protectant too? Did she use a ceramic iron or one of those marcel irons?

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

Trust Me Love- that's an interesting way of looking at things. I never thought about it from that perspective. I also agree with you about the washngos- my hair + thickness/texture is TOO much to pull those off anymore. I wind up losing a lot of hair.


Truequeen- I think my new growth is very noticeably different from the latter portion of my hair. I also wanted to take the approach you mentioned: waiting for goal length then cut off gradually.
When you straigthen you hair do you go over your new growth more with the flat iron and less on the heat damaged portion?
Also what heat protectant do you use?

 

[nappystorm]

I had extreme heat damage about 2 years ago. I put in some braids for about two months and my hair finally reverted when it took the braids down.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

I see that you used heat protectant but when the stylist did it did she use a heat protectant too? Did she use a ceramic iron or one of those marcel irons?

All she used to straighten my hair was the CHI silk infusion bottle I brought with me to her salon.

She used her 1inch ceramic flat iron. (Come to think about it I can remember the plates being a little dirty) I can't exactly remember what it was called. PRO something I think.

*This also leads me to question whether this CHI product really is a heat protector...

 

[nappystorm]

Trust Me Love- that's an interesting way of looking at things. I never thought about it from that perspective. I also agree with you about the washngos- my hair + thickness/texture is TOO much to pull those off anymore. I wind up losing a lot of hair.


Truequeen- I think my new growth is very noticeably different from the latter portion of my hair. I also wanted to take the approach you mentioned: waiting for goal length then cut off gradually.
When you straigthen you hair do you go over your new growth more with the flat iron and less on the heat damaged portion?
Also what heat protectant do you use?

That's the truth!!!

 

[truequeen06]

When I got the heat damage, I was using Tressame. I didn't realize it at first, but my flat iron laughed at it. Now I use this product called Silk Drops by Special Effects. Technically it doesn't say it's a heat protectant, but after reading up on heat protectants and serums, this product doubles as a heat protectant. My new growth is just as healthy as ever after flat ironing and washing (no heat damage) The ingredients are: Cyclomethicone, Dimethiconol, Tocopheryl Acetate (vitamin E), Pathenol (Vitamin B5), Retinyl Palmilate (Vitamin A), Silk Protein.

In terms of how I flat iron, I can usually go over twice and get the heat damage portion straight and the new growth semi straight. After I've flatironed, I go over my roots with an electric hot comb. That's the only way I can get them straight.

 

[luxe.li.]

So how do you know you have heat damage? Can you tell by what happens to your hair when you wash it, or can you tell that your hair is heat damage by how it looks when its straightened?

 

[yuriko]

To tell you the truth, I am not sure that you have heat damage. When I was natural, I never, and I mean never used heat. I wore my hair braided or cornrowed most of the time, and I had the exact same issue with my hair. It was curliest at the roots, wavy at the middle and almost straight at the ends. My hair naturally loosens up as my hair gets longer; I think its just part of my hair's natural aging process. So please be sure its heat damage before you start sniping away, as you may find out that it may grow back and be exactly the same.
And BTW, I highly doubt that pressing hair four times, will result in permanent heat damage

 

[truequeen06]

So how do you know you have heat damage? Can you tell by what happens to your hair when you wash it, or can you tell that your hair is heat damage by how it looks when its straightened?

You can't tell until you wash it.

 

[carib_n_curly]

i have heat damage ugh

it's this salons flaut i went there and she hot combed my hair BIG MISTAKE.my hair frizzes up a few hours after. a week later i washed my hair and the curls on one side of my hair was gone

i paid her to burn my hair.

i rarely use any heat ever that's what i'm angry about

this happened last september 2007.i've been growing it out since that i haven't trimmed it but next year and going to start
i have between 5-9 inches of growth some part grow faster than others.

the heat damage is on one side of my head at the front and i few strands at the back.
i have some pic in my fotki of my heat damage.

i've just been transitioning from heat damage since
you can tell it's heat damage cause your curls are either looser or like moi wavy to straight but it still frizzes and afros up so you wouldn't know unless my hair was wet and the rest of my curl can hide it if i put my hair in certain ways i'm glad my hair is thick.

 

[Muse]

All she used to straighten my hair was the CHI silk infusion bottle I brought with me to her salon.

She used her 1inch ceramic flat iron. (Come to think about it I can remember the plates being a little dirty) I can't exactly remember what it was called. PRO something I think.

*This also leads me to question whether this CHI product really is a heat protector...

Yeah I was wondering about that stuff. I have never used it though.

 

[Millahdoowop]

I have nothing to add, but I personally couldn't do it. I tried to hold onto my ends and transition from my damaged hair, but I got hella frustrated. I cut two times before I decided to cut the remaining hair off with a final cut. It's almost back to it original length (from when I cut the second time), but I figured I would just cut it all off instead of taking my time to do it.

 

[Millahdoowop]

And BTW, I highly doubt that pressing hair four times, will result in permanent heat damage

It took one time for me.

 

[carib_n_curly]

It took one time for me.

same here
ONE PRESS that's all it took and some of my curl became dead straight and won't not and still doesn't curl back.
i rarely use heat btw meaning 2 or 3 times a year

 

[Carrie A]

Can someone post a pic of heat damaged natural hair? Do you still have a fotki OP?

 

[Libra08]

I have heat damaged hair at the ends also. I don't plan on cutting them until I reach my goal of either WL or Hip Length. Then I will cut off half an inch every three months. My hair is mostly blow dried straight or I rollerset it so it's not big deal for me. The only problem I have is keeping those ends strong and split free.

 

[Evolving78]

i think your best bet would be to just dc often, stay away from heat, and just trim ever so often. if i were you, i would wear buns, or natural phony ponies until i got to the length where i was comfortable to cut it off. now i had heat damage and i just cut my down to a fade. i know you don't want to go that route, so just keep your new growth moisturized and everything will be ok. stay away from the heat!

 

[Evolving78]

I have nothing to add, but I personally couldn't do it. I tried to hold onto my ends and transition from my damaged hair, but I got hella frustrated. I cut two times before I decided to cut the remaining hair off with a final cut. It's almost back to it original length (from when I cut the second time), but I figured I would just cut it all off instead of taking my time to do it.

It took one time for me.

it took one time for me too. my hair looked like Michael Jackson from the "Thriller" days.
i had to cut that stuff off, since my natural hair styles didn't look right anymore. i'm too scared to mess with heat now.

 

[a_ caribbean_dream]

Can someone post a pic of heat damaged natural hair? Do you still have a fotki OP?

Well after a debate with my father. I am no longer sure if my hair is heat damaged and looking over my fotki I have noticed this trend with my hair. My father says that as hair gets longer the ends becomer thinner and trimming keeps it healthy. (you would think he was a member of this site! lol)

Anyway here are some recent pics.

 

[anniev2]

You can't tell until you wash it.

How does washing identify the heat damage?