Just whisper the wordsheat damagein a room full of curly girls, and the universal response will be Damn.
Most women with textured hair know from personal experience that heat is a curl killer.
And if you dont know, I truly hope you live in ignorant bliss forever.
Valerie Fischel
I wentnatural10 years ago, meaning I stopped chemically straightening my hair with a relaxer.
My curls were always poppin, shiny, and springy.
As usual, I enjoyed about two weeks of wearing my hair straight before washing it.
Valerie Fischel
And when I did I discovered several spots where the hairs were pin-straight from root to ends.
(I should have known something was up when my silk press lasted that long.)
No matter how many times I shampooed my hair, the ringlets wouldnt reappear.
Cristina Cianci
I had heat-damaged hair.
Cue the chorus: Damn.
I fell into the five stages of heat-damage denial.
Cristina Cianci
Any woman knows that too much heat styling can leave hair brittle and unruly.
But us curly girls have it especially bad.
When you get a blowout, the bonds that make hair curly are relaxed.
Jessica Cruel
That is, unless there’s heat damage.
“The bonds cant be reformed again.
But unlike chemical relaxing, heat damage is spotty and unpredictable.
It was like 15 percent of my hair decided to just take a nap.
Clearly I was being punished for two-timing my stylist.
Your heat tools shouldnt go higher than 450 degrees, she says.
I would not go higher than 400, just to be safe.
There was no denying it: I had entered the dreaded grow-out phase.
Wilkerson agrees that a heat protectant is essential.
But watch out for products that have natural oils as the first ingredient.
They can act like gasoline on a fire.
Natural oils are good for the hair to add shine and moisture.
And if the hair is still damp, you are frying your hair with natural oils.
Instead, use a moisturizing product like thePantene Gold Series Leave-on Detangling Milk($8).
And its important to limit the amount of times you use heat after getting your hair straightened.
Resist that urge to just flatiron around the hairline to keep the style longer.
You have to treat the newly straightened hair as if its got a relaxer.
That means more conditioning and moisturizing treatments.
Nawrot recommends a pre-shampoo treatment like thePhyto Boabab Oil($40).
It also means it might be time to opt for a protective style while your hair grows out.
So, Id just rock a wig until then.
Plus, wearing cornrows underneath would help me protect my hair and avoid causing even more problems.
No one really noticed the difference when I started wearing a wig.
For the first month, I felt like a fiercer version of myself.
Big hair, dont care!
And the cornrows allowed mefreedom to work outwithout worrying about my Afro shrinking down from sweat and constant showering.
I wasn’t going to fight it.
), and I was tired of worrying if mine would fall off.
I haven’t worn it since.
Now, Im just faking the curls by using tiny rollers on the ends of my hair.
I’m biding my time until I can put heat damage behind me, aka on the salon floor.
Suffice it to say, I’ll be going back to my original stylist.
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