Any Naturals afraid to use heat

[laurend]

I want to straighten my hair because I haven't done it since 1997 but I'm afraid to do it. I had a bad experience when I went to the Egyptians in Chicago and my hair fell out after being blowdried. I found a lady who says she can do it and a couple of people have recommended her but I'm kind of nervous about getting it done. If I had pinkskates skills I would do it myself but I'm not that talented in the styling department. Does anyone here feel the way I do? - or am I being paranoid?erplexed

 

[tinkat]

Youre not the only one. But I know that I can get great advice on here when I am ready to use heat. I have not used heat on my hair since august, and that was to blow dry my hair...But other than that a flat iron has not touched my hair since I was relaxed. I have worn sewins for so long, my hair just needs a break period. I am on the Bootcamp challenge so I won't use any heat for the whole year.

 

[NewYorkgyrl]

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I had a very very very bad experience at a salon I went to in Philly (even though it was recommended on this board).

A section of my hair will not, I mean WILL NOT revert back. It won't even frizz (even my relaxed hair had the ability to frizz)

I wish I would have never been tempted to straighten it. I'm scared Sh**less. I don't know if I can go through that anxious and paranoid state again while I am in the chair...and then only to be in tears after.


Go with your gut feeling. Even if you are in the chair and she is about to proceed....if you get a bad feeling RUN!!!!!!!!!!!

See if u can go to the salon when it is not so busy so that u can sit and talk with her about your concerns. And try to see her do someone's hair (A NATURAL HEAD THOUGH).



I think if I get the courage (and funds $$$) I want to try Anthony Dickey for a hair cut....I heard he straightens the hair to do this. He is raved about on this board too. But right now I am just too scared.



GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

 

[laurend]

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I had a very very very bad experience at a salon I went to in Philly (even though it was recommended on this board).

A section of my hair will not, I mean WILL NOT revert back. It won't even frizz (even my relaxed hair had the ability to frizz)

I wish I would have never been tempted to straighten it. I'm scared Sh**less. I don't know if I can go through that anxious and paranoid state again while I am in the chair...and then only to be in tears after.
Go with your gut feeling. Even if you are in the chair and she is about to proceed....if you get a bad feeling RUN!!!!!!!!!!!

See if u can go to the salon when it is not so busy so that u can sit and talk with her about your concerns. And try to see her do someone's hair (A NATURAL HEAD THOUGH).



I think if I get the courage (and funds $$$) I want to try Anthony Dickey for a hair cut....I heard he straightens the hair to do this. He is raved about on this board too. But right now I am just too scared.



GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

Thanks for your advice. I will go for a consultation and watch what she does before I let her handle my hair. I understand what you are talking about my hair fell out in bunches and my DH was in a state of shock. I had to wear braids for 6 months and I didn't have this wonderful website for support. You were on your own in the 90's.

 

[JustKiya]

Terrified.

Scared to get a flat iron, scared to sit under a blow dryer, scared, scared, scared. Mainly because my hair is in SUCH good condition now, that if ANYTHING happens to it (and there is so MUCH potential for something to happen!!) I'll - well, I'd be REALLLL hot at myself for doing something I know isn't in the best interest of my hair.

*sigh* I don't know. Maybe after five years growing, or something.

 

[TrustMeLove]

Me too. I haven't used heat since I stopped relaxing 3 years ago. I haven't even used a blow dryer. Since my hair is longer I realize I don't have really thick hair. Some sections get really straight just by putting it into a pony tail. And when I think about the idea of being relaxed and running a relaxer over that part..I'm like wow straightening over kill.

Anywhoo..I'm not in the market for straightening my hair anytime soon. And when the day does come I will be doing it myself. (I was really really really good at styling and doing my relaxed hair. And since my hair was thin I was good at adding pieces of hair for thickness and curing and styling well.

But, right now in my journey, I am not looking to straighten my hair. I am focusing on learning some BOMB hairstyles with my hair, at it's current length, and making people take a second look when I come around. Like wow..her hair is nice.

Not, because I am looking for attention, but people around me seem to dog nappy hair. Seriously. Like grown women don't rock natural hairstyles and if you do see them it's always in a fro and that's it.

 

[Cheleigh]

I'm am TERRIFIED. I started to straighten my hair back in December-I did two small sections with a heat protectant. It took about three conditioner washes to get those sections back to normal.

I'm starting to suspect that my fine strands are very receptive to heat, and will be easily heat damaged. The flexirod sets with heat seemed to be fine, so I'm just going to have to stick with that for a while. I would be devastated if I lost my curls.

 

[CocoGlow]

I too am extremely terrified of heat from flat irons, blow dryers & straigthening combs....I have no problem sitting under a hood dryer but I have not done so thus far in my natural journey....

My hair is very dense but my strands are fine & very FRAGILE! They will break if you stare at them long enough ......so I am not even going to attempt it w/ heat. I know that plently of women on this site have excellent tips for DIY heat styling but I KNOW my hair & she aint havin' it!

Not only are my napps very fragile, but they are very DRY....I love to wet my napps daily, either by rinsing or spritizing which would defeat the whole purpose of straigtening it w/ heat! The heat just zaps all the moisture out of my hair which would be very detrimental, and make my napps very unhappy

Another issue I have w/ using heat to straighten is the fact that you need to use a heat protectant ....the best ones contain silicones and I cannot use silicones on my hair b/c I do not use shampoo or other harsh cleansers on my hair and my gentle cleansers cannot get rid of cones....also, cones block out moisture so I would not be able to moisturize my hair fully after straightening even if I wanted to....

Now I stretch my hair naturally w/ braids/twists or by the banding method...in the future, when my hair gets longer, I'll venture into rollersets, straw sets, etc and will either air dry or sit under the dryer on LOW....I will still be able to moisturize my hair and if the curls drop I'll just have a nice happy moist curly fro!!!

NappyRina

 

[Cichelle]

I am. I want to try blowing it dry or using a flat iron, but I keep putting it off because if I damage my hair I will be so upset. I've probably read one too many story about someone frying off their hair. My hair is healthy now and I really want it to stay that way. I might work up the nerve to straighten it eventually, though. I'd like to see what it would look like.

 

[dynamic1]

I get tense thinking about it, and I will not use it unless I know I am trimming cutting in '08. A flat iron over knots = a hair cut anyway.
I will do flexirods under the dryer on low heat but may do a flat iron with a ton of protein, protectant and hope when it gets trimmed.

 

[Sunshine0801]

I am, but partially because I am still learning about the proper ways to use heat (and there is so oh much to learn )!

Plus, I personally would only be interested in flat ironing my hair if it is WL or longer. I am at BSL now, so I will take the time in the next few months to educate myself about safe heat usage.

Since I have been natural, I have never used a flat iron or pressing comb. My hair is currently the longest that it has ever been. I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious to see how it looks straight.

Once I do straighten it, I think I would probably only do it rarely (as in once a year), because frequent heat usage is damaging no matter how well you do it.

 

[DMJ's Mom]

ME!!! I never had any bad experiences yet but in my mind its only a matter of time til i do. Ihaven't used any kind of heat on my hair in well over a year and its thrived and though I know its not likely I'm scared if i use it my hair is going to dry up and start breaking like a straw.

 

[Crystal]

Does anyone here feel the way I do? - or am I being paranoid?erplexed

Nope, you're not paranoid at all. I went natural June 06. I wear weaves and the little part that I leave out I flat iron and it's definitely a different texture than the rest of my hair. It's all straight and limp while the rest of my hair is all kinky and curly.

I'm a weave junkie though. I thought about moving my part but then that part of my hair would get damaged too so I just deal with it because I'm hooked on the weaves.

But you're definitely not paranoid. Heat can damage natural's hair.

 

[kweenameena]

I get the itch to straighten sometimes but I've really damaged the front of my hair with heat before so that's a no-go for me

sitting under a hooded dryer is the closest I'll get to heat.

 

[hothair]

I was -but after some protein based DC treatments I straightened and coloured my hair within a week with no adverse results so I got it mildly texlaxed and had to colour again cause of my roots (all this within 6 weeks) I gelled and straightened but did not mess with my protein treatment- and my hair is just fine- I think everything done in moderation is ok- also make sure you up your protein as it seemed to help me regain my curl faster/ better.