Can heat trained natural hair still grow really long?

B

BadMamaJama

New Member
I've seen 4a/b's grown really long hair natural, with no or very little heat and I've seen relaxed heads grow really long hair also, with the theme being no heat. I'm wondering if there are any heat trained natural's who can still hit long hair goals using heat.
 
And a member here has had great progress too. I believe her name is Brittany. There's a long thread on it and she has a YouTube.

Sent from my iPhone 4s
 
BadMamaJama said:
I've seen 4a/b's grown really long hair natural, with no or very little heat and I've seen relaxed heads grow really long hair also, with the theme being no heat. I'm wondering if there are any heat trained natural's who can still hit long hair goals using heat.
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I think so. Before I came to LHCF I was always stuck at SL but after learning what my hair needs to retain what I grow, I'm about to hit BSL and my long term goal is MBL-WL. So if you've got a regimen that fits what your hair needs then I think so.:yep:
 
BadMamaJama said:
Wow! Her hair is crazy! But I have to wonder if she's the exception more than the rule.
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Me and her have the same hair texture but I doubt I could heat train and have long hair. It actually depends on how fine or thick/coarse your hair strand is.
You can be 4a/b with fine hair and your hair doesn't take heat without breaking and splitting. But another person with 4a/b hair with coarse strands might retain length better with using heat.
I think my hair strands are average, but I find heat is no good for my hair.
 
Thank you! I'm tired of wearing twists and braids. I'm ready to start wearing my hair straight but only if I can make sure it's still going to grow.
 
LHDC2011 only used heat once per month for the majority of her journey. She used to blow out her hair before getting it braided and kept it braided for about a month. So she wasn't using a lot of heat in order to train her hair. So I guess heat training doesn't necessarily mean using an "unhealthy" amount of heat.

Maybe you can try using heat once per month and then assess your hair's health.

GL!
 
The one mentioned lhdc blow dries her hair once a month and flat irons occasionally keeping her hair straight for A Month or more with one flat iron and no touch ups of heat in btw and does not flat iron monthly so I think its something anyone could adopt if they wanted as she practices low manip and washes once a month. otherwise she is in braids or buns.
 
im 4b...and seem 4a some areas .any way i have fine hair.can break for nothing sometimes .flat ironning.always gives me.breakage...even though ive prepared it.before. the best thing my hair likes is:

- wash once à month (co.wash or water rinse between that period )
-blow dry per sections once à month .
-low manipulate or protective style.

my hair loves blow dry...but seems To hate flat iron.i.still flat.iron like 3 or 4 times à year .

my hair is the best it has ever been with blow drying in my regi
 
When I was a "heat trained natural" in the 90's my hair never grew past shoulder length, and it was a very thin shoulder length too. I use heat on very few occasions now, and I notice a difference in my health afterwards. I really believe some hair just doesn't like heat, so it all depends on what your hair can tolerate. Some ladies can relax, bleach, blow dry and flat iron, my hair won't tolerate any of it.
 
Hmmmm. Thanks ladies. I honestly have seen more relaxed ladies who can get their grow super long that ladies who press or flatiron. I think I'm going to start training my hair with my blow dryer, that way I can get a straightish look without damaging my hair.
 
BadMamaJama said:
I've seen 4a/b's grown really long hair natural, with no or very little heat and I've seen relaxed heads grow really long hair also, with the theme being no heat. I'm wondering if there are any heat trained natural's who can still hit long hair goals using heat.
Click to expand...

As others have mentioned, I'm sure it depends on how well your hair tolerates heat. If your hair gets super dry/brittle whenever you apply heat, you're just not going to adopt that as a method for growing out your hair to great lengths.

And honestly very few people who set really long hair growth goals (IMO "really long" means WSL or longer) ever actually attempt to do it with heat. Most people start out saying "OK I want to grow to WSL/HPL/whatever, I'm going to have to protective style, deep condition, eliminate/reduce heat...." They never even consider using heat regularly as part of their regimen, they just assume it will make things too difficult or will be completely prohibitive to reaching their goals. I'm sure that has something to do with why there are only a handful of examples compared to other regimens.
 
diadall said:
Does heat trained mean you cannot wear it curly or kinky curly?

When it gets wet its stringy, right?
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Not necessarily. "Heat trained" is a pretty general term, mostly meaning that your hair texture is loosened/stretched out as a result of using heat over time. It can be just a little, or it can be way looser depending on your hair and what you do to it. Whether or not you "can" wear it curly depends on if you like how it looks when it's wet, basically.
 
nappystorm said:
I would say yes. Most of the BW I know IRL with MBL+ hair are all press and curl girls.
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nappystorm

ITA - before joining hair forums, I'd never seen relaxed, thick BSL or longer hair. Everyone I knew IRL with long hair were press n curl naturals.
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I do not consider blow drying/flat ironing once a month to be "heat training". Allandra, BostonMaria and a slew of other longhairs on this board use heat once a month, or so. As do LeobodyC5 and most of the YT'ers I'm subscribed to.

To be honest, the "heat once or twice a year" regimen seems to be followed by more women with BSL or shorter hair. Very few long hairs appear to be terrified by moderate use (once a month) heat.

I use heat on my hair and my DD's hair whenever we feel like it - could be 3 weeks or maybe we'll go 8 weeks without heat. I've seen no difference in the health/length of our hair one way or the other. We do bun 95% of the time, however. Even when we go out with it down and straight, it's bunned and scarved as soon as we get back home.
 
BadMamaJama

I'm still transitioning, but I began my transition with relaxed SL hair. I'm now 90% natural and have grown out to MBL. Allandra transitioned with a press every 2 weeks, but now she flat irons once a month, IIRC. LeobodyC5 transitioned for several years and always used heat. She's now HL/TBL.

So no, I don't know why anyone would NEED to wait for a length goal, if your hair is strong. If your hair can't tolerate heat, it will simply begin to break after you've reached your goal and begin to use heat.
 
I have decided to heat train, i am 4b/c and my hair breaks sooo easily, it has tons of ssks, and does not keep moisture (even when i deep condition, hot oil treat, or co-wash). I have been flat ironing and i am so happy i finally am retaining length i do about 5 passes and i will flat iron every 2-3 weeks, once my hair is "trained" i will reduce to once every month or so. I have been stuck at APL(grazing BSL) even though i have been natural for almost 9 yrs (im 23 yrs old), and i REALLY wish i started this before now, i was just so deadset aganist heat, and just assumed it would make my hair suffer....i will post pics as i reach my goals.
 
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