Flat Irons and Healthy Hair

[NuMe2004]

I have a question: I stopped getting relaxers last February and have been dealing with two different textures now that my new growth is coming in. I currently have about four inches of virgin hair and I have been fortunate enough not to experience any breakage. I think that's because when I did get relaxers I only used no-lye child perms, and my natural texture therefore isn't that far from my relaxed texture. Anyway, what I wanted to know is whether or not flat ironing my hair once a week can cause me to lose the length I've accomplished and am trying to maintain. My hair is approx. 3 inches above my bra strap and I want it to reach the bottom of the strap. I wash my hair twice a week and air dry it one of those times. The second time I wash, I give myself a hot oil treatment. This consists of sitting under the dryer with the oil in for about 15 minutes. Then I rinse any excess oil out of my hair and apply a heat protecting straightening balm before drying my hair under a hooded dryer. Once dry, I spray a heat protectant on each section before straightening my hair with a ceramic iron. The only heat I use is the flat iron once a week, because I like to wear my hair down on the weekends. The rest of the week I wear my hair up in a bun and I coat the ends with oil. Do you think I should reduce the flat ironing to once every two weeks, or is once a week okay??? I'm good at protecting my hair otherwise, and do not want to ruin my chances of having three inches of new length by August. Please help!!

ps. I also trim my ends once every eight weeks.

 

[atlantatiffany]

i really think the weekly flat ironing might be damaging in the end. i use to have a similar regime to u when i was transitioning, but i noticed when i didn't flat iron my hair was even healthier. everybody hair is different and u seem to have a great regime. have u thought about rollersets, they really work great for my hair. maybe u could flat iron every 2 weeks.

 

[Isis]

Welcome NuMe2004!

Sounds like your hair has been doing great since you started transitioning! I too want to suggest rollersets to straighten your hair. My hair is relaxed but it works very well for me.

 

[sillygurl18]

Welcome to the board!!!

 

[Bobbie]

NuMe2004, by any chance, you don't go to Nu Styles in Sunnyvale do you?

Just wondering...

 

[lunalight7]

Perhaps you can just flat iron the new growth after rollersetting every 2 weeks?

 

[NuMe2004]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. To answer Sillygurl18's question, no I don't go to any salon. I don't trust hairstylists so that is why I've been trying to come up with a regime that I can handle on my own. However, I wouldn't mind going to a salon if I found someone I could trust and who was into hair health and not just hair styling. Is Nu Styles a shop you would recommend for maintaining healthy hair??

 

[SingingStar12]

Welcome to LHCF!!