Lylddlebit
Well-Known Member
It's a common consensus that after you have straightened your hair and washing it does not revert parts to it's natural state that you have heat damage, or that your hair has been heat trained. For longer than I can remember(even before hair boards) I heard it called that, and referred to it as that myself but I am coming to believe this assessment is incomplete and here is why:
After I wash and style my hair I have a hair ball of shed hair that I keep until I wash my hair again and get a new hair ball. In the time period that I keep this hair I play with it, see if it floats in water, stretch it until it breaks, test products on it, test the heat of my pressing comb/flat iron on it, stretch it to just before breaking etc. I will use this hair ball to expereiment whatever comes to my mind before and during my next styling session.
What is interesting to me is the just before breaking stage. The strand that demonstrates this is relatively healthy, if it wasn't It would break at it's weakest point instead of stretching and allowing me to play with it. If I take a strand of hair between my thumb and index fingers of each hand and pull the ends of hair in opposing directions it will stretch quite bit before breaking. This stretched piece of hair will becoming a bit finer in thickness of strand. It will become shinnier, it will become smoother as it stretches, it will feel as smooth as silk all without breaking if I stretch it to it's just before the breaking point. What this strand of hair will also do is refuse to revert, no matter how much water, conditioner, oil or other susbstance I put it in. The stretch is permanent, no heat required. The hair looks good it feels good and it may even have some elasticity(not as much as before I stretched it) left in it before it actually breaks. The strand is also noticeably longer than it would be if it were simply straightened and not manually stretched. I think this detail also can tie into "I straightened my hair after a month and it grew 2 inches" statements but I don't want to digress too far from the point.
Going back to "heat damage"... The last time you thought your hair was heat damaged did you use any form of tension or stretching during the straightening process.? How did you run the comb through your hair? How did you run the brush through your hair? Did you pull your hair as you straightened it? Was your hair taunt as it was being straightened? Did the back of the presing comb put any level of stress on that strand to smooth it out? Have you ever found straightened strands and used no heat at all, yet the stands were physically stretched? (Rhetorical Questions)
We all know heat has the potential of adverse effects, but in assessing your straight strands it may be wise to look beyond the heat to determine where the "damage" really came from. Your hair just may have been "stretched just before breaking", that level where your hair will not revert because it has been "stretched to no return". The heat may make that easier to do this unconsciously but it's not necessarily the bottom line of why your hair isn't reverting.
What do you ladies think? I know this may not ring a bell with everyone, and I am by no means an expert but i know my hair is capable of being "stretched just before breaking" with or without heat. Maybe yours is too. Do you think about why you hair does what it does beyond the "go to" answers?
After I wash and style my hair I have a hair ball of shed hair that I keep until I wash my hair again and get a new hair ball. In the time period that I keep this hair I play with it, see if it floats in water, stretch it until it breaks, test products on it, test the heat of my pressing comb/flat iron on it, stretch it to just before breaking etc. I will use this hair ball to expereiment whatever comes to my mind before and during my next styling session.
What is interesting to me is the just before breaking stage. The strand that demonstrates this is relatively healthy, if it wasn't It would break at it's weakest point instead of stretching and allowing me to play with it. If I take a strand of hair between my thumb and index fingers of each hand and pull the ends of hair in opposing directions it will stretch quite bit before breaking. This stretched piece of hair will becoming a bit finer in thickness of strand. It will become shinnier, it will become smoother as it stretches, it will feel as smooth as silk all without breaking if I stretch it to it's just before the breaking point. What this strand of hair will also do is refuse to revert, no matter how much water, conditioner, oil or other susbstance I put it in. The stretch is permanent, no heat required. The hair looks good it feels good and it may even have some elasticity(not as much as before I stretched it) left in it before it actually breaks. The strand is also noticeably longer than it would be if it were simply straightened and not manually stretched. I think this detail also can tie into "I straightened my hair after a month and it grew 2 inches" statements but I don't want to digress too far from the point.
Going back to "heat damage"... The last time you thought your hair was heat damaged did you use any form of tension or stretching during the straightening process.? How did you run the comb through your hair? How did you run the brush through your hair? Did you pull your hair as you straightened it? Was your hair taunt as it was being straightened? Did the back of the presing comb put any level of stress on that strand to smooth it out? Have you ever found straightened strands and used no heat at all, yet the stands were physically stretched? (Rhetorical Questions)
We all know heat has the potential of adverse effects, but in assessing your straight strands it may be wise to look beyond the heat to determine where the "damage" really came from. Your hair just may have been "stretched just before breaking", that level where your hair will not revert because it has been "stretched to no return". The heat may make that easier to do this unconsciously but it's not necessarily the bottom line of why your hair isn't reverting.
What do you ladies think? I know this may not ring a bell with everyone, and I am by no means an expert but i know my hair is capable of being "stretched just before breaking" with or without heat. Maybe yours is too. Do you think about why you hair does what it does beyond the "go to" answers?
All I know is that any rough treatment of your hair (i.e. rough combing shampooing, heat styling, strong chemicals or tension styling) has the tendancy to weaken the hair strand, which in turn can be the cause for breakage. 
Definitely an interesting theory. I haven't tried to see if it would revert either..I always just toss it with the rest of the shed hairs...
