I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE SOME HELP....

[sweetpeadee]

Good afternoon Ladies,

I have a bit of a problem. I have been natural since December 2004 and did just fine for the first 3 years. Then I got wind of las dominicanas...and all hell broke loose...FOR MY HAIR! You see, in the beginning, I did not apply heat to my hair. I was content with twists and twist outs and didn't really even pay much attention to the length...which allowed it to grow to BSL by 2008! Well, at first it did continue to grow without any damage...but after getting addicted to the look of straight but natural hair and repeated/ back-to-back trips to get blow outs, I have paid the price! As of December 2009, my natural hair wouldn't revert back to the 3C/4A curls I was used to . It was also in December 2009 that I also stopped lurking and joined LHCF!!! I then re-adopted a low maintenance routine (twists, twist outs, buns, kinky twists; wash & DC bi-weekly; CO wash weekly/ as needed; MT on roots 3x week or more; moisture daily) but after taking out my kinky twists (they were getting ratty), I don't see much change! Roots are a bit thicker and hair is a tiny bit longer, but there is still breakage due to the heat damage!

My questions are:

1. Has anyone ever dealt with this problem (breakage/ thinness due to heat damage)?

2. If so, how did you regain health, length, and thickness? (Reggie, products, life style changes, etc.)

The pic is from 3/5/10 (right before I put the kinky twists in--not much change from today 3/31/10). There is also an evolution of my hair album that highlights the heat use and damage:



Thanks in advance!

 

[Triniwegian]

1. Has anyone ever dealt with this problem (breakage/ thinness due to heat damage)?

Sure have, too CHI-happy for a bout a 4 month period.

2. If so, how did you regain health, length, and thickness? (Reggie, products, life style changes, etc.)

Well, my hair never FULLY reverted but it did bounce back a whole lot.
First, don't cut your hair. Instead try to nurture it back to health.
I did some hardcore protein treatments (Aphogee) 2-3 times a week for the first two months, then I continued, and still do, to use a protein treatment as a weekly DC (Palmers Coconut Protein Pak). I made sure that my hair never dried out by co-washing daily and keeping it moist.
I have not re-gained the thickness and body that I used to have but my hair has come a long way, I haven't used heat in about 7 months and I feel like it is safe to use heat again, but sparingly-

 

[bellebebe]

My story is similar but I only got 3 blowouts and then as u mentioned, all hell broke loose. The best thing to do iis to keep the dc and keep it srong with protein. Saty away from the blowouts and keep it simple until things start. Looking good. After, u can jump into growth aids.

 

[sweetpeadee]

oke:oke: bumping oke:oke:

 

[loveisnthehouse]

When I first went natural i didn't use any direct heat for a couple of years. Then, I got straight hair happy and was flat ironing my hair frequently, with a heat protectant. Well, it didn't matter b/c I literally burned my hair STRAIGHT. No curl at all, just bone straight. I haven't cut it off and it is still straight, but it is in good condition. I DCed with moisture and with protein and work a wig for about 5 months and my hair is good as gold. I still have straight pieces, but they aren't breaking or shedding anymore than the rest of my hair.

ETA:
I am now texturized, and when my hair is wet you can see the difference between the two textures, but when you look at my siggy you can't see where the texturized hair ends and the bone straight hair begins.