I'm just gonna do it: Who wants natural, heat-stretched hair?

Do you want heat-stretched natural hair (Loss of kinky curl pattern?)

  • Yes, I hate to admit

    Votes: 115 43.1%
  • No

    Votes: 152 56.9%

  • Total voters
    267
See. That's what I keep hearing from so many ladies with natural hair. Those knots are just like split ends- even worse. And they end up either breaking off or you have to cut them off.:sad:

I must be the only natiral who doesn't have this problem. Is this something that happens once your hair is long? I have tangles and a few knots here or there, but it's never bad enough to bother me. My hair is SL-CBL stretched. Hmm...
 
Oh man. Your hair is so beautiful! I just want to squeeze it.:lachen:

OP, if I ever decide I want to wear my hair straight most of the time (way down the road), this is the road I'll take. It won't loosen my kinks (I flat ironed all through my transition and never had heat stretching/damage), but that's fine. I just don't ever see myself going back to chemicals.

I say do it if you want to! Some people just have hair that can take a lot of heat. Do your proteing treatments and regular deep conditions and you will be fine. :yep:

Thanks! It's good to know that I'm not alone :)
 
They used to call this training hair. Who knew it was "bad" back then. It was a goal. My hair was of course the longest and prettiest ever back then when it was pressed bi-weekly. Now I'm confused because I don't want to damage my hair.
 
I have friends with natural hair that they press regularly. All of their hair is long, one reason I will always feel that regular pressing of natural hair is still healthier than relaxing, it's just a little more work. All of their hair is basically "trained" or heat stretched. It's loosened their curls, some have like a frizzy curl look. But they can definitely coax it into a decent little wash n go.

ITA with the bolded statement, I flat iron regularly and it has not disturbed my curl pattern (don't want it to--love my texture) or heeded my retention. Like others have stated, if you are going to use heat regularly you need to be consistent with keeping your hair protein/moisture level well balanced. Good luck
 
I must be the only natiral who doesn't have this problem. Is this something that happens once your hair is long? I have tangles and a few knots here or there, but it's never bad enough to bother me. My hair is SL-CBL stretched. Hmm...

Lucky you! Actually, I didn't start to experience the knots until my hair reached about APL. I am now at bra-strap length, and the knots are a little bit of a problem. A very irritating problem. Hopefully, they won't happen to you.
 
I must be the only natiral who doesn't have this problem. Is this something that happens once your hair is long? I have tangles and a few knots here or there, but it's never bad enough to bother me. My hair is SL-CBL stretched. Hmm...
thats a good question.I don't think I've ever had knots.I detangle well when my hair is in its natural state and I break it down into smaller pieces so that I can work with it better. I also slather on the conditioner if it even acts like it wants to tangle.I wonder if its technique?
 
thats a good question.I don't think I've ever had knots.I detangle well when my hair is in its natural state and I break it down into smaller pieces so that I can work with it better. I also slather on the conditioner if it even acts like it wants to tangle.I wonder if its technique?

OT, your hair straightens so prett and silky! Are you 4a or 4b by chance?
 
I must be the only natiral who doesn't have this problem. Is this something that happens once your hair is long? I have tangles and a few knots here or there, but it's never bad enough to bother me. My hair is SL-CBL stretched. Hmm...

I don't have that problem either - but I use a LOT of conditioner, and I detangle throughly every time I take my hair down/out - I think a lot of bad knots are made worse by 'loose' shed hair getting caught up in them.

I dunno. My hair is about the same length, stretched.
 
it sounds like a lot of work, especially for the first few months of "training", and all the extra treatments you have do. it does sound interesting, but i dont have the time or patience or feel-like-it to do all that. rather just relax, wash, moisturize, go.
 
My hair is "heat-stretched" by mistake. Check out my fotki, I did a before and after comparison. I have a significant texture difference, I don't love it, I want the option to wear my hair kinky or straight. Now when I don't straighten, my only option is a bun. Some of my ends are bone straight and I have been natural for 6 years.
 
I must be the only natiral who doesn't have this problem. Is this something that happens once your hair is long? I have tangles and a few knots here or there, but it's never bad enough to bother me. My hair is SL-CBL stretched. Hmm...


Once I hit APL it was knots galore!!!!
 
Oh man. Your hair is so beautiful! I just want to squeeze it.:lachen:

OP, if I ever decide I want to wear my hair straight most of the time (way down the road), this is the road I'll take. It won't loosen my kinks (I flat ironed all through my transition and never had heat stretching/damage), but that's fine. I just don't ever see myself going back to chemicals.

I say do it if you want to! Some people just have hair that can take a lot of heat. Do your proteing treatments and regular deep conditions and you will be fine. :yep:

Thanks!!! I was looking at your hair and thinking that we have similar textures. YOur hair is so fluffy and pretty.
 
I don't see anything wrong with using heat, I went about 5 years without using heat and noticed no difference in my hair, my daughter gets her natural hair pressed once a week or bi-weekly and still has nice curls when washed! I guess it is all in how you take care of your hair and the technique that you use & the right products!!!
 
I feel you on that. I haven't paid anyone for a relaxer in 2 YEARS!!! And it feels GREAT!! :lachen:Well, just continue to stretch and see what happens. And in between straightening, try to wear protective styles as much as possible. But right now, in the summer, you may have issues with reversion of your new growth since it's not "trained" yet.

Your twistout is gorgeous!!!! I love it:yep:
 
Just wanted to post my experience on heat-stretched natural hair.

I went to the salon to get my hair pressed about 2 weeks ago. I am natural and my curl pattern was a tight c-napp curl/ 4z.

She pressed my hair, and I washed it a couple days later (I only straightened due to pressure form my family, we had this shindig that they wanted me too look acceptable for lol) and my hair just weird now. I have some completely staight pieces that look like relaxed hair, some wavy pieces, and some 3c, and some 4a. No strands curl as tight as they used to.... I've washed my hair 3-4 times since then, so I think its here to stay. :ohwell:

I used to wear WnGs all the time, no headband or scarf needed, now I can't.... I just look crazy.

My younger sister had gotten a press from the same lady a few weeks prior and she since gone back to wearing here hair curly and it looks exactly the same. So you never know how its going to turn out.....

I'm thinking about getting a relaxer and cutting it short a la Rihanna (before the toupe).... I'm not too mad about it, because I was getting bored with my natual hair anyways and was ready for a change.
 
OMG i watched that one. Its one of my favorites. its hilarious but it was canceled on the first season. in that scene the guy is in love with himself so much and he was trying to impress a girl. its called "kare kano" for short.


Thanks for the info:grin: I didn't know the name of the anime, but when I say that clip I was rolling and I really had to turn it into a siggy. LOL

I found the episodes on this site: www.animefuel.com
 
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**Standing up and clapping for this thread**

Im a PROUD fan of heat stretched hair :grin:

I admit that I get irritated by all the rhetoric saying that naturals who have heat stretched hair have unhealthy and damaged hair. I feel that heat stretched is an option just like texlaxed, relaxed, or natural...its all a continum and all methods that we as black women can use in order to achieve styles that we feel comfortable with and fit with our lifestyles and views. Im glad to hear about all the ladies on the board who have friends and family members with beautiful, healthy, long heads of natural but heat-stretched hair. I understand that it may not WORK for everyone...but thats nothing new. There is not ONE SINGLE thing that everyone can do anyways...thats why there is diversity on the board....ALL of our hair is different....some people cant do relaxers, some people can do texlax, some people refuse to deal with their natural texture...the board is about finding what works for YOUR HAIR and what makes YOUR HAIR healthy and happy.

So with that said, to the OP my hair is currently heat stretched and I LOVE IT!! No my coils are not as tight all over as they once were but thats okay with me. With the looser curls (some of the 4a are still 4a, some are more 3c ish, some are waves, some is frizz, my front is almost completely straight...but always has been..its definitely a mix)...but I embrace all of it and here are the benefits that I find.

1) It no longer takes me over an hour to detangle my hair enough to put it in a ponytail. I can now do it in like five minutes or less.

2)It no longer takes me five or six hours to do my two strand twists. I can do them in like 1-2 hours now.

3)When Im wearing my hair natural, my hair shows much more length. It also has a lot less bulk.

4) I can still wear wash and gos. I just do a modified version, where I wash, twist, and go.

5) If I want to wear a puff, I just wear my afro phony pony...it has perfectly uniform curls.

6) When I get my hair pressed, it lasts 2-3 weeks and doesnt take as long to do.

7) My hair gets washed and co-washed a lot more often since it takes much less effort to detangle and style.

Although, there are moments that I wish my coils were all perfect and the way they used to be...those moments are few and far between. I can still wear my hair both ways (coily and straight) with it being heat stretched. I feel that with anything you are going to have trade-offs and you can truly never have the best of both worlds. In my opinion, having heat stretched hair is definitely worth the trade offs of not having super tight 4a coilss. Once I get to BSL, I plan to move to a regi similar to pinkskates and straighten once or twice a month and keep my hair strong with protein and moisture.​
 
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Thanks for this thread OP. I have heard it from both sides of why or why not to use heat on natural hair (once I'm all the way there).

From friends who are completely natural and never or hardly ever straighten, they are usually "scared" to ever wear their hair straight because of the fear of losing their coils. I'm sure that fear is real, but just like I don't want to be stuck with a relaxer, I don't want to feel like I'm "stuck" with just wearing my curly hair.

I also have friends that are completely heat streched and love it. They admit that their hair doesn't coil back up completely, but for them it seems okay. As a matter of fact one of my friends has never had a relaxer in her 25 yrs on this earth and she wears her hair straight 99% of the time. The couple of times I've seen her with it curly, it was really pretty.

All of my friends (kinky naturals and heat stretched) have APL or longer healthy hair. The heat stretched girls are like BSL-MBL. They were my inspiration for even thinking about going natural.
 
hey i jus had a flashback! i remember when i very first went natural (back in hs). i got it pressed once, and all of my hair went back kinky, except for the 4a-ish section in the back of my head, and no matter what i did, it wouldnt revert. one time my stupid self tried to straighten with just a super hot curling iron:blush: lol, so that part got bonelaxed while the rest of my hair reverted back, so i have a feeling doin the heat stretched thing wouldn't work
 
FAMU makes a great point. I don't want to be a prisoner to natural hair just like I don't want to be a prisoner to relaxers. I'm entering month 13 of my transition and I know for a fact that I do not want to relax again but I love a head of healthy straight hair too.

So I've come to the conclusion that if I can't have my cake and eat it too (swithching bw naps and straight hair without damage) then I'll just be a natural who presses regularly and accept the consequences. At least I won't be a slave to my hair.
 
I like having options. I like wearing my hair in its natural curly state and I like being able to wear in straight by using heat.
 
My hair is "heat-stretched" by mistake. Check out my fotki, I did a before and after comparison. I have a significant texture difference, I don't love it, I want the option to wear my hair kinky or straight. Now when I don't straighten, my only option is a bun. Some of my ends are bone straight and I have been natural for 6 years.

Thank you for directing me to your Fotki. That's similar to what my friend's hair looked like. I could deal with that :look:
 
**Standing up and clapping for this thread**

Im a PROUD fan of heat stretched hair :grin:

I admit that I get irritated by all the rhetoric saying that naturals who have heat stretched hair have unhealthy and damaged hair. I feel that heat stretched is an option just like texlaxed, relaxed, or natural...its all a continum and all methods that we as black women can use in order to achieve styles that we feel comfortable with and fit with our lifestyles and views. Im glad to hear about all the ladies on the board who have friends and family members with beautiful, healthy, long heads of natural but heat-stretched hair. I understand that it may not WORK for everyone...but thats nothing new. There is not ONE SINGLE thing that everyone can do anyways...thats why there is diversity on the board....ALL of our hair is different....some people cant do relaxers, some people can do texlax, some people refuse to deal with their natural texture...the board is about finding what works for YOUR HAIR and what makes YOUR HAIR healthy and happy.

So with that said, to the OP my hair is currently heat stretched and I LOVE IT!! No my coils are not as tight all over as they once were but thats okay with me. With the looser curls (some of the 4a are still 4a, some are more 3c ish, some are waves, some is frizz, my front is almost completely straight...but always has been..its definitely a mix)...but I embrace all of it and here are the benefits that I find.

1) It no longer takes me over an hour to detangle my hair enough to put it in a ponytail. I can now do it in like five minutes or less.

2)It no longer takes me five or six hours to do my two strand twists. I can do them in like 1-2 hours now.

3)When Im wearing my hair natural, my hair shows much more length. It also has a lot less bulk.

4) I can still wear wash and gos. I just do a modified version, where I wash, twist, and go.

5) If I want to wear a puff, I just wear my afro phony pony...it has perfectly uniform curls.

6) When I get my hair pressed, it lasts 2-3 weeks and doesnt take as long to do.

7) My hair gets washed and co-washed a lot more often since it takes much less effort to detangle and style.

Although, there are moments that I wish my coils were all perfect and the way they used to be...those moments are few and far between. I can still wear my hair both ways (coily and straight) with it being heat stretched. I feel that with anything you are going to have trade-offs and you can truly never have the best of both worlds. In my opinion, having heat stretched hair is definitely worth the trade offs of not having super tight 4a coilss. Once I get to BSL, I plan to move to a regi similar to pinkskates and straighten once or twice a month and keep my hair strong with protein and moisture.​

AMEN!!! Thank you for posting this and thank you for being so honest! :urock:

I agree with everything you said.
 
When I reach my goal (MBL) I want to wear my hair straight more often too. (This thread is right on time)

But until that happens I'm going to for settle for getting it flat ironed once a month.

Before I go to the salon next week should I do a light protein

and a deep condition? And should I take my moisture block with me?

I just don't want to walk away with heat damaged hair.

Any suggestion for a pre-salon visit will be helpful. I still haven't found a stylist that I "trust" yet.
 
Thanks for posting! I enjoyed reading this. We all have to find a medium for whatever we want our hair to be or look like. It's our perrogative (sp) after all not anyone elses. I agree whole-heartedly with everything u said:yep::yep: :grin:

**Standing up and clapping for this thread**


Im a PROUD fan of heat stretched hair :grin:

I admit that I get irritated by all the rhetoric saying that naturals who have heat stretched hair have unhealthy and damaged hair. I feel that heat stretched is an option just like texlaxed, relaxed, or natural...its all a continum and all methods that we as black women can use in order to achieve styles that we feel comfortable with and fit with our lifestyles and views. Im glad to hear about all the ladies on the board who have friends and family members with beautiful, healthy, long heads of natural but heat-stretched hair. I understand that it may not WORK for everyone...but thats nothing new. There is not ONE SINGLE thing that everyone can do anyways...thats why there is diversity on the board....ALL of our hair is different....some people cant do relaxers, some people can do texlax, some people refuse to deal with their natural texture...the board is about finding what works for YOUR HAIR and what makes YOUR HAIR healthy and happy.​

So with that said, to the OP my hair is currently heat stretched and I LOVE IT!! No my coils are not as tight all over as they once were but thats okay with me. With the looser curls (some of the 4a are still 4a, some are more 3c ish, some are waves, some is frizz, my front is almost completely straight...but always has been..its definitely a mix)...but I embrace all of it and here are the benefits that I find.​

1) It no longer takes me over an hour to detangle my hair enough to put it in a ponytail. I can now do it in like five minutes or less.​

2)It no longer takes me five or six hours to do my two strand twists. I can do them in like 1-2 hours now.​

3)When Im wearing my hair natural, my hair shows much more length. It also has a lot less bulk.​

4) I can still wear wash and gos. I just do a modified version, where I wash, twist, and go.​

5) If I want to wear a puff, I just wear my afro phony pony...it has perfectly uniform curls.​

6) When I get my hair pressed, it lasts 2-3 weeks and doesnt take as long to do.​

7) My hair gets washed and co-washed a lot more often since it takes much less effort to detangle and style.​


Although, there are moments that I wish my coils were all perfect and the way they used to be...those moments are few and far between. I can still wear my hair both ways (coily and straight) with it being heat stretched. I feel that with anything you are going to have trade-offs and you can truly never have the best of both worlds. In my opinion, having heat stretched hair is definitely worth the trade offs of not having super tight 4a coilss. Once I get to BSL, I plan to move to a regi similar to pinkskates and straighten once or twice a month and keep my hair strong with protein and moisture.​
 
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