Is heat truly a killer of long hair?

[calliope]

My MIL is white and she flatirons her hair every single day. When she came to visit this past summer, I began noticing what seemed like thousands of broken-off pieces of hair all over the house. When she left, the amount of hair that I found was astounding- there were even a couple in the fridge! Forget about the guest bathroom- I could have formed a baseball with what I found in there. I just breathed a sigh of relief that it was all her and not meerplexed . Excessive heat, on any head, is bad.

 

[Blossssom]

I've actually noticed some benefit to using med to low heat for touch ups. My hair is softer and shinier when I use low heat. I do have to use a higher temp when I first straigten my hair but after that, only med to low.

Thank you!

THANK YOU!

I ain't never givin' up my heat! LOL!

 

[Blossssom]

I feel you on everything but the halfway bonnet thing. Sounds good but I sleep wayyyyy too crazy...lol

Actually, I tie my bonnet down with a scarf! LOL!

It's not a satin scarf, either, but since the scarf doesn't touch my hair who gives a damn!

 

[Blossssom]

See, I can't do that. My tangles will never come out. My hair ties itself into really tight knots within hours. I guess it's because my hair is fine. I usually have to sit and carefully loose out the knots with my fingers, just like I'm untying shoelaces, before I comb.
If I leave my hair until next wash day I'd have to cut all my hair off to get the tangles out.

Check it out, check it OUT! Your hair is gorgeous too, SC! Whew!

Yea, I'm not big on tangles... I oiled my hair real good tonight, though. I will wash on Saturday.

Don't want my head stankin'!

That "Dirty" thread had me rollin'!

 

[Blossssom]

Thanx so much for this thread, I am constantly debating this myself lol, I am transitioning 3b/c hair and i am able to go totally strait and silky with heat alone but i still get dryness tho my hair is naturally dry so im still worried abourt cuticle damage, becuz i must use heat at least once a week.....

Aw... you're so welcome... yea, the heat debate is nothing new. I seldom see supporting comments about heat but everyone (AS IT'S BEEN SAID!) has to use their own discretion.

Like the young lady who said her nape area can't tolerate heat. My mother is the same way. Thank God I didn't inherit that from her

 

[Blossssom]

My MIL is white and she flatirons her hair every single day. When she came to visit this past summer, I began noticing what seemed like thousands of broken-off pieces of hair all over the house. When she left, the amount of hair that I found was astounding- there were even a couple in the fridge! Forget about the guest bathroom- I could have formed a baseball with what I found in there. I just breathed a sigh of relief that it was all her and not meerplexed . Excessive heat, on any head, is bad.

Are you sure the hairs were broken and not shedded? You know there's a difference.

Your hair looks good, Calliope.

 

[FlowerHair]

I think white people who straighten their hair daily only need around 10-15 mins to straighten with a brush and a blow dryer or even with a flat iron. For me, it takes around 45 min - 1 hour which makes it more damaging for my hair. Plus, I need more heat!

Most white people in Sweden do not use heat daily though. I think people are more "styled" in the US. Here it's natural and frizzy all the way (For me too)

 

[Blossssom]

I think white people who straighten their hair daily only need around 10-15 mins to straighten with a brush and a blow dryer or even with a flat iron. For me, it takes around 45 min - 1 hour which makes it more damaging for my hair. Plus, I need more heat!

Most white people in Sweden do not use heat daily though. I think people are more "styled" in the US. Here it's natural and frizzy all the way (For me too)

Because of the texture (obviously) whites probably don't need as much heat.

It takes me less than 20 minutes to just "shape" my ends with next to no heat.

 

[chiprecious]

LocksofLuv, I think you hit it right on the nail! THe relaxer by itself is soo strong and to add consistant heat and even sometimes color and less washing and moisture is our downfall.

About the other races, some people will argue that our air is "weaker" by nature, becuause of the makeup of the protein of the strands. I don't know about that, but I think the fact that we relax plays a BIG deal in it.

 

[chica_canella]

Blossssom, hey

The problem is that the people who you're referring who have type 1-2 hair have oily hair and scalp. Look at the shaft of their hair: It's straight, making their natural oils easier to go down the shaft.

Us 6F types are not that lucky. We have a hair pattern with kinks, coils, and waves that make it very harder for our natural oils to travel down the shafts, resulting in dryer hair.

Hope I am making some type of sense

I completely understand.

 

[firecracker]

Interesting post up in here. One minute I want straight and the next minute I want carefree curly. Whats a girl to do?

I miss relaxed straight hair but then again I think about the 2 plus hours it takes to do it and say oh heck no.

I wish I could do my own hair as well as Sylver does her's but since I can't outside of a good rollerset I'm stuck like Chuck.
Sylver your an inspiration.

 

[KiSseS03]

Yep! At least for me it it. Two years ago when I was relaxed the SINGLE thing that turned my hair around for the better was completely giving up heat. Now that I'm natural I don't feel the need to use heat and my hair is very healthy.

 

[kbragg]

It's not the heat that's a problem, it's the lack of MOISTURE that causes breakage. Also another thing is using heat on dirty hair. If you use heat every other day, but only wash twice a month and never deep condition, don't moisturize daily, never do a protien treatment, and comb through your hair from roots to ends (instead of small sections from ends to roots) you WILL experience breakage. The heat is not the issue, it's the other bad hair habits people have that go with it. So often in life we look for one single thing to blame for our problems, but usually it's a combinition of simple errors in judgement compounded over time that create the end result.

Heat is not the issue, your habits are. Cahnge your habits, change your life.

Check out Cathy Howse's book: www.ubhpublications.com She talks about using heat, the correct way to do so, along with washing the hair every 3 days and deep conditioning every time. Check out my siggy pics. Yes the homemade MTG was a cotributing factor, but it was also a combination of deep conditioning, moisture, protien, brushing ONLY into my bun or ponytail instead of the entire length of my hair, and getting a satin pillowcase. I made the choice to change my habits and my hair is thriving!

PS: I also prayed over my hair and believe this to be the biggest contribution of them all!


.

 

[navsegda]

It's not the heat that's a problem, it's the lack of MOISTURE that causes breakage. Also another thing is using heat on dirty hair. If you use heat every other day, but only wash twice a month and never deep condition, don't moisturize daily, never do a protien treatment, and comb through your hair from roots to ends (instead of small sections from ends to roots) you WILL experience breakage. The heat is not the issue, it's the other bad hair habits people have that go with it. So often in life we look for one single thing to blame for our problems, but usually it's a combinition of simple errors in judgement compounded over time that create the end result.

Heat is not the issue, your habits are. Cahnge your habits, change your life.

Check out Cathy Howse's book: www.ubhpublications.com She talks about using heat, the correct way to do so, along with washing the hair every 3 days and deep conditioning every time. Check out my siggy pics. Yes the homemade MTG was a cotributing factor, but it was also a combination of deep conditioning, moisture, protien, brushing ONLY into my bun or ponytail instead of the entire length of my hair, and getting a satin pillowcase. I made the choice to change my habits and my hair is thriving!

PS: I also prayed over my hair and believe this to be the biggest contribution of them all!


.

Thank you. I agree with everything you said here, especially the bolded part. Also, I plan on buying a satin pillowcase soon.

 

[kbragg]

Thank you. I agree with everything you said here, especially the bolded part. Also, I plan on buying a satin pillowcase soon.

Yeah girl, I had too! I can't keep a scarf on for nothing unless I tie it tight and it still rides up and rubs my edges Same thing with satin bonnet. Plus I can't stand the forehead lines from the elastic that don't go away until noon!

.

 

[pistachio]

As for the "women of other races" issue, one has to keep in mind that they usually wash their hair every other day, if not every day. Therefore, they're taking away the dirt,and putting the moisture back onto their hair that otherwise would damage hair if not freshly shampooed and conditioned. I use a blow-dryer on the lowest speed, and setting, and it takes a bit longer to dry, but at least my hair dries smoother versus not using one at all. Then i set my flat-iron the tenth setting(iron has settings 1-25), and my ends come out flawless! I think it has to do with me doing the baggie method to grow my hair, but since I wash,a dn deep-condition my hair frequently, my hair can take heat.

 

[navsegda]

As for the "women of other races" issue, one has to keep in mind that they usually wash their hair every other day, if not every day. Therefore, they're taking away the dirt,and putting the moisture back onto their hair that otherwise would damage hair if not freshly shampooed and conditioned. I use a blow-dryer on the lowest speed, and setting, and it takes a bit longer to dry, but at least my hair dries smoother versus not using one at all. Then i set my flat-iron the tenth setting(iron has settings 1-25), and my ends come out flawless! I think it has to do with me doing the baggie method to grow my hair, but since I wash,a dn deep-condition my hair frequently, my hair can take heat.

Very well said! I never use the turbo setting on my BaByliss Thermal Ionic Dryer and prefer not to use the high as much. Since it's ionic, I can use the low setting and still get my hair dry quickly. Today I'm gonna try using the cold shot button and then letting my Solia do the rest (since it can be used on damp hair).

 

[pistachio]

Very well said! I never use the turbo setting on my BaByliss Thermal Ionic Dryer and prefer not to use the high as much. Since it's ionic, I can use the low setting and still get my hair dry quickly. Today I'm gonna try using the cold shot button and then letting my Solia do the rest (since it can be used on damp hair).

Same here! The "cold shot" button on my dryer is my new friend!!!

 

[calliope]

Are you sure the hairs were broken and not shedded? You know there's a difference.

Your hair looks good, Calliope.

Thanks girl, I'm trying
As for her hair, I'm not sure...'ol girl does have a lot of split ends. The pieces varied a lot in length so I' m not sure - but gosh if there weren't so many.