lesser evil? texturizer or flat iron

[Rachel]

I want to know which is the lesser evil - flat ironing natural hair once a week or getting a texturizer and avoiding heat?

 

[missyT]

I would say that texturising is the lesser evil if you're gonna be flat ironing every week. But I'm sure you know, flat ironing and texturising produce different looks, so it depends on what look your're going for. If you're going to be texturising and flat ironing on top of that weekly, you could argue that less heat would be used to get the hair straight but remember you're adding heat to already weakened hair.
It really depends on what look you are going for?
NB/ You can get texturised looking hair using gels etc on natural hair.
That is just my two cents.

 

[kristina]

Is this really an either or proposition? Meaning do you think you can say reduce flat ironing to say once every month or every other week and just bun or wear updos or other styles inbetween? As far as whether one is worse, my two cents is it all depends on how your hair handles chemicals and if the texturizer allows you to reduce the need to manipute and use heat. Some people seem to have the best curls ever while others say that the texturizer didn't change their texture enough to make their hair wash and go. Last summer I pressed my hair at a salon every 1-2 weeks. It looked fabulous but I noticed it got a lot thinner by end of august. So I'm guessing that is likely true for frequent flat ironing (to be fair though, I knew nothing of hair care and my hair was super dry). If you decide to get a texturizer make sure you do a strand test to ensure that your strands can take it. I once had a texturizer put in by a stylist who didn't do a strand test and my hair fell out in clumpy chunks- breaking off near the top of my head! Not to scare, just as a cautionary tale to be very careful if you decide to texturize.

 

[Rachel]

It's not so much the texture of the hair I'm worried about it's more the manipulation and long term health. I used to texturize/relax my hair and had no averse effects. I thought that natural hair would give me even healthier hair, which it has, but I have to flat iron my hair to wear it down.
My grandmother used to press her hair every two weeks for nearly 30 years, and swears by it. She had waist length hair. I've gotten into the habit of flat ironing my own hair every 1-2 weeks, but I'm wondering if I'm doing more damage this way, than if I were to just texturize it again.

 

[Champagne_Wishes]

I think the texturizer is the lesser of two evils, depending how fine or coarse your hair is.