The secret to long relaxed hair- no direct heat

[Mystic]

DITTO...., on point.

Yes your theory may be right for some people....but i don't think it is the absolute truth for most. The way i see it is 'too much of anything, will damage your hair'. I mean, hair damage happens with REPEATED abuse, not just with one single use of heat or of a product. It goes both ways too...You cant make your healthy overnight, and you also can't make your hair unhealthy overnight... There has to be repeated care to make it healthy, and repeated abuse to make it unhealthy. So with that...I repeatedly care for my hair and give it what it needs. And I also use heat once a week only (after a wash only) so i won't have repeated heat damage.

 

[Candiss]

What prompted me to finally go natural was when my hair was so damaged from heat that it would no longer hold a curl no matter how much heat I used. My hair was thin, too straight and abused. So now I know that if i perm again, not to use any heat. I think that will encourage me to learn how do do a proper roller techniques (with you ladies help, of course). But I know women with permed hair who use curling irons and blow dry all the time with no problems. I guess if just depends on the persons hair. But I do think it would be great to have other choices in acheiving a style other than heat.

 

[DahomeyAhosi]

I never use direct heat and I think it's really helped also.

 

[Tee]

ITA. Before I started doing all this extra stuff, my hair still did fine. I know it was because I never really used heat in my hair.

 

[Syrah]

Some would say so, some would say not. Because there are a few ladies with long relaxed hair who use heat regularly. Stuff like "no heat is the key" makes you look at people who obviously use heat continuously with a beautiful head of hair and wonder "what's their secret". At the same time, if you stop using heat altogether, and your hair doesn't grow, you're going to be looking around like "now what's wrong".

Hell, if heat was so bad, all those years each of us spent letting stylists use those curling irons in the ovens - we'd ALL be bald. Black women would be come the race of baldies HAHA...cuz lord knows we all have used some SERIOUS Heat at one point in time or another.

I'd say the secret to long hair PERIOD (relaxed, natural, died, hennaed, braided etc) is monitoring the moisture balance. When your hair gets dry, regardless of its state and how you styled it, it will snap and break. So the trick comes in avoiding this...and that's the hard part.

You've got to experiment with different products and methods until you can:
a) correctly identify the signs that your hair is dry (not over-conditioned, lacking protein, over-treated with protein etc) ... and
b) know how to nip that dryness in the bud. EFFECTIVELY.

I've found a few products that've worked - but 2 years natural and I"m still learning how to get my hair to RETAIN moisture. And this is the biggest hurdle, we sisters have, when it comes to long healthy textured hair.

 

[RainbowCurls]

I would say the secret to long relaxed hair IS no direct heat.

I could see the splits increase every time I used heat after a trim.

 

[macherieamour]

Some would say so, some would say not. Because there are a few ladies with long relaxed hair who use heat regularly.

I'd say the secret to long hair PERIOD (relaxed, natural, died, hennaed, braided etc) is monitoring the moisture balance. When your hair gets dry, regardless of its state and how you styled it, it will snap and break. So the trick comes in avoiding this...and that's the hard part.

You've got to experiment with different products and methods until you can:
a) correctly identify the signs that your hair is dry (not over-conditioned, lacking protein, over-treated with protein) ... and
b) know how to nip that dryness in the bud.

I've found a few products that've worked - but 2 years natural and I"m still learning how to get my hair to RETAIN moisture. And this is the biggest hurdle, we sisters, when it comes to long healthy textured hair.

Brilliant

 

[sylver2]

Some would say so, some would say not. Because there are a few ladies with long relaxed hair who use heat regularly. Stuff like "no heat is the key" makes you look at people who obviously use heat continuously with a beautiful head of hair and wonder "what's their secret". At the same time, if you stop using heat altogether, and your hair doesn't grow, you're going to be looking around like "now what's wrong".

Hell, if heat was so bad, all those years each of us spent letting stylists use those curling irons in the ovens - we'd ALL be bald. Black women would be come the race of baldies HAHA...cuz lord knows we all have used some SERIOUS Heat at one point in time or another.

I'd say the secret to long hair PERIOD (relaxed, natural, died, hennaed, braided etc) is monitoring the moisture balance. When your hair gets dry, regardless of its state and how you styled it, it will snap and break. So the trick comes in avoiding this...and that's the hard part.

You've got to experiment with different products and methods until you can:
a) correctly identify the signs that your hair is dry (not over-conditioned, lacking protein, over-treated with protein etc) ... and
b) know how to nip that dryness in the bud. EFFECTIVELY.

I've found a few products that've worked - but 2 years natural and I"m still learning how to get my hair to RETAIN moisture. And this is the biggest hurdle, we sisters have, when it comes to long healthy textured hair.

True
Also, most of the time I DO use direct heat.
I only go to the salon for my touchup every 3-4 months and thats the only time i get a rollerset. Other then that I do use direct heat becasue rollersetting my own hair is a pain. I use a comb attached ceramic blow dryer, then flat iron. Retaining Moisture was definate key for me

 

[*Happily Me*]

i've been flat ironing my hair ALOT and i've noticed my hair is very dry and my ends don't look as healthy as b4. my hair is thick and the strands are thick too, but my hair is sooo fragile... it'll feel like straw a day after CON washing

that being said, my hair does better with no heat.