by
The Natural Haven
Do you know that girl who can comb her hair aggressively with a fine tooth comb, bleach it before placing her flat iron at the highest temperature and yet still have a beautiful full head of hair on her head? Hair is very specific to each individual and what works for one person can be a poison chalice for another.
Every single time you apply heat, your hair becomes damaged. This also applies when you assume the best precautions (i.e conditioning hair first so it can be softer, using an appropriate heat protectant, using the least amount of heat with the fewest passes possible and not using heat repeatedly in a short period).
The type of damage hair has to sustain as a direct result of heat includes:
– loss of water from the hair shaft
– restructuring of the protein within the cortex
– damage and loss of amino acids (mainly tryptophan) within the cortex (J Cosmet Sci, pp15-27, 2011)
– possible surface damage to the hair cuticle (J Cosmet Sci, pp13-27, 2004)
The first two on the list are generally reversible once the heat is removed and hair is washed. However, the second two are permanent imprints. In order for hair to be heat-treated and remain on your head for years after, it must be able to withstand this damage.
There are those of us, who know without doubt, heat is not for us. This is usually characterized by experience with breakage during or immediately after even the tamest heat session. Which naturals need to be weary of heat? Here are the three key indicators
1. Fine individual strands.
Let me go on the record and say that hair in general is not inherently weak. A single strand of my own very fine hair has carried around 80 times its own weight! The issue with fine hair is that it simply breaks easily when stressed (Arch Derm Res pp 499-505, 2007). The process of heat straightening will require stretching and combing in addition to the actual effects of heat on the hair strand. This all creates a storm for fine hair which is less likely to withstand the stress. The finer your hair, the more cautious you should be with heat especially if you fall into the next category too.
2. Kinky hair
Kinks and curls are two different things. Kinks in hair represent a point where hair is stressed and much like fine hair, this also means that kinky hair is more susceptible to breaking. If you have ever seen those tiny wisps of hair (little c-shaped coils) on your clothes or floor when combing, it is likely that you have kinky hair and should be wary of heat. If you have very kinky hair but have never seen those wisps, then it is likely that you have thick individual strands and you may be ok with heat.
3. Bleached and Permanent Hair Colour (not henna)
The process of bleaching or giving hair permanent colour causes significant damage to the hair cuticle and cortex. While some can still straighten their color-treated hair without ill effects, if you happen to also have fine individual strands and kinky hair in addition to the bleach/colour, then you should be very careful when applying heat to the mix.
Ladies, do you fall into any of these 3 categories? What is your stance on heat?
35 Responses
All three apply to me. My hair isn’t the healthiest but I have no problems with heat. I don’t straighten my hair often, and when I do, I see no difference in the number of split ends and dryness than if I had let it air dry curly. The key to keeping your hair healthy if you fall into these categories is not to avoid heat completely but to be cautious when using heat.
My hair hates heat. I’ve come to terms with it. I can stretch mine with perm rod settings. Denial cost me too much.
I don’t think my hair is fine but it is definitely kinky! I wonder if that makes your hair more susceptible to single strand knots too because I get those really often….but yeah this is a good article. However….sometimes I just want straight hair too! I like the feel, swing and look of it every now and then : ) But I’ve been good…heatless for the last 6 months! And I do admit it has done great things for my curls and length retention. Still, I can’t wait till I work up the nerve( and energy ) to straighten it again just to get a good sense of how much longer my hair has gotten : )
I was learning about heat recently and hadn’t noticed whether I had kinky or curly hair. It’s actually a mix of 3c/4a so it’s kinky coily. Some sections straighten right out with no issue and good heat barrier and others take a few passes. I think if you don’t detangle very often you will see a lot of c-shaped coils on the floor, but then I figure shedding isn’t necessarily a deal breaker for heat. I haven’t used heat on my hair in 8 months but I’m not faint a blown-out Fro. I love them, I just say be careful and when you head to the salon for that trim, ask someone who can actively look at your scalp what the best options are 🙂
*not against a
What are the various hair types? How can I tell which one I have? I was told I have medium ? I have been natural now over 2.5 years. I love braids. Mostly I will wash/condition/moisturize and plat. Then wear wigs. I was
want to go back to a light perm, if that is such a thing. If I decide to, what type of light or gentle perm will be good? Thanks
Geez….We fine and kinkies can’t do ANYTHING with our hair.
Perms eat up our hair, heat kills our hair, detangling rips out our hair, touching it often causes mechanical damage to our hair..
what CAN we do?? Someone needs to come up with a solution. There’s GOT to be something! I know I’m not the only one beyond frustrated with my hair.
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to say I share your frustration. I have very fine, 4a hair. Bantu knot-outs, twist-outs, braid outs? Forget it. My hair’s so fine, those styles always look scalpy. My hair’s super easy to detangle, so wash-n-go’s are fine, but my shrinkage makes it seem like I have a TWA.
I *always* have to incorporate Marley hair into my styles for fullness and volume, and sometimes I get so tired of that. Last weekend I gave my hair a blow-out–first time in a year. I loved the fullness and length achieved, but I can tell it’s not something I can, or should, do often.
You are absolutely right–fine, kinky naturals are the most limited in terms of styling options.
I just don’t know anymore, sigh 🙁
You need not bother with every said article about our kinky hair.do whatever you so please to it.its your hair.not anybodys.bleach it or perm it or straighten it.my dear ,do what you want.
2 of 3 of these apply to me, but I have definitely noticed the 2 times I’ve heat straightened I suffered damage, especially ends.
But on another note: that is the best diagram-probably only diagram-I’ve EVER seen to explain the structure of kinky hair and it’s behavior. SO BIG THANKS FOR THAT!
http://MySoCalledFashion.com
Really enjoyed the article, the dialogue between Dananana and Carlee was a great addition. Helpful overall!
I love to color my hair, so I rarely blow dry or flat iron my hair. Besides, haircolor gives more dimension to my individual hair strands, something that I wouldn’t be able to achieve with straight, flat hair!
My hair is fine and home box-bleached in the front. I also do a tension blow out every 2 or so weeks, and that practice has really helped me maintain healthy hair growth. It keeps it mostly tangle-free, which keeps me from descending into violent detangling sessions on wash days. It makes it easier to loosely bun my hair, thus keeping it off my clothing and at least mildly protected from the elements. Also, it makes split ends and SSKs easier to see when I do get them. So I see no reason to “avoid at all costs”. As a pretty good rule of thumb, I think that people should avoid absolutes when referring to something as individualized as hair care.
I highly agree with number three.
I think naturals with high porosity hair should avoid heat at all cost as well just my opinion
Why can’t we like (or dislike) comments anymore?
YES… that’s what I would like know. It wasn’t doing any harm. It’s good to know what other sistas agree/disagree with.
Seriously.
I, along with several commenters, have asked that question but have had no reply. It would be nice if an explanation could be put up on the site. The removal of the *thumbs up/down* makes for more work typing out responses when you could just agree with what someone has already written!
*raises hand* I’m number 3. I’m usually too lazy to use heat anyway lol. I don’t want my hair to be like “Um, what happened and why are we on the floor?”
This is so very true especially for those looking to grow out their hair has as long and healthy as possible. Great article as usual JC.
My hair strands are fine and kinky… Heat always causes major damage but sometimes I just want straight hair!
It’s like having fine and kinky hair is the universe’s way of saying “Everyone’s hair is versatile – except yours.”
It’s like Oprah giving everyone a car, except you.
*Sulky face*
this needs a thumbs up!
Fine,kinky and (at least) 70% shrinkage.It’s like your invite getting lost 🙁
Interesting article. Just wanted to say I really appreciate the citing and use of journal sources!
I have fine strands, a small head but densely packed. I’ve recently decided that blow outs every two weeks are what’s best for me. Waist length hair that shrinks to your collar bone is no joke. The blow outs make it easier for me to manage so I can stop dreaming about relaxers lol
I agree with this. I am fine, kinky hair, that is dense, but I still blowout my hair *every morning*. My hair is still in great condition.
Daily??? That’s a lot of manipulation. Some reasons why daily blowouts may work for you:
1. Porosity
2. Location
3. Temperature
4. Brand of blow dryer
5. Length of time blowouts incorporated
If you’re a well moisturized low porosity girl, it’s going to be harder for moisture to leave your hair, even when you blow dry your hair daily. Someone with high porosity and/or ineffectively moisturized hair definitely would not fair as well with daily blowouts. Additionally, if you live somewhere warmer and more humid (like Florida), your blow dried hair doesn’t have to struggle for moisture like it would if you lived in NY or Canada.
Furthermore, if you have a *nice* blow dryer, and you’re only using it on low/medium, you have a much reduced chance for damage.
And,the money question: how long have you been blow drying daily? If it’s been less than 6 months, it’s entirely likely that whatever damage you’re incurring just hasn’t made its presence known yet. If you’ve been doing it for longer with no issues? Kudos, your hair can handle daily blow drying, but it’s still irresponsible to imply that everyone else’s can too. There are too many factors that impact the success of individual regimens; not everything is for everyone.
I’ve been doing daily blowing drying for a year now. I have high porosity, 4c hair. My strands are fine but my hair is dense. This works for me because
1) I have 85% shrinkage.
2) I workout daily.
3)I have naturally dry hair that needs to be drenched with water every day.
The daily workouts alone make it so I need to rinse sweat from my hair daily. I practice yoga, and so I’m inverted for about 60% of the practice. My hair gets sweaty. Also, I have naturally dry, high porosity hair. Thus, no matter how many butters, oils, etc I put on my hair, my hair needs to be drenched with water daily, every 48 hrs is possible but not good for max hydration (and considering I workout…). I blowdry my hair on low heat. This doesn’t damage my hair at all. Does air damage hair? No. Will a warm summer’s day cause you to have heat damage hair? No. High, direct heat can damage hair though.
As for manipulation, this is the lowest manipulation I can handle without simply not caring for my hair (braids, wigs, weave). Now those styles are too *little* manipulation and cause matting and tangling. What I do daily is simply hair maintenance. I wear my hair in an afro. If I were to contort it into some braid, twist, updo, that would lead to excess manipulation. I have super thick hair. Doing 40 twists in it every week would be torture to my strands. I know because I used to subscribe to that twist-out and protective-style-until-it’s-matted lifestyle.
So it’s as I thought: your hair is well moisturized and in a constant state of humidity. And you’re a unicorn lol.
But seriously though, a warm (>75 F) summer’s day can and does damage some people’s hair. I’m one of them. Wind splits my hair too, and I get mechanical damage from blowdrying before I get heat damage, even if I DC before, keep it on low, and use a heat protectant.
Like you, my fine, high porosity hair shrinks more than 85%. I’ve tried wetting my hair every day, and it doesn’t work well for me past 9 inches. My hair breaks from being overmoisturized, and the broken hairs tangle everything else into a gnarled mess that just screams for scissors. So yes, I twist and twist out every week. I wear my 8-20 (who’s putting in 40 every week?) twists for 4-5 days, and only wear the twistout for 2-3 days before I wash and restart. My hair doesn’t really mat up when I do this unless it’s rainy or I’m lazy at night. But that’s just me. My point is that we’re different, and while daily blowouts work for you in your situation, it doesn’t discount the advice in the article…and it would have been nice if you included some of the particulars you just listed in your previous comment, so as not to mislead newer naturals.
I definitely agree that everyone is different. One thing that really helps me is to blow dry on low and keep the dryer far from my hair. I also let my hair air dry most of the way so I only have to blow dry for a few seconds. Imagine a lazy tension method. Not a super precise, straight-looking blowout. I used to be anti-heat too, but I just can’t put 40 twists in my hair a night. I tried curlformers with great results, but it is extremely time consuming if you count drying time (about 5 hrs). With blow drying, from wash to dry, it can take as little as 30 minutes. Although my hair is shoulder length (kinky length, not bone straight), it is so thick I have to put small twists or the kinky force will just push the twist right open.
I can’t wait until my hair is longer, and I will just air dry my hair with like two giant twists or maybe four at most. I have been really interested in trying sprangz, which are weighted hair tools to stretch the hair, and they’re made by Cynthiarf on youtube. Until then, heat works. Hopefully another year and I should be able to switch to an easier heatless option. Right now, this option takes the least amount of time, and I get to wear my favorite hairstyle, a stretched fro.
I’m just curious why Dananana is going so hard at Carlee? At the end of the article, the author asked ladies to ask for their opinions about using heat. Carlee simply stated what works for her. Whether or not anyone agrees with her using heat on a daily basis is neither her nor there. If HER hair is doing fine, then that’s HER business. Her description never said “well I do it so everyone else can/should do it too”. Each natural’s hair takes to different products, techniques, methods (we all know that). While I appreciate Dananana for being informative of what other factors to consider for hair care (especially for newbies), I think your approach was to the left. What works for you might not work for Carlee, me, the other 4C chicks with fine strands or whoever and vice versa. We go on our own journeys so instead of assuming and preaching to others that the methods that work for them are so wrong, just ask first to get a better idea of maybe WHY those methods work for them and what they may use for their own success. Otherwise, good article.
My sole intent was to figure out under which conditions Carlee was blow drying her hair daily. You’re right, I could have done that with a lot more tact. My bad. I just get heated when people leave out important details of their regimens that could cause newbies to severely damage their hair…because I used to be one of those newbies that didn’t do enough research.
What Carlee and others do to their hair is indeed their business, but I feel like we should all make an effort to have some level of transparency with each other. Otherwise, how do we grow as a community?
This is so true. I had realized during my relaxed days that I had kinks in my hair because of how thin certain points in between my strands were when I would analyse them for split ends. My strands are pretty thick so I was pretty obvious.