by
Cassandre
by Cassandre of Cassandrebeccai.com (pictured above)
So you took that flat iron to your luscious mane and after 2 weeks of rocking a semi-straight look turned blow-out (cuz you know how our hair starts to swell), you wash your hair and then…those few strands at the crown of your head just won’t curl.
Seeing your hair not reverting back at this point, you may be hyperventilating or perhaps you’re as calm as a cucumber (or not!) either way, whatever your reaction- you’re just not happy about this new discovery.
While heat damage can’t be undone 100%, and you would have to cut it off to remove all unhealthy strands, you may be able to save your curl with some intensive and consistent TLC.
1. Reconstruct to recuperate and rejuvenate.
Lot’s of uncool stuff happened to you hair while it was getting heat up by your flat iron. Bonds and proteins have been compromised and one of the best ways to help things get back on par is through the use of a recontructor. There are few products I stand by as much as this one- Aphogee’s 2 Minute Reconstructor. That stuff is a mini-miracle is a bottle and if you didn’t know, you know now! Use it as directed on a weekly basis and watch you hair revert slowly, but surely (if the heat damage isn’t too bad).
2. Moisturize, moisturize and moisturize some more.
Your hair is super cried out from thermal appliances at this point so don’t skimp on that deep conditioning treatment! Your hair is really going to crave this kind of treatment. One uber inexpensive conditioner I like is Herbal Essences Hello Hydration, which I also mix with some olive oil. Follow with an intense moisturizing lotion like Oatmilk n’ Honey (my absolute fave in moisturizing lotions, which has a base of water + aveena sativa for that extra hydration your hair craves).
3. Heat Hiatus
Since you’ve recognized and acknowledged your problem, it’s now time to put that Babybliss away! I know it might be even more tempting to use heat now because you want your textures to match, but don’t do it. You’ll only make the problem worse and what’s the point when you’re goal is good hair health? Keep an eye on your hair and don’t use heat until you see a drastic improvement in your curl pattern.
Check out my video on combating heat damage below:
What are some things you’ve done to help you hair recover from heat damage?
10 Responses
I have been using the karmin Spray Heat Protector and works really well for my hair. =)
I use a deep conditioner (I like Shea Moisture’s different ones) and I sit under my steamer for abot 20 minutes before washing and rinsing with cool water. Pat dry with a tee shirt (don’t rub – it makes hair frizy), and two-strand twist with perm rods on the ends.
Cassia,… cassia,…CASSIA!!
I’ll say it again. Cassia DC treatment stopped severe, 4C fine hair, hair breakage. I had 2 months of Breakage Galore, after having severe heat damage due to a treatment from a “professional” hairdresser. I moisturized ’till my hair went limp. NOTHING, I repeat,… NO-THING would stop the breakage. It kept on going. I was so desperate, almost wanted to cry. Just didn’t know what to do…. Eventually I tried the natural Cassia powder treatment, in which you mix the powder with a little conditioner and natural oils, as a DC treatment. Et voilà . The hair breakage stopped overnight. I guess the cassia repaired and strengthened the hairbonds in my hair. I probably should have done this treatment months ago, but…. Hey. It’s a journey. I’m carefully nursing my hair back to health. All’s good now. And I’m back to my daily moisturizing and sealing of my fine 4C natural black hair. I do notice an overall thinness of my hair, but I’ll be alright.
ooo thanks for the tip on using cassia!
Not to panic! I don’t think 90% of heat damage is heat damage! (10 thumbs down right there ;)Please, here me out. We have heard of cherry lola something right or the lime and coconut thing or Henna! They ALL Loosen Curl! Usually people don’t panic because the effects are slower and usually Temporary! Not All the time but most. And you look at the Concept of heat training your hair. If they were to stop yes the new growth would not be trained but they always go over the rest of the hair to. Yes I know they have to to style it but say they didn’t for 2 months. My bet is if they where not to go over the whole length of their hair, and just did the new growth their curl would begin to reform to what it was Before heat was applied. And the new growth would be looser than the rest of their Hair! So I wonder if what is taken for heat damage is truly that or if its a loosening affect. A TEMPORARY LOOSENING EFFECT! And in time it will curl back to what it was if the use of heat is discontinued. And as for why some pieces are more straight than others well when I think back to relaxer days I always had some sections of hair that were straighter than others. Always. Perhaps the same thing is happening. Some sections of hair just loosen in curl faster than others no matter what the method used. But what started this theory was the unwavering belief that there is NO WAY natural Hair is that Fragile! It is Stronger now than it ever was relaxed. And Even after what we put it through with those chemicals we styled it with HEAT! EVERY WEEK! And how long did it take for it to start breaking off? It still made it for a while-with heat every week. And now it’s NOT been chemically weakened and a blow-out and flat iron (which we did relaxed) and its Curtains??? Damaged?? That doesn’t make sense to me. And yes our hair is certainly fragile in certain areas like Combing and well you KNOW! But heat? On ALL these naturals?? I think it’s a just a temporary effect. And will fade. And if you want it to fade quicker do more of the tips in the article. And while it is technically damaged I think for the majority of naturals it is akin to the damage of the lime and coconut or cherry lola. But if it’s not damage why are the ends straighter than the rest? That one stumped me until I really watched the videos of you tubers flat ironing there hair. They almost ALWAYS go over the ENDS 2 to 4 times. Sooooo the ends have MORE TRAINING!! Also I do think if you go over your ends 5 times and up-I’ve seen it- That is Risking Game Over Heat Damage! From which NO AMOUNT OF TIME no PRODUCT will EVER cause your hair to return to the former curl pattern. But most don’t and I have the theory that the ends are just more trained! And the natural hair life can go on. As anyone with mixed textures will tell you blending different curl patterns is easy with twist outs, braid outs so on. Uhmmm wash n’ go’s…….. noooooo I don’t see it working for a while but hey never say never. So when I straightened out my hair in the past did I have looser sections? Yep! What did I do? I looked at them and said “YES!! Those sections will be easier to detangle!!” And you know what they were! For a while.
Nice tips, thanks for posting!
Wouldn’t the Aphogee 2 step Protein Treatment be more effective since it is a more concentrated potion?
You don’t want to use the protein treatment weekly…I literally just used the keratin treatment and there is no crunch brittleness like immediately after the protein. ..my hair is silky detangle springy and defined..
Great tips thanks. I actually use the Aphogee 2 minute Reconstructor protein conditioner and a heat protect prior to using heat.
I air dry most times though. Use heat once in a blue moon.
I know this reply is almost 3 years after your original comment, but how often do you use the Aphogee 2 minute reconstructor?