by
Editorial
by Kelsey (pictured above) of Lifewithcoco2
Some say that if your hair will not revert back to its natural pattern after straightening, then it is heat damaged, while another person considers it heat trained. I never really thought about it much until it happened to me. When my ends wouldn’t revert, I would just automatically declare my hair to be heat damaged. Generally I consider my hair to be pretty healthy. I don’t have severe spit ends (I say “severe” because I believe everyone has at least a couple, especially curly girls). My hair is very shiny and retains moisture well.
Recently, I cut off a few straight pieces because they looked terrible and out of place on a head full of curls. I found myself calling those pieces, “heat damaged.” Later, I realized the actual strands of hair were not exactly ‘damaged’, they were just permanently straight. Let me explain. The strands were still shiny and there were no split ends, they just would no longer curl. I tried putting extra product on them. I tried air drying instead of diffusing and I even tried to sleep without putting my hair in a pineapple because it was stretching out the hair even more. Nothing worked, so I cut them off.
When I examined the strands, I realized that they were still shiny and healthy like the rest of my hair but they were just bone straight. Then I remembered how often I straightened my hair when I had a relaxer (at least once a week) and consistently experienced breakage. I didn’t retain any length due to the split ends I was afraid to cut for some silly reason.
The conclusion I came up with, in my particular case, is there is a difference between having heat damaged hair and heat trained hair. I’ve concluded that heat damaged hair is hair that lacks luster, looks dry, constantly breaks, is brittle, and is not able to retain length. Heat trained hair is hair that is still healthy but will no longer revert to its natural pattern because of the use of heat.
What are your thoughts? Do you think that there is a difference between heat damaged hair and heat trained hair?
About Kelsey: I’m Kelsey Janae aka Lifewithcoco2, I love all things natural hair. I seek to inspire and educate using my knowledge of all things hair, health, and beauty. My goal is to encourage women and men to always be the best version of themselves.
106 Responses
Hello I am Keydesigns a hair dresser that has been in the game for 11yrs. And with my experience with heat damaged hair. U are absobulty right your hair as we call it is pressed permed. Which means permanlty straighted. But hair can be healthy at this state as well. I just recommend using a Carmel treatment to regain your natural curls. If that doesn’t work for you then cutting it is.
As long as people are happy with the supposed ‘damage’ then it’s alright. We ‘damage’ our bodies every day by eating and inhaling ‘crap’ – so what’s hair in the grander scheme? I’m 30 and have only ever processed my hair for 3 years of my life and have been natural again for the past 7 years. I am sick of the stress of it and wouldn’t mind a loser curl through ‘heat damage.’ I appreciate that there are purists across all aspects of life, but what you consider a top priority in your lives (and I in mine) is not shared universally. Just chill and be happy.
I’ve been trying my hardest to figure out this whole heat damage vs heat trained thing. I’ve never ever had a relaxer and I grew up taking care of my hair the old school way (Blue Magic hair grease and a hot comb). Throughout my teen and young adult years my hair was about bra strap length and thick. My hair easily reverted. During my college years I know I damaged my hair. It thinned out and it was limp. So I learned how to better care for it. I ditched the grease and got a better flat iron and new products. Over the past 4 years I’ve gone from bra length to the small of my back. My hair is silky, shiny with no split ends. I haven’t even had a need for a trim in 4 years! It’s the healthiest it’s ever been BUT everywhere I look, people say hair like mine is damaged because it no longer reverts to its original state. How is it damaged if it’s retaining better growth than ever? Even after experiencing postpartum shedding two years back to back and recovering from two c sections, my hair immediately filled in without any special treatment. I understand that we have to be careful with heat, but I think it’s possible to alter your curl pattern and still maintain healthy hair.
I think hair that is altered by chemicals or heat is simply CHANGED and this may or may not lead to DAMAGE. consider this, when you color (chemical) your hair some people enhance their look and others leave fried and/or bald. Some people are natural in order to embrace their curls in their original state and to other people natural means using organic, less toxic products in hopes off maximum hair health. If anyone assumes you can only be natural if you rock your hair a certain way I would go as far as to say you shouldn’t use protective styles, scarves or any other adornment that “hides” your hair the way your mama gave you.lol
You missed his point. He’s saying hair in general is dead. Do you not know what an oxymoron is? Yes your friend can have hair as long as rapanzul which means she has increased the health of her hair. Her dead hair. If hair was alive we wouldnt be able to cut it and add heat . So his point is everyone is arguing about whats healthy and whats not when all hair is dead regardless.
Beautiful! How long did it take for you to get rid of the heat damage? I used to have shiny defined locks, now my curls are dull and part bushy part straight. Let’s just say I did a little too much experimenting over the last 3 years. Recently, I’ve traded in the heat for healthier styles, but I’m anxious to see results. If I had an estimate of when I should start seeing results, that would be comforting. Thanks! ?
I totally agree with Kelsey and lauryn Damage is dry, split ends, limp lifeless, unable to retain length, shine or moisture, and breakage. She didn’t have that in those straight pieces. A lot of natural women like to talk about damage hair but those same women have a head full of curls and a whole lot of split ends to match; as they like to call them single strand knots lol. consequently those split ends aka single strand knots are usually more severe then they think . I would like to say every one head is different but I have a friend who hair is very nice when its curly she wanted to cut her split ends because of the single strand knots, to her dismays when it was straighten the ends of her hair were see through; so how health was her hair before the heat ?
Since when are single strand knots and split ends the same thing? Split ends are hairs that quite literally have a split on the end. Single strand knots are individual strands that have coiled upon itself into a knot, and tightened, creating a knot in a single strand. It has nothing to do with the health of that particular strand. A ssk can form at any point along the length strand of hair, and can happen to a strand that is not split at the end. Not the same thing at all.
I agree with u. The heat didn’t damage the hair if its still a healthy strand. It’s just permanently loosened/starightened the curl pattern. But to some ppl who want to be the top naturalist with the top healthiest hair wud differ. They have pride being the top.
it is a fact that once you break the protein bonds in your hair the strands are weaker than they were before. imo that’s damaged hair whether done by heat or by chemicals. Does that means it can’t grow long? no. That it can’t look nice? no. I think some people get defensive when people say relaxed hair is not healthy when as pointed out people have different definitions of what healthy is. I’m not bashing anyone because if like it I love it but no I don’t consider it healthy if your protein bonds are broken. I don’t consider all natural hair healthy but for other reasons like the breaking, split ends which were mentioned. I think her hair is heat damaged.
Heat Trained or Damaged whatever it is, your hair looks awesome hun. I have had situations where my curl pattern was altered and it stayed straight for 3 months but guess what it wasn’t heat damage. I guess just had some really great flat irons lol. My curlys came back and were popping better than before. I flat ironed again recently and I have straight ends, but i’m ok because I know that my curls will return after a few months. This is how my hair is, and no one head is the same! Any hoo, I have soft moisturized healthy hair that isn’t breaking. If my curls don’t come back i’m still ok. I will just grow it out for about a year or two and chop the straight end! I’m happy regardless! lol Wtbs let’s be nice ladies lol
Is there anything, specifically, that you did to get it to revert?
Sorry but that is heat damage. Hair that won’t revert back to it’s natural state is damaged period. Just cut those damaged ends off, why hold onto them and be in denial?
Who said she was in denial? And if you are going to start an argument please learn how to. Its like you read nothing she said and pulled a “because I said so ” how about you go look at the points she made and counter argue those. She gave a bunch of reasons and you gave nothing but what was already was stated before her argument.
Sigh just because you used a euphemism for damage doesn’t mean it’s not damaged lol
I bring up this topic when speaking about relaxers because there’s no such thing as “healthy relaxed hair.” It’s an oxymoron. Your hair cannot be healthy after you apply a caustic chemical that damages your hair. It’s like infecting yourself with HIV and calling yourself healthy because you haven’t experienced full blown AIDS. One can INCREASE the health of one’s hair but to call it “healthy” is a misuse of the term.
Which brings up the point that everyone has already touched upon- heat trained= heat damage. If it doesn’t revert to your natural curl pattern, your hair has experienced some level of damage. The only difference is that “heat training” is intentional damage.
Thank you about the bit about “healthy relaxed hair”.
I always thought that was the biggest lie someone ccan tell themselves. Relaxed hair is chemically damaged hair, their are just maintaining an illusion of healthy hair that of naturally straight hair looks like. Its not healthy, its chemically destroyed hair.
Same with this lady.
Her hair doesn’t revert after heat is applied, its damaged.
All hair is damaged. But the hair that can still be strong enough to grow and get past that is considered healthy. So relaxed women with hair down their butt ???? got past it . Women who straighten their hair all the time and its still growing long ???? got past it. Hair is like an economy in depression , it either falls down or works hard to get up .
WOOOWW! You really compared HIV/AIDS to heat on the hair. Hope you didn’t throw out your shoulders with that extreme reach. Truth be told, EVERYONE’S hair has some type of damage, whether it be from styling, relaxers, heat, color, UV damage…so on and so forth. NOBODY’S hair is 100% flawless. Hell, your hair rubbing against your clothes will eventually damage it some. I view healthy as no split ends, able to retain length, shiny, moisturized and strong. Chicks can be fully natural, no heat or chemicals and have less length retention than a relaxed chick. Stop being “natural hair nazis” and trying to dictate what is healthy and what isn’t. There is no one way to have healthy hair. Long, full, strong hair with no breakage is what we’re all after more or less regardless of how we get there.
If healthy relaxed hair is an oxymoron…then riddle me this. Wouldn’t the term “healthy hair” be an oxymoron all by itself. I mean hair is nothing but dead fibers anyway. Your hair can be in good shape no matter how you care for it.
Exactly
Wrong…. My friend has had relaxed hair for years. Her hair has always been arm length and it’s not thin either… It’s very thick… You aren’t supposed to get a relaxer every two weeks (which is what I was told when I had one). I just found out recently she only gets it once every 3 months
I’m confused then… I have fine hair, very curly, but it isn’t thick and coarse… I haven’t relaxed my hair in three years, cut the relaxed ends off a long time ago, and I rarely use heat, only when using a deep treatment… My ends are almost bone straight, but I haven’t used chemicals nor heat, and my products are sulfate and paraben free… So how can my ends be straight since I haven’t used heat nor chemicals? Also my hair is healthy… It isn’t dry, frizzie, few split ends if any, no dandruff, hair along the edges, softness and shine, and yet my ends are straight… You can’t tell me it’s “damaged”
I actually understand what she is trying to say. Doesn’t make a difference to me either way. As long as she is happy with her hair then c’est la vie.
Hey please understand what she is saying because some of you are being delusional. Heat training has been around for quite a while. Look it up because I’m sure when you hear curly hair, heat and straight hair you think heat damage. But again heart training is real, it’s not for everyone but it’s real. Like a relaxer, many people have healthy relaxed hair long growing hardly any split ends and jus the generally healthy hair. And relaxers break your bonds chemically, so why can’t you have healthy straight hair caused by heat, with or it being damaged. Damage is dry, split ends, limp lifeless, unable to retain length, shine or moisture, and breakage. She didn’t have that in those straight pieces so how is it anymore more damaged than the relaxed healthy hair. Just like baking soda loosening curl patterns doesn’t mean it’s not healthy hair. P.S. And if it is heat trained it doesn’t revert back, that makes no sense, it was trained by heat.
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2012/11/are-there-any-benefits-to-heat-training-natural-hair/ for more info
yeah, i called my hair heat trained and doted on its shiny characteristics and such when i was in denial about it being heat damaged too 🙂
check out my channel more vids to come https://youtu.be/J-Kz55Dhh-E?list=UU4ER8qYilyDgA0yEUZekOxw
This is heat damage pure and simple. Your hair should revert back to its natural state when it encounters water. When I want to wear my hair straight, I do a “natural” blow-out where after washing and putting a leave-in and oil in my hair I comb my hair with a detangling comb. I periodically comb out my hair until it is completely air dried with the result the same as a blow out using a hair dryer. Then I use a heat protector and follow-up with a flat iron only passing it through each section a maximum of two times. When I wash my hair, it reverts back with no heat damage.
Its really semantics. The disulfide bonds are broken and will not revert. Curly hair that will forever remain straight = call for a trim if you prefer curly hair.
I love your hair, and your curl pattern. I really do. But honestly, I’m not sure I understand what you mean exactly by heat trained not being damaging. I run a blog, and it’s been open for less than a day, so I’m not versed on these terminologies, but this doesn’t seem like the most scientifically sound argument out there. I’m pretty new to the natural agenda (having big chopped only about four months ago), so seeing something like this is a little confusing. Is there a way to separate pieces that are geared more towards opinion and pieces that are based on actual scientific facts? Thanks 😡
ppl just love to make others feel stupid. I can tell by these comments. good grief…
this subject seems subjective, in which case.. i want to heat train. That would really cut back on single strand knots and split ends for ME.
to think natural hair is easy to manage……. is delusional!
Find your hair zen.
Angie natural hair is easy to manage once you have a set regimen for caring for your hair. That takes time and exploration with products & techniques to find what works for your hair.
The only people who complain about natual hair being hard to manage are those who don’t have the patience to spend time to learn and care for their own hair.
It really is that simple.
Unfortunately this contrasts with our impatient/quick-fix society.
I have very thick shoulder length hair and have been natural for 4 years. It takes two hours to comb my hair after I wash it. This time consuming routine no longer works for the current season of my life. I’ve tried various products and routines and have decided heat training will help stream line things. It’s presumptuous and unfair to assume that hair can’t be healthy when heat is applied. It’s about what works for the individual.
Huh??? My hair takes 30-45 minutes to detangle…My hair tangles even right after they have been in braids…That’s just how my hair is…It’s fine so it easily gets into knots no matter what, but I still deal with it every morning and it is tough and time consuming – that’s a fact. Do I go around complaining? No. But, lets get real, it’s harder to manage than having straight/wave hair…I think you’re being narrow-minded and giving into a haughty attitude.
Having read all of the comments it would seem to me that people have very different definitions of the word ‘damaged’, thus causing so much disagreement here. If you cannot unify your very definition of a word, then you can never be on the same wave length when having a conversation or debate.
Hey love love the hair. I am not able to tell if you have heat damage, i can’t start on heat trained, i have no clue but i love your hair in the first pic, it’s lovely.
Dam•age- physical harm caused to something in such a way as to impair its value, usefulness, or normal function…keywords that stand out to me ‘normal function’ if it grows out curly then stops reverting back then that’s damaged curls
for me, i distinguish the way kelsey has. she got a lot of flack but what i think she’s saying is that for her hair that is truly damaged in a way that would be alarming is hair that breaks, splits, is rougher, dull. That’s how i define it as well. so if my curl pattern is looser but it otherwise is non-breaking, non-splitting, doing what it’s supposed to do, i’m cool with that. because i’m not concerned with having an even curl pattern from roots to ends- in my case probably because my roots don’t match the other 3/4 of length of my hair anyway. and not due to heat damage but simply due to my hair’s natural quirk. everyone defines it differently, and it’s all semantics. it’s all about what works for you, what you’ll tolerate, and how you like to wear your hair. clearly it bothers most naturals if their hair loosens up even the slightest bit but for others it’s not a big deal. simple as that.
You raise in interesting point about when you mentioned that the hair at your roots are more tightly coiled than the remaining lengths of your hair. I have noticed this on a lot of people, particularly those with a hair pattern like Kelsey’s. Many naturals report that their curls loosen as their hair gets further from the scalp.
Also, Kelsey has colored her hair like at least 2 or 3 times; if I recall correctly. May it be possible that some of the texture straightening she saw was as result of that? From looking through her videos, it doesn’t seem that she uses an excess amount of heat (in terms of frequency of straightening). In addition, if she never said anything about heat damage or heat training I would not have thought anything was wrong with her hair.
She said there were a few small areas that were loose and didn’t curl the same , may this be from a natural variation in curl patter. One of her videos she said she tried Aphogee and it made her hair stringy (which I equate with straight). I personal know that I have a biolage strengthening conditioner, that when applied to my hair, results in hair that does not curl but poofs. This only happens when I use that particular shampoo due to its high protein content. When I shampoo and condition with a different conditioner the next day, my hair curls right back up as normal.
Particular conditioner**
i have heard that about color, that it can loosen the curl pattern. idk if people are talking about bleach or just regular dye, though. i noticed no difference in curl size when i used color but when i bleached my hair my texture changed, not so much my curl size. the bleach made my texture rough-feeling and like straw, and highly porous where normally my hair has no problems keeping moisture. as for the texture variance with the length- that one does perplex me. no matter how long my hair gets or how short it is, there’s always that same ratio of puff at the top for the first couple inches and then perfectly defined ringlets the majority of the way to the end. my hair was like that before the color, but the bleach did further exacerbate that difference.
Ehh… I’m sorry, but this seems a little far fetched. Heat denatures protein. That’s just science. You may not WANT to consider your hair heat damaged, but it is. Sorry, honey.
I am always amazed how people have a strong stand on stuff just because science said so. Her hair looks healthy and seems healthy ( by her description of it). I know people with Relaxers, BKT treatment, coloring their hair every 4 weeks etc… and their hair is perfectly fine. From a scientific point of view they do not have healthy hair but from their own personal opinion ( hair not falling off, growing well, moisturised easily soft to touch) it is.
I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t look at a house that has no support structure and call it safe. It may look fine on the outside but you wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. Why? Because you trust that when architectural science says support structures are required for safety, the science has a darn good reason. In fact, if you were building/repairing a house you wouldn’t tell the contractor to leave out support structures because everything LOOKS and SEEMS ok. What happens when such integral parts are missing? Lifelong patch work until the issue is properly fixed. This is why women can grow long hair with perms. The holes and broken structures are patched up with damaged hair repair masks, etc, which are temporary solutions. Doesn’t matter what it looks like on the outside of its internal structure is permanently weakened. Shine is sold in bottles. (Also, I have a pair of “heat trained ” satin pants that are VERY shiny where the heat performed is training lol…and if I wore them you’d tell me to ditch them for the irreparable damage).
Or think of it this way. In many Asian cultures, breaking the feet of little girls was necessary in order for them to be considered beautiful. The feet were repeatedly broken and wrapped to fit in tiny shoes. They looked amazing on the outside. Because of how they looked externally, we should assume their internal health? Shall we talk about cancer patients who run triathlons?
I give these examples merely to demonstrate the fallacy of negating science and basing concepts of health on external appearances and half a handful of fallacious characteristics. Heat damages the internal structure of hair period. It also damages the external cover by forcing the tightly closed cuticles to lift away from the cortex it protects. This cortex is the moisture layer that feeds and nourishes the medulla. Damaging the cuticle could dry or the cortex. If that is your preference, so be it. No one should judge you for the choices you make for your own hair. But let’s stop kidding ourselves and call a spade a spade. Damage is damage no matter how you package it, no matter the philosophy you contrive to dance around it.
I just want to throw this out there for BGLH staff. I notice a lot of articles that are more like opinion pieces than actual objective information. I wish there was a way that the site clearly distinguished between the two. For natural hair veterans, it’s obvious (and we’ve heard “do what works for you” so many times). Yet, for newer naturals, the conflicting opinion pieces or conflicting articles may be a little confusing. Ultimately experimentation is necessary, but please don’t confuse people by suggesting that “heat damage/ training” is not permanently altered hair. This is, after all, a natural hair website.
I wish I could “like” your comments twice, Carlee.
Am I the only “curly girl” that does NOT have a curl pattern anyway? So, heat damage, heat trained, or whatever you want to call it has never pertained to me. I prefer to wear my hair straight, and yes, it is thick, long and HEALTHY 🙂
I get what you mean. Im glad you made this post actually because I’ve been wondering the same thing about my hair. Some parts barely revert BUT they are not brittle or lack luster. Before I would cut them off but after awhile I stopped because the hair didn’t appear “unhealthy”. In a literal sense the hair is damaged because the bonds that cause hair to spiral/curl are gone but so long as the hair isnt breaking off,thinning or looking unhealthy I’m not bothered
Anything for the more defined curls!/ s
It’s her hair, her business anyway. Won’t be surprised if this becomes some sort of trend in the natural hair “community”. Anything curl definition is what’s in.
My (former) hairstylist used to say she was “training” my hair when she would press and curl it with a super hot blow drier and flat iron a few times a year for several years. I was always curious about my natural hair texture but was always told it’d be too unmanageable (I have dense, thick hair maybe around 3C/4A). Last year I had enough after I realized I had heat damage. I never knew about using heat protectants when flat ironing, so I haven’t applied heat to my hair since my last appointment with her over a year ago. Anyway, I think the author is in denial. I noticed my ends seemed to get thinner over time as I was getting my hair straightened. I never had any issues with my hair growing (I got regular trims) so I feel that while my hair was overall healthy, it still was damaged due to losing its curl. Heat damaged just sounds”harsh”…can we find a new term so that we can accept what it truly is?
What was the result of abstaining from heat for a year? Did you hair revert or have you been gradually trimming it away?
Janelle wrote: “Heat damaged just sounds”harsh”…can we find a new term so that we can accept what it truly is?”
Why don’t we just call it what it truly is, and people can either accept it or be in denial. It’s heat damage.
Is this a joke? Because I can get not wanting to cut off your heat damaged ends off for length, but being delusional about the truth of the matter is just ridiculous! Calling a duck a dog does make it true.
Hmmm. I guess it depends on the look you want??? I know a lady who loves that, after years of flat-ironing bone straight, her 4b wash and go now looks and behaves like a blow-out, which she deems much more manageable. When sections of my hair didn’t go back kinky after straightening I had darn near gone crazy, and I most definitely considered it to be damaged!!!
Me too!
The front and back sections of my hair refused to revert and even though I was enjoying the ‘healthy looking’ damage I had created, it was at that point I decided to chop it all off.
Yes I know what she means by the straight hair, I cut mine too. But I believe mine was heat damage. Glad to know I’m not the only one finding straight hair strands sometimes especially since I’m rocking a wash n go
Whatever helps her sleep at night lol. It’s her hair, but nothing she said made any scientific sense. If your hair doesn’t revert it means it has been damaged to some degree. We need to get away from the myth that shine=health. This article was really one of the most foolish things I’ve read in the last 6 months. But if she likes it, I love it.
I agree with this. I can slap some oil on permed hair or use silicones on my split ends, but that doesn’t change that my hair is chemically altered or damaged, respectively. You can’t deny that hair that can’t curl has undergone a chemical change. If you don’t consider it “damaged” that’s fair. But to say it’s hardly different that un-altered hair isn’t exactly true.
Have to agree – I marvel at the lengths some go to to justify something they feel uncomfortable about, like knowing others are saying something negative about what they’re doing. She drew out a whole article explaining herself. Gave us insight into her ‘logic’ but apart from that…nonsense. Literally!
Yeah, um….no.
That’s heat damage, my dear. Hate to break it to ya. Your denial doesn’t change that.
The author of this article is slightly delusional. I don’t believe in heat training but if it was indeed “trained” it should revert. Since it hasn’t reverted your hair is heat damaged plain and simple. Natural hair not going back to its natural state couldn’t be possibly healthy.
I disagree. Training implies hair or anything which has a new learned behavior due to continual and systematic validation. One can have heat trained hair that does nt revert–this is based on CHEMISTRY not SOPHISTRY. A person does not have to be “delusional” nor subscribe to natural hair dogma. The PROOF and truth is in the CHEMISTRY which is the building blocks for all living (and inorganic) things. EVERYTHING.
Relaxers damage hair, they cause the disulfide and hydrogen bonds to rearrange and in many cases break by using high levels of alkaline products to weaken the natural bonds–under a microscope, the use of relaxer or perm solutions shows up as DAMAGE which means the chemical structure is rearranged or destroyed or compromised in some way.
Box COLOR (especially permanent color) is just as damaging as relaxer and so many who have “natural hair” also have UNNATURAL and damaged hair due to colorants.
Is there such a thing as heat damage? YES there is–it is caused by blow dryers (which can cause cuticles to split, lift and tear away and Heat damage caused by trying to use heat from blow dryers and hot combs and flat irons on wet hair–this cause steam rupture ALL EASILY seen under a microscope.
Can hair be relaxed without causing damage? NO due to the nature of how relaxers and perms work they always cause some degree of damage even if products can hide that temporarily.
Can permanent color be applied and not cause damage? Only henna can be applied this way because it coats the hair and does not need to damage the cuticle to lift out the melanin as most permanent colors do.
Box colors can be applied without damaging the hair if the color applied is darker and does not require lifting the natural color first.
Can hair be heat trained without damage to the cellular structure? Yes it can. BUT normally the “training” is simply a matter of slow reversion–the hair that often cannot curl has no problem doing so when a mild alkali such as baking soda mixed with conditioner is applied. it might take several applications but in the end, that “heat training can revert.
We have to be careful when critiquing others that we do not substitute opinion and dogma for fact and science. One is provable the other is subjective and a matter of what we choose to believe and not what has been PROVEN.
Interesting comment. Your sources?
Heat also breaks disulfide bonds… Which is why her hair did not curl up again. It’s not necessarily unhealthy, it’s just that the disulfide bonds have been broken.
If the box color is permanent it doesn’t matter if you darker or lighter. I wish people would learn that dying your hair darker/black doesn’t make your hair healthier it just hides the damage better. Because permanent dyes still contain those harsh chemicals that lift the cuticle for the color to deposit.
I could’ve sworn heat breaks/rearranges disulfide bonds as well, leading to this “new learned behavior” or damage you claim that relaxers and box color do.
So, we just gonna skip over the fact she said relaxed her hair once a week?! smh
“Then I remembered how often I straightened my hair when I had a relaxer (at least once a week)”
She said that when she had a relaxer, she flat ironed her hair once a week. Not that she relaxed once a week.
Actually, I think that part in parentheses about once a week referred not to how often she relaxed her hair but to how often she straightened her hair when it was relaxed.
So interesting. Well I think of it like this. Do ANYONE ACTUALLY think THEIR HAIR is UNDAMAGED?? Two words; Fairy knots which are really split ends. If you haven’t trimmed lately your hair is full of them if you have trimmed lately your hair Will be full of them :D!! Every time you comb, damage. Style damage. Basically Every ones hair is DAMAGED! Period. And what is wrong with that?? No I’m not insane (my mother had me tested;) but that is how the body works. How do you get in shape? What has to be DAMAGED?? Actually the body is hardcore it doesn’t stop at damage it destroys in order to make room for what? WHAT? Oh that’s right BETTER! STRONGER! Healthier Muscles! But first Damage has to take place. How about that. But that’s just an isolated case it doesn’t happen in plants oh wait actually damaging forest fires renew the forest and cause new plants and trees to grow. Well then the earth but the earth builds and makes new land through Damaging volcanic eruptions that make new islands and rich fertile soil……….I could go on but the point is damage can have it’s uses. The thing with heat training and keeping your hair in a stretched smooth state is Yes it is damaged. The Question Should be: Is it Beneficial damage? What are the benefits to keeping your hair in a heat trained state? 1. Sebum. In a natural hair state I don’t care if you did twist it, your sebum only goes so far down your hair strand. In a heat trained style it will go father. Just a fact. 2. Any oils applied will be more evenly distributed throughout the hair. With all the coils it’s hard to get all the hair in a natural style such as a twistout oiled than hair that has been blowdried/flatironed. 3. Fairy Knots. SEE YA! Why do we have them so bad? Our hair kinks and curls around itself. Yes their hair will curl back up when wet but they don’t keep it like that for long so less time in a coily state less knots Caused by a coily state! You add all the benefits together and if for you they outweigh the negative effects of heat on your hair-some naturals hair doesn’t mind heat-AND you think you can RETAIN MORE LENGTH than wearing it in a twist/braidout all the time………I Don’t See the Problem. And NO!!! It is not the same as relaxing even IF the hair becomes permanently straightened. Why? Relaxers are caustic chemicals put on your scalp. SCALP! Bloodstream Access!! Caustic chemicals( What’s the difference between Draino & a relaxer? The % of lye in Draino is LOWER! By FEDERAL LAW!)As for Heat remember the girl who did the curling iron tutorial and burned her hair? We laughed 😀 !! Cause it didn’t HURT HER!!! Hair Grows BACK! No nerves, No bloodstream access. So Like I said if it works for you and the Benefits OUTWEIGH the Damage…….Oh and as Naturals LOVE to say GOD gave Us this hair…..he made your muscles to, right….with only one way to improve them, damage but beneficial……..and the volcanic process that makes land and enriches the soil again beneficial damage ………so uhmm…..hmmmm ……….just a thought.
Huh……?
dang your comment is long…still damamge
Well, if your strand do not revert back to it’s naturally curly state then wouldn’t that mean the curl itself is damaged? I guess it some cases being “damaged” does not always look damaged.
I’ve seen a few women with heat damaged/trained hair with little split ends, retains moisture well and has a natural sheen without adding any product. Does that mean they should cut if off just because the curl is damaged? Not necessarily because if the hair still looks appealing to you then continue on rocking that hair. I don’t think it’s anything complicated. As long as it appears healthy and looks good to you then why cut it?
There are these twins on youtube that have a head full of thick curls and while they have acknowledge their heat damaged ends they just let it be and I don’t think their hair looks bad. Just let people be.
I don’t use heat on my hair and I have random bone straight strands in my hair. Always have. But I guess the difference is the author uses heat and I don’t. As far as heat trained…. I get what she is saying. Damaged hair loses all ability to even appear healthy. Heat trained hair may not revert back to curls but the hair itself is still healthy; few split ends, natural shine/sheen, retains moisture, minimal to no breakage. It’s possible.
Damaged hair does not lose all ability to even appear healthy. There are lots of products and things used for heat styling and just for hair care in general that coat strands (rather they be burnt to a crisp or thriving) to give them the APPEARANCE of health. The hair is not still healthy, it merely looks desirable to the owner of said hair lol Please please do research on how various styling tools can give the appearance of silky shiny healthy hair, when in actuality it damages the hair. I think this comes down to the fact that everyone needs to accept that it’s damaging to some degree. Heat training is a nice name for Burning the hair so it never curls. But there’s nothing wrong with liking your hair being burned. If burned hair is more manageable to you and this lifestyle fits you better, don’t feel the need to explain it to someone else or validate it. It’s only in situations like these when you’re trying to state that burning hair is not damaging hair, when it makes everyone think that you actually understand how damaging it is and you just want to tell yourself that it’s not so. If you feel the need to make it seem less bad or explain it to others you either shouldn’t do it, or should care less about the what others think of how stupid the term “heat training” is. Hell, lol if you wanna burn your hair it is YOUR hair. Just don’t call scorched hair healthy just because it LOOKS healthy and seems healthy.
it ain’t possible
Saying ‘heat training’ is different to ‘heat damage,’ is like having a ‘heart attack’ and calling it ‘your heart is doing a dance.’ Whatever you call it, the result is still the same. The author is a bit deluded. Your hair is equally as damaged no matter what you call it.
Favorite comment! Hilarious
I guess everyone has their own opinion. But I think, if you have naturally curly hair and you relaxed or flat ironed or do anything that alters or changes your curl pattern. You have damaged your natural hair pattern. Your hair is damaged.
I agree. Many people who chemically relax, texlax or use keratin are also fooled into thinking they have healthy hair. It may “look” healthy but it’s not. I’ve had all 3 treatments. I loved how my hair looked when it was processed but always knew it was damaging. Heat trained = heat damaged. Many people are clueless. Maybe this article will open their eyes.
Girl bye… Face the facts, ya hair is damaged
‘Heat training’. I don’t like this term we’ve started using, sounds very similar to ‘relaxed’. Our hair isn’t stressed, it’s naturally curly. Our hair isn’t unruly or wild, it’s naturally curly. It doesn’t neat ‘training’ with heat, what a sad way to think about using a blow dryer/ straightener. It’s just temporary straightening. And if you straighten it with heat lots and it stays straight, it’s not trained, it’s damaged- because our hair is not wild or stressed, but naturally curly. If it used to be curly, and it stops being curly, you have damaged it, not trained it. But it might still be okay and look good.
If that patch of hair has always been straight/ straighter, then it’s nothing to do with the heat, obviously. Maybe you only just noticed it’s straighter than the rest?
*need not neat. Freudian slip? 😛 Curly or straight, our hair is great 🙂 xox
My leave out section when I wear weaves is heat damaged but the hair is still long and strong (relatively) but I know in fact it is damaged…no sense lying to myself. Once the hair doesn’t revert back, the hair is permanently altered. The writer may not experience the harsh effects of heat damage but writing an article explaining why her hair isn’t damaged is a delusion that she needs to snap out of.
Like pretty much everyone else commenting, it’s just six of one half a dozen of the other. I don’t care how healthy my hair is, if part of it or all of it doesn’t curl back after I straighten it, it’s damaged, and you will see tears shedding from my eyes. Heat damage and heat trained is the same thing.
What the author is specifically experiencing is protein damage (yet she is romanticizing it as being heat trained)
Tonya McKay, on CurlyNikki, says this-
Protein Damage
Hair strands are complex biomaterials that derive the bulk of their properties from the keratin protein structures in the cuticle and cortex. Thermal degradation from styling tools can occur via softening of the keratin, disruption of the three-dimensional structures due to water loss, and conformational changes in the protein. All of these changes can adversely affect the strength, elasticity, curl, shine, and texture of the hair.
https://www.curlynikki.com/2014/03/the-struggle-what-heat-styling-is-doing.html
There are different kinds of damage, they don’t all look the same, but it’s still damage. When I hear someone say that their hair is heat trained, straight hair was usually their goal to begin with. For the author to say that her hair is heat trained when she’s natural, well, it simply sounds like the author is in denial of the fact that she disrupted the keratin protein structures of her hair due to heat.
Well I have never had my hair relaxed before but I straighten my hair a lot and I can agree with her. My hair looks healthier than people who claim they are naturals. But my hair doesn’t stay bone straight when I don’t straighten it for a while it starts to curl in to loose curls rather than tight curl.
All I can say to this is naturals always seem to have problem with other people straightening natural black hair and I’ve had to explain to a lot of people that my hair is really healthy.
So really what I’m trying to say is my hair is not damaged. I like my straight hair not because my natural hair is hassle because honestly straightening my hair takes just as long to deal with than my natural hair It’s not convenice it’s just how I like my hair.
You are probably one of the people who think shine=health, there are so many products out there to make hair “look” healthy, when it isn’t. Appearing to be is not the same as a state of being.
I agree I am natural as well and straighten my hair on a regular … why because it’s my preference … easy to style … again my preference. My hair is much thicker/healthier this way compared to chemicals relaxers. With that being said my hair is very healthy …. minimal split ends, it holds moisture and little breakage and yes shine and NO its not due to products (I use minimum products ) no product junkie here. It’s also growing like crazy almost bra strap length… if this is damaged hair then I am doing wonderful…and I love my natural hair!!! Being natural is a choice it doesn’t mean I have to wear a Afro!!!!
No disrespect, you asked, so I’ll answer. In my opinion, there is no such thing as heat trained, your hair has been damaged, altered, or whatever and it will not return to its natural state. If you train something, shouldn’t it be able to show you how it used to act and then show you how it acts now? Shouldn’t you be able to re-train or un-train, if un-train is even a word, but I hope you get the point, I’m just asking & stating. That or those strand(s) have been changed forever. They don’t have the ability to go from one state back to the other, it’s just straight now. Just because it still shines, isn’t dry or breaking, doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem. Once again, not judging, just stating my asked opinion.
do we consider our hair pets? I mean we have to ‘train’ our hair? how in the….a person ‘train’ hair? never understood that…
Uhh, there’s an article on here that talks about shiny hair doesn’t necessarily mean healthy hair. I think this might be true for this situation. It’s kind of like saying my relaxed end that are now permanently straight is still healthy because it’s shiny….i guess what she means to say is it looks and feels healthy to the naked eye.
I think the term heat damaged is used because the heat from hot tools damaged the natural CURL pattern. Heat damage isn’t referring to the health of the hair, but the fact that the heat did damage to beautiful curls.
Ok. O_O
My reaction exactly. xD
Okaaaaay, then…..
Tomato, tomato. It’s still one in the same to me no matter how you try to differentiate between the two. If you can’t untrain it or go back to the original state of your hair, sounds like damage.
OAN, your hair looks super pretty in the top pic!
I can not believe she talked herself into believing that natural hair isn’t damaged if it doesn’t revert?????? Y’all will do anything to hold on to some length smh!!! I don’t respect this tom foolery. But the thirsty chicks going her because she has a loose texture and it’s long BUT DAMAGED!!
You are being a bit rude and mean towards the author she stated that she cut her ends anyway so relax it doesn’t seem she was holding on to those ends. I do think heat damage ends look fried and dry and everyone who straightens their natural hair ends don’t end up like that.
If the hair still appears healthy then why cut it? It’s not like it looks, fried, dry, brittle and full of splits. Also, the fact is, since her natural hair is of a looser texture maybe that’s why heat damaged hair can blend in with her hair vs someone with super tight curls and coils where it would be too obvious.
My sister has super tight coils and she had heat damaged hair but when I looked at the damaged ends, there was not one split end and it appeared healthy with a natural sheen even without products. The only reason why she cut if off was because it was just too obvious. There was no way for her to blend the hair. So I don’t think it’s anything complicated it’s just about aesthetics. If it looks good to you then rock on. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to hold on to one’s length. It’s just simply their preference to like long hair 🙂 Live and let live.
you seem so angry… is everything okay?
That’s Tina Smith for you. Lol. You should see some of her older posts.
Kelseys hair is beautiful. She doesnt consider it damaged,so why should i. What do you call hair that constantly breaks off,is dull and perpetuately dry without the use of heat or chemicals? to me thats damaged hair. The term heat damage wasnt much in use before natural hair gained popularity. Now some naturals want to beat up on others by pointing fingers. Heat damage, altered, heat trained….whatever. She clearly doesnt have bald spots, no breakage or excessive splitends….while some of you have all three without the use of heat or chemicals. So…what do you call that…Ill save you some time…its called damage.
I still say it’s heat damage, it may not be severe but it is still damaged but I also say to each his own
Scientifically speaking both are damaged. I don’t know why the author is scared to admit that. No use skirt tailing around it trying to rashionalize something else. If you don’t want to cut your straight ends because you cant live without long hair fine, its your hair rock it how you wish but lets not live in the land of fairy tales. I think because you wear your hair in curly manipulated styles you can get by with it. I don’t really wear those styles on a regular basis as I consider them too much work and effort to be wasted on work, errands etc. If my hair (4b/c) had straight ends from heat damage you could see it from the moon because I rock afros and you ain’t hiding no straight ends in an Afro. They would have to go immediately
Lol exaclty, curly hair that no longer curls means chemical bonds have been broken…shiny doesn’t mean healthy, jist means light is easily reflecting off the hair. Especually the straighter or more compact the cuticles the more hair will reflect light, so um yeah straight ends will shine away. Damage is damage
“If my hair (4b/c) had straight ends from heat damage you could see it from the moon because I rock afros and you ain’t hiding no straight ends in an Afro.”
Haha yes! I think people who wear manipulated styles can get away with it. I also have 4b/c hair, and i prefer wash and go styles or stretched afro styles. A chemical change is a chemical change. Heat can chemically change hair.
Hair not reverting is damage, plain and simple. Heat training is a myth.