Heat Damage

HOW DOES HEAT DAMAGE AFFECT YOUR NATURAL HAIR?

Natural hair when it is exposed to excessive heat can cause devastating effects to your hair.` Once this happens, your hair will be dry, brittle, lackluster and without much moisture.  Natural hair can sustain heat up to 450 degrees before it burns or becomes damaged. Be careful in the devices and the settings that you set on these devices to straighten your hair.

WHAT ARE SOME CA– USES OF HEAT DAMAGE?

Heat damage can occur due to flat ironing, blow drying or curling your hair with a curling wand.  Most commonly it can happen with excessive passes with a flat iron or curling wand. The stories I have heard is that the stylist passes the flat iron three or more times in order to straighten the hair to their liking.  If your stylist is not familiar with maintaining natural hair in order to prevent hair damage down the line; you will need to stress that you want to be able to wash your hair and have your curls back. Also inquire what heat protectant do they normally use for naturals.

HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR HAIR GET BACK TO ITS HEALTHY STATE?

There are protein treatments on the market that claim to restore your curls from heat damage.  There are other methods on YouTube that have the same claim. These tactics help to make your damaged hair look better, however they do not fully help recover your hair from heat damage.  The only thing to get your hair back to its healthy state is to simply cut it.

WHAT CAN I DO TO PREVENT HEAT DAMAGE TO MY HAIR?

1. Use a Heat Protectant.  A heat protectant will adds as a buffer to your hair.  In the natural hair community coconut, grapeseed and argan oil are all recommended natural heat protectants for natural hair.  There are products that are specifically designed to be a heat protectant. I would Google the reviews to see what the public recommends.
2. Limit the number of times you have your hair straightened.
3. Make sure the device, (flat irons, curling irons, handheld dryer) is set on a setting that is  appropriate for your hair. Don’t use straightening devices set beyond 450 degrees.  Also, if you have fine hair then you should read the manual to see what the recommended setting for your hair type.