Heat Training Support Thread

Also here is something I wrote on another board but i think is applicable here too:

Heat training for me it is using heat on a consistent basis to make the hair more malleable. The curl pattern doesn't have to change but it can. The trained hair is easier to manipulate and shape.

~Heat Training/Damage Spectrum~

when wet

No change>>>curl elongation>>>waviness of original texture>>>>>loose waves>>>Straight

the more removed it is from the natural curl pattern the more "damaged" it is IMO but it doesnt mean that you cannot retain and grow hair once it has happened.

Desirable heat trained hair usually consists of the first 3 categories.

Brittanynic16 and Longhairdontcare2011 from youtube have what id consider the 3rd level of heat training: Waviness of original texture.

YouTube - Wet Heat Trained Hair

Britney also has level 4 and 5 on her ends.She plans on getting rid of them.

YouTube - #12:Texture of my wet natural hair with conditioner in it.

Disclaimer: This is all my conjecture and has not been hairboard approved.

this is just my take on heat training. critique and dissect as you wish.

Napp, thanks for such a detailed posts with pics and everything. That's super helpful

right now i am 10 months post texlax and i would love to heat train all this new growth, but i don't know anything about it and my hair is fine...so i am afraid. i am going to be on the lookout for the book.

my stylist is even trying to learn more about it, so my goal is to heat train next year when i am 8-10 months post relaxer again.

i will be watching this thread and hoping for more information so i can learn about this thermal method of relaxing my curl pattern.

thanks for this bri.

Brit , you are so awesome to do this. I have a year before I can do anything, but I have subbed to this page for future use. for all the ladies who supplied pics and information on their regimen.

I have fine hair and because of this I have tried to go natural a few times. Once I see a little length I usually relax again. I am considering this method so that I can transition but wear my hair straight majority of the time. Do I sound like someone who needs to do this? I am going to youtube to check out the videos I really want to grow my hair out as long as possible but I don't think relaxers give me the look I am going for.

Thank you all for your positive energy it is much appreciated.

I posted a short update of my wet hair and how it is turning out.

It is here if you'd like to check it out
YouTube - Wet Hair Update January 2011

PoisedNPolished said:

I have fine hair and because of this I have tried to go natural a few times. Once I see a little length I usually relax again. I am considering this method so that I can transition but wear my hair straight majority of the time. Do I sound like someone who needs to do this? I am going to youtube to check out the videos I really want to grow my hair out as long as possible but I don't think relaxers give me the look I am going for.

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You can absolutely heat train. You're just going to use a lower temperature.

I'm currently texlaxed but have am heavily considering transitioning to heat trained natural in the future. I will definately keep checking back in to learn more so keep updating ladies esp those who have or are gaining experience

brittany, I'm a huge fan of your vids on YT. your facial expressions are priceless!

I hope I helped some people and opened up some new ideas on the topic of heat training.n i really want to emphasize that i dont think the hair texture has to change drastically for hair to be heat trained.

my hair is still VERY curly/nappy and i can do styles that i did with my raw hair. i do not even think the curl has changed that much, but the regular heat made my hair more porous.my hair has a very odd texture that i cannot describe and i havent seen many on the board with hair like this. its very puffy takes forever and a day just to feel damp. with no products it easily can resemble a 4b texture. but when i put a heavy product i got loose waves and curls like in my shingling picture. now, when i wet it it gets wet and clumps together easier. i can wash n go and my hair looks great IMO .it detangles easier and takes a shorter amount of time than my raw hair which i could never wash n go because my hair wouldnt absorb product at all. it just sat on my hair.

if you can tell in my raw pics the water is sittin on my hair in huge droplets meanwhile in the other two pictures its damp w/ product. you can see the product but it is absorbing into the hair making it look more relaxed. when fully dry i dont think anyone, hair board or not, could tell i use heat on a regular basis.

i do think that this new level of porosity has its issues. although my hair took forever to get damp when it did it stayed wet for days/hours. my hair felt like wire and was very hard to break. it didnt know what a split end was. my hais breaks more often than before the heat usage but it never really was an issue. ill admit when i started heat training i was in a IDGAF mode so i pretty much didnt care what happened. so that is why the increased breakage and splits didnt bother me plus it never noticeably got in the way of me retaining growth. and i still didnt bother to DC my hair i am going to try better in 2011

alive said:

brittany, I'm a huge fan of your vids on YT. your facial expressions are priceless!

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Thank you. I have to keep things interesting.

I just love your siggy....it just POPS out atcha.
Need me a red background

So I watched your vids and subscribed ... I see you use a higher temp on the roots then wait til the iron cools down to do the length... I wish I knew what temp I needed for my hair. I think I am going to wait until I transition a good 8-12 months before I try this. I will be researching and getting good growth until then. I am 3.5 months post right now

PoisedNPolished said:

So I watched your vids and subscribed ... I see you use a higher temp on the roots then wait til the iron cools down to do the length... I wish I knew what temp I needed for my hair. I think I am going to wait until I transition a good 8-12 months before I try this. I will be researching and getting good growth until then. I am 3.5 months post right now

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I started at 3.5-4 months post and I'll agree too wait 8-12 months. I think at that point you can better see how far you are training.

Thanks for this thread. I am starting to transition and I will be using heat to help me do this. I want to wear my hair straight the majority of the time. Watching this thread and your videos with interest.

I'm happy you ladies have a support thread. It's not something I want to do but if it works for you I say do it! HHG to you all

Hi,

Just wanted to thank you for starting this post. Im texturised and am happy with my texturised hair but I am keeping a close eye on this thread as I am going to heat train my little sister's hair. My mom was going to give her a relaxer, I ofcourse stopped her and told her that I would handle her hair. She is natural, I flat ironed her hair this weekend and she loved it. Although it reverted in 2 days, I think with regular heat use it will become easier to straighten and not revert so easily. I live in the Caribbean, and even my texturised/relaxed hair reverts easily because of the weather.

I think this is the best way for me to take care of her hair as her ends are prone to ssks and splits even with regualr trims and protective styling (her hair is usualy in braids or twist never left open in a poof).



I will take pics of my sister's hair journey and share here with you guys.

Thanks again and HHG to all!!

Thanks Brittany for starting this thread. I love your videos and I have started to heat train because I have lost so much hair trying to detangle my tightly coiled hair. I only flat iron twice a month and it has become a much better regimen for my hair. My aunt has waist length hair and has been pressing her hair for years so clearly she's doing something right. You and longhairdontcare2011 are true inspirations of how to use heat in the right way.

Keep doing what you're doing!!

So....I guess I'm getting ready to slightly heat train my hair. I have no intentions on changing my texture but I'm tired of my hair reverting the day after I flat iron. When I was natural and getting my hair pressed once a month, my hair lasted about a week before it reverted (unless I worked out). I would like for my 3 hour flat ironing jobs to last longer than a day. So I guess I will post my updates in here for anyone who wants to train their hair to stay straight longer but not necessarily drastically change their texture.

Love this thread as a future heat trainer!

I know a lot of ladies are not a fan of this, but I use grease to straighten my natural hair. It has helped "heat-train" my hair. I currently use Ultra Sheen Creme Satin Pres (white jar with light yellow writing). Grease is the only product that keeps my hair from reverting. Whenever I wash my hair, it goes back to normal. I don't have any permanently straight pieces in my hair and do not want that either.

I feel like heat training is more about helping your hair to straighten easier and it's more for naturals who prefer to wear their hair straight majority of the time.

For the ladies that have started already, would it be possible to post your reggies and even tempratures? It would also be interesting to know to what degree you have kept your texture whether by design or not as I see a lot of people are interested in retaining as much texture as possible.

I will start with myself I have 4a/b hair that now probably looks more 4a ish. I blow dry once a month on medium (did high the first few times)and cool shot the ends. I started 6 months ago and would like to retain as much of my texture so I am starting to ease back a bit on the high tempratures. My main reason was to reduce shrinkage and ssks now I am retaining most of my growth where as previously I was cutting my hair constantly due to ssks.

I am also curious to know if anyone had experienced reversion of texture over time if heat wasn't used over a period of time.

Thank you kindly.

No Vitapoint is a good product for straightening too and it gives excellent shine.

Poohbear said:

I know a lot of ladies are not a fan of this, but I use grease to straighten my natural hair. It has helped "heat-train" my hair. I currently use Ultra Sheen Creme Satin Pres (white jar with light yellow writing). Grease is the only product that keeps my hair from reverting. Whenever I wash my hair, it goes back to normal. I don't have any permanently straight pieces in my hair and do not want that either.

I feel like heat training is more about helping your hair to straighten easier and it's more for naturals who prefer to wear their hair straight majority of the time.

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i use grease for pressing too! apex pressing oil is my baby daddy! its the lightest most non greasy grease ive ever used! plus it has no smell! i hear no crackling when i use it and it gives the ultimate blang blang and swang swang!



my hair stays bone straight for weeks with this joint!

I knew I could count on Napp and Pooh for notes and products. I have to wait for my TWA to grow out and test your techniques. Thanks again, ladies!

yods said:

For the ladies that have started already, would it be possible to post your reggies and even tempratures? It would also be interesting to know to what degree you have kept your texture whether by design or not as I see a lot of people are interested in retaining as much texture as possible.

I will start with myself I have 4a/b hair that now probably looks more 4a ish. I blow dry once a month on medium (did high the first few times)and cool shot the ends. I started 6 months ago and would like to retain as much of my texture so I am starting to ease back a bit on the high tempratures. My main reason was to reduce shrinkage and ssks now I am retaining most of my growth where as previously I was cutting my hair constantly due to ssks.

I am also curious to know if anyone had experienced reversion of texture over time if heat wasn't used over a period of time.

Thank you kindly.

Click to expand...

i see i forgot to metion this

For the first 6 months i blowdried on high and flat irorned at 400 degrees 2 times a month
once i started to press my hair i would blow dry on high,press at 400, and flat iron at 365.

i was very awful with my hair i think i used 3-4 passes at times with each hot tool. my hair doesnt get bone straight in one or two passes. i like my hair ultra straight. now i try to use 2 passes of my hot comb and one slow pass of my flat iron. sometimes i do more

i say work up slowly and deep condition alot. especially if you do not know how much heat your hair can take. i already knew that my hair was somewhat resistant to heat. i did not deep condition when i was doing this either i dont recommend that either......

lol at poohbear and napp about to take back back to the old school methods. After spending so much £££ on natural products in 2010 it will be hilarious if grease becomes the magic staple

oh well off to the store I go then

So um, cough, um, are there any other products I should pick up?

Heatlaxed ladies: When you do your twists (if you still do your twists), do the ends stay? I mean, are y'all still doing twist outs?

Also, for the most part, does all of your hair texture loosen the same way? or do you have looser parts, medium parts, and then kinky parts (or is something done wrong if it ends up like this)?

TIA.

Poohbear said:

I know a lot of ladies are not a fan of this, but I use grease to straighten my natural hair. It has helped "heat-train" my hair. I currently use Ultra Sheen Creme Satin Pres (white jar with light yellow writing). Grease is the only product that keeps my hair from reverting. Whenever I wash my hair, it goes back to normal. I don't have any permanently straight pieces in my hair and do not want that either.

I feel like heat training is more about helping your hair to straighten easier and it's more for naturals who prefer to wear their hair straight majority of the time.

Click to expand...

Hey PoohBear,
How are you using Ultrasheen? I got it a few months ago--I think based on your recommendation, but maybe I didn't use enough...Do dab on each piece of hair you flat iron or put it on in big sections...?

Thanks Brittany for starting this thread. I will begin my first session of heat training next weekend on wash day.

I will be using only a blow dryer as opposed to blow dry/flat iron. My intent is to reduce the amount of ssk's, knots and tangles I get during each wash session.

I feel like after detangling my hair, washing and moisturizing, my ends simply wrap up around each other, defeating my detangling session. It is so frustrating my hair is extremely dense, thick and kinky 4b. I will be using heat 2x a month to begin with...2x to quickly reduce the amount of ssk's and knots in my hair.

Once I am satisfied with the reduction of ssk's and knots, i will probably reduce my usage to 1x per month. I don't care if my hair shrinks, i just want all these ssk's gone. I feel like my hair growth has been stagnant for the past 2 months because I feel as though I am ripping through my hair to fight these knots. My retention is not as good as I'd like it to be and I hope that by lightly heat training. I can slowly begin to retain my length again