Natural/Transitioning Hair and Blow Drying

[Crackers Phinn]

Hey Ladies,

I'm transitioning to natural and am really digging the texture of my 4A/B hair. Problem is I know that my hair has grown over the last few months but every time I take my photos to update my album -shrinkage makes my hair look exactly the same length.

I have not used heat in my hair for any reason over the last 6 months. I have read stories here about women whose hair lost its coils/texture after one wrong move with a blowdryer/ straightening comb.

I have found a Dominican salon (a few cities away from me) and will probably be making an appointment sometime this month for a blow-out, my questions are:

1. have any naturals or transitioning ladies had any bad experiences with their hair not reverting back after a blow out?
2. Are there any 'safe' ways to use a blow dryer in natural hair that won't cause damage?

My purpose for wanting to straighten my hair is really just to document the length every two months or so. Not for everyday wear.

Thanks in advance.

 

[zoya_j]

You can also use a diffuser to blow out your hair to track your length.

 

[caligirl]

I am transitioning (1 year and 4 months now) and I get blowouts every now and then at the Dominican salon. The most important thing is that you find someone with patience. You can not rip through my thick, long transitioning hair with a fine tooth comb (bring a wide tooth comb). Tell them to be gentle when washing it. After you come from the wash bowl, have them blow dry it on MEDIUM heat using a brush (paddle brush or denman). If they use EXTRA HOT heat like they like to do, you'll probably end up with scalp burns and ruin your natural texture.

P.S. Where is the salon located?

 

[Crackers Phinn]

I am transitioning (1 year and 4 months now) and I get blowouts every now and then at the Dominican salon. The most important thing is that you find someone with patience. You can not rip through my thick, long transitioning hair with a fine tooth comb (bring a wide tooth comb). Tell them to be gentle when washing it. After you come from the wash bowl, have them blow dry it on MEDIUM heat using a brush (paddle brush or denman). If they use EXTRA HOT heat like they like to do, you'll probably end up with scalp burns and ruin your natural texture.

P.S. Where is the salon located?

Thanks for the tips.
The name escapes me right now, but the salon is located in Sherman Oaks

 

[Crackers Phinn]

You can also use a diffuser to blow out your hair to track your length.

Zoya,

I did a search on LHCF on diffusers and the most repeated comment seems to be 'How do you use one?'

Before I came to this site I used to use a blowdryer with a comb attachment religiously. I realize now that was bad for my hair. Do you use the diffuser attachment the same way as a comb attachment?

 

[Victorian]

JCoily,
If all you're trying to do is stretch out the hair to see how long it is, you should be able to do it without blowdrying, at least for one little section. When I do my length checks, I take the section of hair I want to measure/stretch, and comb/brush the curl out of it while it's wet. If you use a small section, it should dry pretty quickly while isolated, and you can just pull it taught to see how long it is. That's what I did in my progress pics that are in the LHCF gallery. I've only used heat once on my hair since my BC, but I didn't straighten it completely, just enough to get my graduation cap on

But I will let you know that I didn't shy away from the blowdryer when I was transitioning. Not one bit I always detangled well before blowdrying, and used leave-in and heat protectant. I avoided drying my ends directly, and just concentrated on drying the roots straight. I did this weekly for several months of my transition, and my hair was alright. It's healthier now that I do daily con washes and airdry all the time, but when I transitioning I kinda just had to do what I had to do. My hair didn't die or anything. As long as you're not using super extreme heat, and the hair is protected and handled gently, I don't think getting one blowout is going to ruin your hair.

 

[dija23]

Hey everyone, after months of reading your posts I finally decided to join!

I've been transitioning for about 8 months now. My last relaxer was right b4 Thanksgiving (04). Almost the entire time though I went for blow-outs at my Dominican salon, and my hair has never had a problem reverting when I wash it. Actually, as my hair grows out more, the humidity here in Miami pretty much frizzes it out a couple of hours after a blow-out. And this is after the super-extreme heat of a Dominican blow-out.

So if I were you, I wouldn't worry about damaging your natural hair. It's pretty strong.

 

[Janet']

JCoily thanks for starting this thread because as an 8th month transitioner, I was wondering that exact same question

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