Questions for ladies who regularly use heat

[Glib Gurl]

I am Type 4 relaxed hair. My hair styling is a mess. I think I'm going to have to break down and start using heat for styling purposes. I mean, there's no point in having hair if I can't look good, right? I am sick of buns and ponytails . . . it's time for me to get purty.

So, if you regularly use heat, I'm wondering --

1. What form(s) of heat do you use? (blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, etc.)
2. How often do you use heat?
3. To what extent do you use heat? (e.g., just to bump the ends and give it body?)
4. What products do you use to protect your hair from the heat?
5. Has using heat hindered your hair growth/health?
6. Any other thoughts about using heat???

 

[GodsPromises]

Don't do it girl please don't do it.

Have you though about going back to rollersetting your hair. What has worked for me is:

After washing wet setting with flexirods. I am loving them because you don't have to be a perfect with the set for them to come out nice. Even when I don't get a sprial set it is still nice.

Every evening, I spray my hair with my homemade moistureze spray, put a little castor oil on my ends and roll with flexirods and in the morning take out and finger comb. Haven't had a bad this once this week since doing this.

 

[locabouthair]

You know we are gonna tell you to stay away form the heat!

Have you tried using steam rollers? Lots of members here use them, they provide moisture for the hair and arent damaging.

LadyR's idea sounds good too.

 

[ClassicBeauty]

I say avoid the direct heat as much as possible. I'm natural now, but when I was relaxed I did roller wraps about once a week (sometimes once every two weeks). That's the best way to have bounce and bumped ends without frying your hair. If you are concerned about wrapping, you can always roll it up or use some of the other wrapping methods on this board.

The theory that I live by is that we can't take heat, chemicals, and color. Our hair will often times be damaged. I say pick one of the three to have healthy hair. (Now that I'm natural, I flat-iron, so I pick heat. When I was relaxed, I used very little direct heat, so then I picked chemicals. I only flat-ironed my hair when it was relaxed on special occassions to get that sleek look.)

Good luck to you.

ETA: a roller wrap is when you rollerset your hair and sit under the dryer until it is dry. Once it dries, you unroll the hair and brush the curls out with a wide tooth comb and then a round tip brush. You then wrap it and pin it in place. After that you sit under the dryer for a little longer (or just wrap it up and go to bed without the pins). Some people don't let their rollerset dry all the way, but I had to in order to avoid frizziness/puffiness.

 

[localhost]

I am Type 4 relaxed hair. My hair styling is a mess. I think I'm going to have to break down and start using heat for styling purposes. I mean, there's no point in having hair if I can't look good, right? I am sick of buns and ponytails . . . it's time for me to get purty.

So, if you regularly use heat, I'm wondering --

1. What form(s) of heat do you use? (blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, etc.) Blow dryer on a warm setting for initial drying; cool setting for sealing
2. How often do you use heat? 2x per week since I work out 4-5x per week
3. To what extent do you use heat? (e.g., just to bump the ends and give it body?) Just to dry it so I can get on with my life
4. What products do you use to protect your hair from the heat? Chi silk infusion - this is a godsend!
5. Has using heat hindered your hair growth/health? - No, it has helped tremendously. Breakage is very minimal and my hair is more responsive to moisture and I'm able to comb through it root to tip very easily.
6. Any other thoughts about using heat??? I don't think heat is the devil. I've been around long enough to try various things with my hair, and I've found something that is sustainable and works for my hair. I've learned how to properly blow dry my hair, seal in moisture, and add strength, and use heat to my advantage. Every Wednesday and Sunday, I wash and deep condition to ensure my hair is getting enough moisture, and I remoisturize after using the blowdryer. The best advice I can give is to try something and see how it works for you. If your hair reacts negatively, change it, tweak it, or let it go altogher.

My responses are in blue

 

[charmtreese]

I've been rollersetting twice a week, with med/cool settings under my bonnet dryer with no problem. However I do not use direct heat at all (no blowdryers, curling irons or flatirons).

 

[MissLawyerLady]

Glib Girl,

I am a 3c/ 4a relaxed. Prior to finding LHCF this summer I didn’t do much to my hair. I have worn donuts/buns since I was a teen (I’m now mid-30’s) just b/c I was lazy. I washed/condished when the mood hit (usually 7-10 days) and never did extras (like pre-poos, moisturizing, sealing) so basically I had no regimen. I combed and brushed constantly and for the past 7 years I have faithfully relaxed every 5 weeks (I will be changing that to 8 weeks in 2008- I hope my stylists doesn’t pass out).

However, despite my lack of hair care and my too frequent relaxing and constant trimming, my hair has been at the top of my shoulder-blade length and grown and I only attribute that to the fact that I do not use a lot of heat.

I blow dry on a low setting, no attachments ever, by taking small sections of hair and holding taut (not pulling) while waiving the dryer up and down the shaft. I keep my ends in my hand to protect them and only dry them about 85%. I’ve been doing this method for the past 4 or so years. In addition, I only curl on hair that is freshly washed/condished, so only once in a wash cycle. My ceramic iron goes up to a heat setting of 30 but I never put it past 12. If for some rare reason I curl more than once in my wash cycle (and I refuse to do it if its been more than 2 days past a wash) I only put my iron on 7. DH asks why I even buy a curling iron since I never use them!

I don’t airdry very pretty so I understand the need for some heat but definitely do not overdo it. Maybe you can hotcurl every other wash cycle? HTH

 

[shunta]

I've been rollersetting twice a week, with med/cool settings under my bonnet dryer with no problem. However I do not use direct heat at all (no blowdryers, curling irons or flatirons).

Same here. I use indirect heat very often, but no direct heat (which we all know can do a number on the hair).

 

[SvelteVelvet]

1. What form(s) of heat do you use? (blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, etc.)
Whenever I wash (every 2 weeks, sometimes I go 1 week) I'll airdry then flat iron. I always use a leave-in and seal with oil before drying.
2. How often do you use heat?
Just after I wash, (every 2 weeks or 1 week) in between washes I'll wrap or pin-curl every night to hold up the style
3. To what extent do you use heat? (e.g., just to bump the ends and give it body?)
Since it's usually after I wash I part starting at the back (as if greasing my scalp) and go root to tip through my whole head to straighten, smooth AND give body.
4. What products do you use to protect your hair from the heat?
I feel the leave-in and oil sealing to dry gives moisture protection then I spray each section of hair with Silk Elements Heat Protectant spray
5. Has using heat hindered your hair growth/health?
I don't feel it has, this has been my regimen for the entire year and my hair is the longest and thickest it's ever been.
6. Any other thoughts about using heat???
Moderation and balance of moisture and protection is key to using it safely.

 

[mrsmccreight]

I am Type 4 relaxed hair. My hair styling is a mess. I think I'm going to have to break down and start using heat for styling purposes. I mean, there's no point in having hair if I can't look good, right? I am sick of buns and ponytails . . . it's time for me to get purty.

So, if you regularly use heat, I'm wondering --

1. What form(s) of heat do you use? (blow dryer, curling iron, flat iron, etc.)
2. How often do you use heat?
3. To what extent do you use heat? (e.g., just to bump the ends and give it body?)
4. What products do you use to protect your hair from the heat?
5. Has using heat hindered your hair growth/health?
6. Any other thoughts about using heat???

1. I use a blow dryer and a curling iron to straighten my hair
2.I use heat twice a week, each time I wash.
3. I use the blow dryer to dry my hair, and I use the curling iron to straighten it.
4. Right now I'm using a leave-in from biofusion.
5. Heat has not hindered my hair growth or health. My hair is the healthiest it's been in a while.
6. Only use heat when u wash and dc, use a heat protectant, and don't use hight heat with the blow dryer and use the lowest temp with the curling/flat iron that will straighten your hair. HTH!

 

[Glib Gurl]

i knew y'all would be like "don't do it!" *lol*

I don't blowdry my hair (except for emergencies) so I'm not putting any heat on my head as it is. I am just so sick and tired of taking all of this care with my hair but then not being able to *enjoy* my hair . . . I have no style whatsoever. Even when I do my overnight rollersets (with flexirods or something similar) I still feel like my head is one big puffball.

I want a bob, dangit! I want to be sleek with gentle curls! I will keep playing around with rollersets and wrapping (I've tried cross-wrapping and I just can't the hang of it).

 

[GodsPromises]

Gib,

I know that I was the first to say don't do it but now I think that I'm changing my mind. Wednesday, I washed and airdried 80% then blowdried and flat iron and my hair looked like a whole different head.

I remember my hairdresser saying that some heads need heat and I'm beginning to think that my head is one of them. Since I wash twice a week I am thinking about: saturday - wash, rollerset, doom dryer and flat iron and then wednesday - do what I did this wednesday keeping a eye on my hair.

I will also do wet flexi rod set as well for a change.

I am starting to think that heat in moderation isn't bad as long as you know your hair.