Afraid of Heat Damage!

Hey ladies! So for Christmas I got this cute flat iron from Remington(brand). I hardly ever flat iron my hair, but I thought I'd finally give it a try on a few small sections of hair. What worried me is the fact that the flat iron goes up to 400 degrees & there's no heat setting. So I gave the section ONE quick swoop with the flat iron & my hair was really, really straight! I mean like fresh relaxer straight!! lol I got so scared I immediately dunked the section under running water and loaded it up with conditioner. Luckily it reverted back rather quickly. But I noticed that the section felt a little thin and my curls were a bit stretched. I really want to rock my hair flat ironed for a few days but I'm so afraid I'll get heat damage, & I'll have to do another BC! ADVICE PLEASE!! lol

I"m so afraid of messing with my naps I can't risk it. I'm not sure how much it takes before hair is damaged by heat so I don't even chance it. If you do flat iron, make sure you use a heat protectant. I have seen natural hair permanently rendered straight (damaged) through repeated use of flat irons.

yes girl PLEASE make sure you use a heat protectant..some of my curls didn't revert back and i didn't even flat iron much..but i did get a dominican blowout once hmmm..i had to do a second BC a few days ago

I'm so scared of heat damage that I won't even discuss pressing my hair out. So I would have to agree with the other ladies - use a heat protectant and also don't use a lot of heat. If your iron gets really hot then make sure you only run the iron once over your hair and don't squeeze the iron when you run it over your hair.

PanaR3dd wrote:yes girl PLEASE make sure you use a heat protectant..some of my curls didn't revert back and i didn't even flat iron much..but i did get a dominican blowout once hmmm..i had to do a second BC a few days ago

WOW That sucks. When I went to the Dominicans they jacked my hair up too. She was combing my hair out with a fine tooth comb. I was so mad, now I don't trust ANYONE in my hair. Which sucks because I got amazing results with a Dominican wash & set. Idk how they do it, I tried rollersetting myself but I just dont have the patience lol

Also when I washed my hair I noticed a few strands that wouldn't revert. SMH I'm not messing with that flat iron again. It's upsetting because I only use heat 1x every 2 months. And when I do my hair comes out all big(which I absolutely adore) but sometimes I want it to be smooth not poofy.

Idk how they do it, I tried rollersetting myself but I just dont have the patience lol

Also when I washed my hair I noticed a few strands that wouldn't revert. SMH I'm not messing with that flat iron again. It's upsetting because I only use heat 1x every 2 months. And when I do my hair comes out all big(which I absolutely adore) but sometimes I want it to be smooth not poofy.

I've been rollersetting my hair lately with magnetic rollers with pretty good results. I watched lots of ladies on youtube and after much practice, I'm finally feeling more comfortable with it. I don't even bother with the roots because I like it kind of big and curly.

As for the flat ironing...I gave myself heat damage last summer. I wasn't careful and tried to do it on hair that was not freshly washed. It also did not have heat protectant on it. Now it lays straight in the front and won't curl. I have flat ironed about once a month since then without any heat damage. After "the incident" I read that deep conditioning and keeping hair moisturized helps to prevent damage when you flat iron. I don't skip on the heat protectant now and deep condition at least 1x a week. I also only do 1 pass on each section with a rat tail comb. HTH

What do you ladies think is a good heat protectant?

I will give this much advice.

I wanted to straighten my hair but i didn't do it b/c like u , i was scared of heat damage. Well to test my hair out, i got a sew in with straight hair but i didnt get a full sew in. I left a small piece of my hair out and had that flat ironed... well ... i sufffered heat damage on the small piece of hair but damnit it was better than suffering it through my whole head.

Well the reason i think i suffered heat damage was because i passed the flat iron over it every other day... not smart at all... Ne way all im sayin is try it that way and see what your hair does.