Using Heat and damaging curl pattern....

Hi Ladies...This is no offense to those who despise using heat, but my concern is why is it such a big deal when people say they flat iron their hair? The usual response I get from my natural friends is that I shouldn't do that because I will ruin my curl pattern. However, I have two curlies in my family. My big sister has naturally curly hair and my niece has the same. Whenever I blow dry their hair AND flat iron it NEVER alters their curl. I see plenty of my friends who are natural and rock the straight look VERY often and when it comes time to wear their hair curly, they have no issues. So my question is why is it such a big deal when someone uses heat? I figure If you use a reasonable amount of heat (not too excessive) and heat protectant products to protect your hair from damaging it, why is it such a big deal to use heat? Ladies what are your thoughts?

I think it's because being 'natural' means different things to different people. I will flat iron my hair in a minute if need be but other people won't touch it. I came to this same conclusion while browsing the Nappurality forum. They have a full forum on anti -heat. On their homepage it states: '...We don't debate the wonders of relaxing and we don't talk about the benefits of chemical or heat straightening on Nappturality because frankly, there aren't any benefits to using high heat or that caustic chemical' I've never had any issuses though.

I read somewhere and saw my friend that was transitioning get heat damage because she was over heating her hair and stylist do not recommend using heat while transitioning to natural either because where natural hair and the perm hair meets the demarcation line it is believed to be fragile and heat can cause damage and breakage .
As far as using heat on fully natural hair nothing wrong with that but once again each time you straighten your natural hair you breaking down it's elasticity and protein bond witch can lead to heat damage witch is where the hair won't revert back for naturals who mostly wear their hair in a natural state that means having to cut the straight ends and start over that's where they are so terrified lol
Hope i didn't offend you yesterday but i wasn't beating mean just stated info i heard , witnessed and i myself wouldn't want to experience but to each's own heat may work for you and not cause any damage

creolebeauty1 wrote:I read somewhere and saw my friend that was transitioning get heat damage because she was over heating her hair and stylist do not recommend using heat while transitioning to natural either because where natural hair and the perm hair meets the demarcation line it is believed to be fragile and heat can cause damage and breakage .
As far as using heat on fully natural hair nothing wrong with that but once again each time you straighten your natural hair you breaking down it's elasticity and protein bond witch can lead to heat damage witch is where the hair won't revert back for naturals who mostly wear their hair in a natural state that means having to cut the straight ends and start over that's where they are so terrified lol
Hope i didn't offend you yesterday but i wasn't beating mean just stated info i heard , witnessed and i myself wouldn't want to experience but to each's own heat may work for you and not cause any damage

Girl no! U didn't offend me at all..It just sparked up an interest in this topic because I have heard this from several people who are naturals who keep encouraging me to do the BC because of THEIR fear of heat damage...I'm really not concerned about heat damage that much because I do regular protein treatments and when school is in affect I only wash my hair twice a month because of my rigorous schedule and it does include pressing it with heat. But since I have been on break I have been washing it excessively this last past month. But no u did not offend me at all. It just sparked interest in this topic.

Okay still becareful with that heat lol

Mandi'sGoneCurly! wrote:I think it's because being 'natural' means different things to different people. I will flat iron my hair in a minute if need be but other people won't touch it. I came to this same conclusion while browsing the Nappurality forum. They have a full forum on anti -heat. On their homepage it states: '...We don't debate the wonders of relaxing and we don't talk about the benefits of chemical or heat straightening on Nappturality because frankly, there aren't any benefits to using high heat or that caustic chemical' I've never had any issuses though.

I just joined that forum and I am going to politely bow out...I don't like that they EXPLICITLY don't support wearing straight hair. My purpose in going natural is being versatile, wearing it curly and str8 whenever I please. And the mere fact that they try to limit their board members to only "kinky" or "curly" styles disturbs me. Geesh. It's really not that serious. If i want to wear my hair str8 I don't want to feel bad for it and shamed for doing it by people I call my supporters..SMH. WOW. How do I rescind my membership?! LMAO! P.S. I am in love with Curly Nikki forum..So far so good!

creolebeauty1 wrote:Okay still becareful with that heat lol

I am. Have u ever tried doing a roller set on your transitioning hair yet? When I was relaxed I used that instead of flat ironing. It works wonders but I still have to sit under the hooded dryer.

I wished I would have found CN first. Those ladies can be outright rude. I stopped getting perms for versatility, not to be shoved right back into another box. CN is the BEST!

Mandi'sGoneCurly! wrote:I wished I would have found CN first. Those ladies can be outright rude. I stopped getting perms for versatility, not to be shoved right back into another box. CN is the BEST!

So true..I'm reading these posts now and I'm disgusted! SMH. Wow.

Im also member of Napturality.com and they seem a little coocoo for cocopuff someone posted on there that if you get relaxers and straighten your hair or something to that effect you are imitating white women smh needless to say i had a whole lot to say because if every black person who relax their hair is starving to be white what about white people who wear curly perms who are they trying to imitate i always forget my password and have to reset it so i don't go on there to often i might just go crazy on someone and have them kick me out lol
No i haven't tried roller set , the only thing i do to my real hair after wash day i cornrow and each day i wear a wig depending on my mood during the week end if i want a bit of variety i would do a up do bun or something my relaxed ends look stringy my roots are so thick it just doesn't look to good i'm only keeping my straight ends until i grow it out enough to do a ponytail without them than in April i'm snipping away than i will try a few styles

I think many women are anti-heat because many naturals began to take care of their hair better once they go natural..and the thought of applying heat and getting damage scares them..I've put alot of work in my hair, and im seeing amazing progress!! and the thought of applying heat and then getting damage that spoils all my hard work kind of scares me too lol..if i want my hair straight I think im going to do a roller set and then wrap it ( i saw mahoganycurls do this and hers turn out real straight too) just to stay on the safe side..

so using heat and not using heat is just a preference..but there's nothing wrong with straight hair, its one of the many styles naturals can do..
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and yea i just check out nappturality.com their definition of napptural is and i quote:

What is "Napptural"?
Napptural means you have 100% unrelaxed or unstraightened hair and wear it out with pride and without extensions.

lol ok you can have straight natural hair and still be natural dudes lol

Ambitious_Tiff wrote:What about the chick with the blond fro?

That's what I'm saying...

i straighten my hair whenever I feel like it (which usually ends up being pretty rare maybe once a month or less) and although I used to fear heat damage I listen to my hair and take really good care of it. I would never let my hair smoke or add heat without heat protectant. So far I haven't gotten any type of heat damage, the worst that ever happened was that my hair felt dry afterwards.

I think most things in moderation are actually good for us because it adds balance. Although I'm transitioning because I love my natural kinks and curls I believe that straightening can be okay when used as an occasional style. Glad to know I'm not the only one that feels this way. Yay for open-mindedness!!

krissyc39 wrote: Yay for open-mindedness!!

Lol, I second that emotion!!

The variety of hair textures will yield different results. I transistioned for 2 years and flatironed throughout the entire process. I did not experience any breakage or heat damage. If I would have taken away the option to straighten, I would have never gone natural. I have never had a weave, worn a wig, or had braids and a BC was not an option. I did not want anything that was going to draw attention.
I have not flat ironed in a while, only because I have a good amount of growth. The funny part of it all is that I get the best twist out after I flat iron. I have figured out that my hair loves 'cones. But I don't get into other's definition on what natural is to them. Most of these natural extremist care more about the products they place on their dead hair as opposed to the products that go inside their living bodies...

Also, check out moptopmaven's blog. She is wonderful! She explores all natural options and provide education so you can make an informed decision. I like her because she allows you to define the path you want to take...she has a great straightening technique...check her out...

krissyc39 wrote:Yay for open-mindedness!!

Love the open-mindedness.

Indigo.Blue wrote:The variety of hair textures will yield different results. I transistioned for 2 years and flatironed throughout the entire process. I did not experience any breakage or heat damage. If I would have taken away the option to straighten, I would have never gone natural. I have never had a weave, worn a wig, or had braids and a BC was not an option. I did not want anything that was going to draw attention.
I have not flat ironed in a while, only because I have a good amount of growth. The funny part of it all is that I get the best twist out after I flat iron. I have figured out that my hair loves 'cones. But I don't get into other's definition on what natural is to them. Most of these natural extremist care more about the products they place on their dead hair as opposed to the products that go inside their living bodies...

Also, check out moptopmaven's blog. She is wonderful! She explores all natural options and provide education so you can make an informed decision. I like her because she allows you to define the path you want to take...she has a great straightening technique...check her out...

Your story sounds identical to mine. I don't wear weaves and I'm not experiencing any breakage yet either so I guess I will go with what I know. Thanks I will check out the blog too!

"i had a whole lot to say because if every black person who relax their hair is starving to be white" creolebeauty1

Loved that statement creolbeauty! (Stealing it now)

I was on Nappturality about 7 years ago when I first started wearing my hair natural. It was a very open community and people weren't as crazy as they are now. Now they're hair Nazi's!!! I don't feel comfortable on there and I've not been on in quite a while.
I'm very thankful for CN and Youtube!

To Shauntie- Just take care in how often you straighten your hair. If you want your hair to have amazing growth then you probably shouldn't straighten that often. If you're going to keep your hair trimmed and in good health straighten all you want! I straighten my hair about 3 times a year to get it trimmed and check length.

Yea I trim my ends every 4-6 weeks and I just did a mini chop too so i'm hoping my hair will grow quicker.

Well i just flat ironed my hair for the first time since last april, which is when i cut that last of the permed ends off. I am so-o-o-o-o terrified that my hair is not going to revert. I am literally praying to God. I also had to cut quite a bit. my ends were horrible. Pray for me y'all cux ima need counseling if this hair dont curl back up.

summerbreeze76 wrote:Well i just flat ironed my hair for the first time since last april, which is when i cut that last of the permed ends off. I am so-o-o-o-o terrified that my hair is not going to revert. I am literally praying to God. I also had to cut quite a bit. my ends were horrible. Pray for me y'all cux ima need counseling if this hair dont curl back up.

Where are the pics? I'm nervous too. Mine is slowly reverting back at the roots already.

I personally don't use heat (aside from a diffuser on the blow dryer or do DT) because my hair will get ruined. I never had a relaxer before, but I did press and flat iron my hair and it was darn near straight by the time I decided to go natural. I had to transition just like a relaxer.

I'm afraid if I straighten it again, my hair will be ruined.

My hair is fine and somewhat delicate and that's probably why it doesn't take heat too well...

shauntielavette wrote:Hi Ladies...This is no offense to those who despise using heat, but my concern is why is it such a big deal when people say they flat iron their hair? The usual response I get from my natural friends is that I shouldn't do that because I will ruin my curl pattern. However, I have two curlies in my family. My big sister has naturally curly hair and my niece has the same. Whenever I blow dry their hair AND flat iron it NEVER alters their curl. I see plenty of my friends who are natural and rock the straight look VERY often and when it comes time to wear their hair curly, they have no issues. So my question is why is it such a big deal when someone uses heat? I figure If you use a reasonable amount of heat (not too excessive) and heat protectant products to protect your hair from damaging it, why is it such a big deal to use heat? Ladies what are your thoughts?

I've wondered the same thing. I've never had an issue with losing my curl while transitioning or natural, I just wash it and it's back to where it was pre-straightening. But let me also say that I very rarely flat iron (out of laziness lol). I think you're a lot more likely to get damage from over-straightening. Like someone earlier said, everything in moderation.

Well Ladies, I flat ironed two weeks ago and experienced heat damage. My hair is not the same, I've had about two inches cut off, yet my curls have not returned. REALLY upset, I made need to have more cut off. I have applied protein, and co-washing everyday since all this happened.