Heat Damage it real....

( sing to the tune of Yes God Is Real)

Heat damage is real,
Real cause I know...
When I wash my hair, it don't curl noooo mo...


Sigh....Its been a pretty stressful last couple of months with the passing of my cousin and 1/2 sister 2 weeks apart. My niece, trying to be nice, took me to a Dominican salon while I was visiting in Stone Mountain. We went to a salon near Stone Crest mall....which I will not recommend....and something told me to leave. But, since big chopping in July, I haven't had any heat on it and I was curious to see what it looked like straight.

Well, she did all the things that were wrong even after me insisting she do the opposite of what she was doing at the time.

My hair did look nice but I for some reason I was uneasy. Well, I washed it about 4 days later and there it was....heat damage. The spirals were gone, the curls were gone, the texture was gone and it felt dry even when wet.

So, I DCd and have been doing so every since.

What else do I need to do? I bought some Aphogee to do a protein treatment.

Any hints or suggestions to help me get over this set back?

I'm so sorry. How long was your hair? Are you willing to start over? Again?

When my hair was heat damaged last summer I tried to "transition" for a year before doing the BC, but I was too impatient. If you have the patience, that may work out for you.

Just take care of your straight ends. I got splits like crazy, and my hair was splitting completely up the shaft. Be sure to keep up with your DCs, and baby those ends - unless you're willing to re-BC.

I used Aphogee, but I don't remember it helping all that much. My curl pattern never returned, and neither did my texture.

Oh I am so sorry for your loss.

I really dont have any advice for the heat damage but im wondering will protein treatments help (maybe a differnt kind if Aphogee not working) and add more moisture.

Eta: my phone sucks!

I'm so sorry for your loss. The damage sounds quite severe, I would do a protein treatment every 4-6 weeks followed by a long moisture DC and carry on doing DC's, protein followed by moisture. If that didn't help, I'd cut out the damage.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I had a severe heat damage that nothing could repair so I took the plunge and big chopped a second time in July 2011.

I have nothing extra to add to the advice you've been given but I am sorry for your loss.

I feel your pain. Going through it, myself. Like you, I have been avoiding heat and DCing, using protein, etc. But it looks like the only way to reestablish the curl pattern is to use curling rods on the damaged parts. It's a temporary thing barring chemicals or using more heat, and doesn't address the health of the strands, only the look.

As for cutting off the damage, that idea is a constant battle. It's the best option. BC and start anew. I'm just not ready yet. I transitioned from texlaxed to natural without doing a BC, so the idea is to implement the same strategy. But if my hair gets any worse, I don't see myself with any other choice. Taking it day by day. For now.

Sent from my typophilic iPhone using LHCF

The same thing happened to DD's hair this past Spring. We went in to have her damage (long term braid and bead wearer) assessed and cut. My stylist blow dried and flat ironed her 4a/b hair relaxer straight and gave her a really good trim. I smelled very hot hair and saw smoke as she was flat ironing, I questioned her about it and she responded that it was just steam. I knew better but allowed her to continue anyway. After her next wash I realized the severe heat damage. Her two strand twists ends were vert straight all over and some areas had straight strands all the way up the shaft.

Correcting the issue:
1. There is no magic potion
2. Light protein treatment
3. Trim the ends
4. Continued to wash/cw weekly and dust the ends
5. Trim monthly
6. Her coils started reappearing when twisting so I trimmed less frequently, every 2-3 months.
7. I stopped using combs and brushes but when I have to, I use seamless combs
8. Patience is key

Her hair is now much longer and healthier, she retained every bit of her hair since then, including her Summer growth spurt. So you're either going to have to BC again or trim/dust frequently to get rid of the damage. The damage is irreversible, my DD still has long strands of heat damage. Before, I had to re twist every week because the straight hairs would start to stick out but now she can go as long as two weeks maybe longer before it starts to look raggedy.

The bad thing from that experience is the stylist swears its not heat damaged. No one will ever touch her hair again.

Sorry for UR losses

OAN: I live 5 mins away from stonecrest mall so I'm pretty familiar with MOST of the salons in the area. Was it the Dominican salon with all the pretty white furniture? They're fairly new and haven't heard any reviews from there yet. Sorry this happened to u.

KiWiStyle said:

The bad thing from that experience is the stylist swears its not heat damaged. No one will ever touch her hair again.

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I had a stylist tell me that heat damage is not real. She said that I could get my curl pattern back by rubbing my hair between my hands really fast every wash day and eventually, the hair will re-curl. She even gave me a little demonstration. I looked at her like: .

My condolences on your loss
Sending you a big hug!!!

Can you post a picture of your hair? I think you'll need to keep deep conditioning, protein treatments, and unfortunately some trimming of your ends till all the heat damage is gone.

APrayer4Hair said:

Sorry for UR losses

OAN: I live 5 mins away from stonecrest mall so I'm pretty familiar with MOST of the salons in the area. Was it the Dominican salon with all the pretty white furniture? They're fairly new and haven't heard any reviews from there yet. Sorry this happened to u.

Click to expand...

Yes, it was the one with the white furniture. Don't go. I should have known better by the way we had to wait. We were actually out the door when the called me. The other woman getting her hair done was giving them instructions as well, so I'm not recommending that salon to anyone.

Thanks for all the replies and sympathy. I will try my best not to big chop. The damage seems worse in the front than in the back. The front almost seems like its relaxed. I have a biotin shampoo and conditioner that I have been using and I may go to a salon for a protein treatment but I'm going to try some other things first.

I have had lots of shedding since then, while before that I had almost zero. I'm not seeing much breakage right now and I am hoping I don't.

This evening when I get home I will post some photos of before and after the offending hairstyle.

Februrary was going to be my 2 year anniversery since my last relaxer and I was going to reveal then. Sigh. I was really proud because I was doing my hair all on my own at it was looking so nice.

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Heat damage is most times irreversible from what I've read. I had a recent issue with it and I pre-pooed with honey and EVOO (detangled), co-washed, did an Aphogee treatment, then a moisturizing DC. Some of my hair is still straight but it seems most of my curls returned. I will be treating and trimming very regularly for the next few months. Taren on Youtube, I watched a heat damage video and followup she posted and someone commented to her instead of BC'ing or cutting off the damage to wait 2 months & do regular treatments and see first if her hair had been "heat trained." This might be something to consider also. I'm still learning myself. Above all I encourage you to be patient and balance between giving your hair protein and moisture and look at your hair and use your best judgement. You know your hair better than anyone.

I will say though... I notice there are some vloggers on YouTube that do occasionally straighten their hair and then for many videos after that their hair appears fine. So that might be something to look into for the future, a method for straightening the hair without damaging the curl. I'll be avoiding salons also. Know that you are not alone. It happens to many of us.