You can have healthy hair w/ regular heat use.

Me and my friends had a girls night out the other day. Most of us are relaxer free. But of those relaxer free, most of them get their hair flat ironed every 1-2 weeks. I see everyone talk about limiting your use of heat and how heat is the "devil." Yet my friends have extremely healthy heads of hair. So how is that, if heat is so bad??

Ms_Twana said:

Me and my friends had a girls night out the other day. Most of us are relaxer free. But of those relaxer free, most of them get their hair flat ironed every 1-2 weeks. I see everyone talk about limiting your use of heat and how heat is the "devil." Yet my friends have extremely healthy heads of hair. So how is that, if heat is so bad??

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It depends on the person's hair--not everyone's hair can take the same amount of heat or the same usage of heat. But you can definitely use heat frequently and have healthy hair if you keep your hair moisturized, have the right amount of protein (reconstructors are great), and a great heat protectant.

Ms_Twana, I'm with you on this one. I remember when I used to be dependent on heat, but after coming to the hairboards I learned to style and maintain my hair without heat with great success...but that was back when I was still getting relaxers. Now, since I'm transitioning, I've gone back to using heat when i want to wear my hair out. When you use heat, you should take certain precautions. I make sure to deep condition and use mild protein conditioners on my hair regularly since I know that I will be using heat. Conditioning and caring for my hair properly has always made my newgrowth curls/coils spring back into shape after washing my heat styled (flat-ironed) hair. I don't plan on using heat every week (I may just wear my hair flat-ironed every other week), but when I do I make sure that I only apply heat to CLEAN hair that's properly moisturized and protected with some type of serum of some sort.

In conclusion, I agree that you can have healthy hair with proper/safe heat usage. When I'm fully natural, I still plan to straighten my hair every once in a while...no biggie.

I have a cousin that is a type 3 and was once natural. She was going to the salon to get her hair blown and flat-ironed weekly. While her hair looked beautiful, healthy, and silky I never saw it get any longer while she did this.

Heat is not bad. It is just bad for my hair.

I went to the same stylist for 4 years. Hair only grew maybe 3 inches. Culprit? Heat!!!! She assumed that just because my hair was coarse, it could take a lot of heat. When I would get home, I couldnt even comb my hair because it was so crunchy!!!! I didnt realize that it was the heat. Then, I started going to another stylist who noticed the heat damage. My hair has florished under her care because she uses moderate heat.

I agree with the other ladies. Some women can use heat and their hair still grow and retain length but with me that is the opposite. When I use to use heat on a regular basis my hair broke off and was crunchy even when I went to the shop, my hair would only grow a certain length and stopped with the continued use of heat it broke off but now my hair is going excellent without the heat and it's growing...now my hair has been apl before so when it gets past apl that's when I'm going to be jumping for joy. Going to the salon, I don't remember no mentioning of protein treatments or deep conditioning after having my hair relaxed. I stopped going to the shop because I wanted to grow my hair and since they (stylist) act like they don't know what a protein treatment was...I definitely stopped going to the shop but anywho...with some ladies heat probably doesn't damage their hair but with my hair heat is not my friend...especially if I am trying to grow my hair

just my honest opinion (no stones please) I don't think so. yes, I think you can have pretty hair (i think there is a difference between pretty and healthy) with regular heat usage, but i think growing and retaining length is a different game.

when i was using heat once a week, my hair was pretty but it wasn't retaining, and once i didn't use that flat iron and blowdryer, my hair was a mess. the first time i figured this out was after using a cone free routine one week free of heat, frizzies/uglies everywhere. not to mention i never got past shoulder length. i think if you are cool with staying the same length for a while, then regular heat usage is fine.

i can think of about 3-4 ladies on this (1 off this board) board who have healthy hair with regular heat usage and these ladies have 1. already reached longer lengths (past bsl) and 2. have really thick hair. now there are always exceptions to the rule, but i think most people aren't that exception. but that's just me of course. i remember someone saying "if you blowdry more than once a week, I can tell." and i find that to be true for me and the same goes with frequent flat ironing, but those are my opinions of course, so once again no offense.

You can have healthy hair w/ regular heat use.

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No, I can't. But to each her own, ya know?

When I used heat, my hair never got past bsl and it was not healthy.

I believe it is more about what you do to your hair before using the heat that dictacts the health of your hair and if you can retain length. I had APL hair in Febuary of 2005 and was using heat every week almost to flat iron or with a rollerset and by August 05 I had BSL healthy hair. I deep conditioned weekly and kept my hair moisturized and it was fine. In 2003 I had midback hair and washed my hair bi-weekly and used heat maybe 2x a month but my hair never seemed to get past that same spot. So I feel it is all about what u do b4 using the heat that really matters.

My hair can't handle regular heat use. For me, regular heat use= breakage.

I don't think flat ironing your hair 1-2x a week is bad (for some people). I think more than 2x a week is when it becomes damaging.

LocksOfLuV said:

just my honest opinion (no stones please) I don't think so. yes, I think you can have pretty hair (i think there is a difference between pretty and healthy) with regular heat usage, but i think growing and retaining length is a different game.

when i was using heat once a week, my hair was pretty but it wasn't retaining, and once i didn't use that flat iron and blowdryer, my hair was a mess. the first time i figured this out was after using a cone free routine one week free of heat, frizzies/uglies everywhere. not to mention i never got past shoulder length. i think if you are cool with staying the same length for a while, then regular heat usage is fine.

i can think of about 3-4 ladies on this (1 off this board) board who have healthy hair with regular heat usage and these ladies have 1. already reached longer lengths (past bsl) and 2. have really thick hair. now there are always exceptions to the rule, but i think most people aren't that exception. but that's just me of course. i remember someone saying "if you blowdry more than once a week, I can tell." and i find that to be true for me and the same goes with frequent flat ironing, but those are my opinions of course, so once again no offense.

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No stones.

Heat can weaken and destoy the bonds of the hair. That's why it's ALWAYS important to use a good heat protectant (products with silicones are great, but I have so many different forms of heat protectants it's not even funny). I think most people who experience hair breakage from using heat 1. have already really damaged or weakened hair, 2. aren't getting enough proteins to reconstruct the hair strands' bonds, 3. are using it on too high of a setting, 4. don't have enough moisture, and 5. aren't using a heat protectant.

The purpose of a heat protectant is to prevent those bonds from being destroyed. It will coat the hair and allow the strands to be straightened but won't let the heat penetrate deep enough to destroy the bonds. But even when bonds are destroyed or severely weakened when you aren't using a protectant, the ATOMS are still there (unless your hair breaks off, then obviously the atoms of the strand are gone, but they still are somewhere in this world, just not on your hair anymore). All atoms of your hair have their own unique properties. Because the atoms of the hair remain when your hair is relaxed or you use heat, protein reconstructors build those bonds back just like they were before. All atoms have different levels of bond strength when they form a bond. One atom in a molecule in your hair is gonna have a different strength when it bonds than the next atom, AND NOTHING CAN CHANGE THAT. Science proves this. That's why when you use a reconstructor to put back those amino acids that make up the proteins in your hair, when the molecule that lost its bond sees another atom it needs to build it back, it's going to be built back at the exact same strength that it was when the bond was broken. So okay, you have atom A bonding to atom B to form molecule AB. So you don't have a protectant, and heat or relaxing breaks that bond. Well, the next time atom A comes into contact with another atom B from a product you are using, guess what? It's gonna make that bond. The previous heat usage has absolutely no bearing on that bond forming back again with its maximum strength because like I said, heat/relaxing can only destroy the BONDS of the hair, it's not gonna weaken or destroy the individual atoms (matter cannot be created or destroyed, only redistributed and thus, a new atom coming along and attaching to another redistributes that bond that was lost before).

My hair is past BSL now but I was using heat before then. I never experienced breakage except when I wasn't using heat (one reason is because the heat allowed my comb to glide through easier and when I wasn't using it, I guess the comb would get caught and then a piece would snap off). Also there are products that are activated by the use of heat...so the proteins and other ingredients will infuse, but the hair is protected from the bonds being weakened.

Navs, good info. I swear I am not trying to pick you apart but can you tell me which ingredients exactly actually does the protecting and how much heat can it withstand before it molecularly fall apart-for lack of better words? I find myself to be highly knowledgable about hair, and science or no science, I can tell you that a heat protectant can only do so much. I do agree that it is better than nothing though.

I don't really believe that there really is any man-made chemical (in hair products) that can continuously protect ANYTHING (besides a NASA made sun suit lol) from up to 400 degrees of direct heat. If that is enough to burn flesh, and plastic, then surely that is enough to pentrate these so called protective layers.

I don't disagree that heat is modertion is cool. But I do think that you have to be smart about it. Hair is not a strong cryptonite-titanium-steel substance. It is protein which is said to break down in high temperatures. Over time, no amount of heat protectants can save you. I am I extremely weary of any complany (who's #1 goal is to sell their product-let's not forget that) claiming to do so.

LocksOfLuV said:

just my honest opinion (no stones please) I don't think so. yes, I think you can have pretty hair (i think there is a difference between pretty and healthy) with regular heat usage, but i think growing and retaining length is a different game.

when i was using heat once a week, my hair was pretty but it wasn't retaining, and once i didn't use that flat iron and blowdryer, my hair was a mess. the first time i figured this out was after using a cone free routine one week free of heat, frizzies/uglies everywhere. not to mention i never got past shoulder length. i think if you are cool with staying the same length for a while, then regular heat usage is fine.

i can think of about 3-4 ladies on this (1 off this board) board who have healthy hair with regular heat usage and these ladies have 1. already reached longer lengths (past bsl) and 2. have really thick hair. now there are always exceptions to the rule, but i think most people aren't that exception. but that's just me of course. i remember someone saying "if you blowdry more than once a week, I can tell." and i find that to be true for me and the same goes with frequent flat ironing, but those are my opinions of course, so once again no offense.

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I completely agree with this post.

My hair will look good if I use heat regularly but it will not retain any length. That’s why I have been stuck at just below bra-strap length for years. I have to seriously limit the heat for my hair to actually retain length and be healthy, also if using heat regularly its A LOT harder to really keep your hair healthy which equals a lot of work... I will grow it out to about tailbone length and then probably use heat whenever I want to and see how well my hair retains /and or cut it down again.

I know a girl who gets a blow out every few weeks and her hair has stayed above shoulder length for a good year, the main reason is heat. I know this because she has mentioned wanting to have her hair grown out yet she feels its unmanageable while natural.
My sister is another example she hot curls her hair 5 days a week faithfully and her hair is now ear length from the breakage. I know she wants to grow her hair out, but when I tell her “you really got to stop using all that heat on your hair” she tells me rollers and not looking good is too time consuming and not worth it, so it boils down to how much u really want your hair to grow or how much you are settled with the current length.

I think it’s very rare to find someone with major growth while using regular heat.

LocksOfLuV said:

Navs, good info. I swear I am not trying to pick you apart but can you tell me which ingredients exactly actually does the protecting and how much heat can it withstand before it molecularly fall apart-for lack of better words? I find myself to be highly knowledgable about hair, and science or no science, I can tell you that a heat protectant can only do so much. I do agree that it is better than nothing though.

I don't really believe that there really is any man-made chemical (in hair products) that can continuously protect ANYTHING (besides a NASA made sun suit lol) from up to 400 degrees of direct heat. If that is enough to burn flesh, and plastic, then surely that is enough to pentrate these so called protective layers.

I don't disagree that heat is modertion is cool. But I do think that you have to be smart about it. Hair is not a strong cryptonite-titanium-steel substance. It is protein which is said to break down in high temperatures. Over time, no amount of heat protectants can save you. I am I extremely weary of any complany (who's #1 goal is to sell their product-let's not forget that) claiming to do so.

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Your hair is made up of chemical bonds (as is everything else in this world). Understanding organic chemistry (that has a key in everything) leads to truly understanding how things work around you. You can see how something looks from the outside and if it works or not, but that is different than knowing the chemical mechanisms that go on to MAKE it work. Products will change, methods will change, but guess what's never gonna change? The chemistry that makes up your hair (bonds change, but the atoms do not). For instance, keratin will always be keratin and if you come into a product that contains keratin, the broken keratin bonds are going to reform because NATURE will always take its course.


Like I said, each atom forms a bond and has its own level of bond strength. Before the heat can destroy the bonds in your hair, it has to FIRST destoy the bonds in the PROTECTANT. If you are not using a temp high enough to destroy the bonds in the protectant, then guess what? It's not gonna touch your hair. Even though these chemicals are "manmade," (although there are reconstructors that use human hair keratin), no man is creating these atoms, only causing the bonds to form back into molecules like they would NATURALLY. You can create bonds in a certain way to form manmade products in different shapes (for instance, a diamond looks different than a piece of regular black carbon but they are both carbon, and a human being can cut a diamond in the way you personally request), but the bonding occurs naturally on its own.

As for which ingredients do the protecting, look for the silicones or strong polymers (proteins are just polymers of amino acids themselves) . Amodimethicone has a different chemical makeup than cyclomethicone. Dimethicone has several different forms within itself that vary when you change a functional group for instance. For instance, regular dimethicone is C6H18OSi2 So take the O (oxygen) bonded to the silicone (Si) as an example (Si-O-Si). Si-O has a bond dissociation energy of about 108 kcal/mol (this is just one type of bond in dimethicone now). But if you take another silicone that might have Si-C in it, Si-C has a bond dissociation energy of 306 kj/Mol. But anyway, let's just focus on dimethicone for my example. Little dimethicone (one of many in a silicone containing heat protectant) here is protecting your hair, right? Now, once you exceed the energy needed to break the bond in dimethicone, say goodbye to your hair bonds because they are about to be zapped. That is the ONLY way a heat protectant isn't gonna work--when the energy from the flat iron (or whatever other form of heat) you are using exceeds that of the bonds of all the silicones (and trust me, there are many more than my little example) in the protectant, causing them to break and letting the heat get through.

As for what temperature can be used to break a bond, it also depends on the condition of the bond itself. If it's a new bond, higher temps may be needed to break it depending on the nature of the atoms. But if the bond is already weak, 200 degrees could be the amount of energy added to that that has already weakened it before and will equal the maximum amount of energy for the bond to break. Bond dissociation energy is just the amount of heat needed to be put into a molecule to break the bonds (usually measured in kcal/mol or kJ/mol, keep in mind, these are not equivalent to degrees celsius, they are different units). It takes different levels of energy to break different bonds. For instance, take the hydrogen bromide bond. H-Br has a bond energy of 366, H-H 436, Br-Br 193 (all in kJ/mol). Now, the amount of energy put IN is what's gonna break it (some energy will also be released, so it would take 732 kj taken in to break the bonds). When you reach those energies, you will break those molecules back into their original atoms.

Now, Si-OH bond in a silicone product can survive at over 1000 degrees celsius (which is not equivalent to the kJ/mol or kcal/mol number, mind you), and I KNOW no one is using a flat iron at 1000 degrees Celsius (if you are, get your head checked).

But like I said, EVEN when a bond IS broken, the atoms are NEVER destroyed. If they were, then that would disprove the laws of nature. When flesh is burned to a crisp, the atoms that make it up are still there, they have just been chemically changed. So even though hair is no magic material (as I have said before myself), the atoms do still remain and as long as those atoms are there and the strand has not disintegrated into thin air, the bonds can and will form back when the appropriate atom comes along because nature is gonna take its course and there's nothing you can do to stop it from doing so (unless there was no hair coming out of the follicles at all--no hair, no keratin, no bonds).

Now, let me make this clear...I am in no way saying have a free for all with heat just because the bonds will form back since the atoms remain. If you damage your hair enough and it breaks off, the atoms of the hair will be on the floor, not still connected to your hair strand, and you DON'T want that.

navsegda said:

Now, Si-OH in a silicone product can survive at over 1000 degrees celsius (which is not equivalent to the kJ/mol or kcal/mol number, mind you), and I KNOW no one is using a flat iron at 1000 degrees Celsius (if you are, get your head checked).

But like I said, EVEN when a bond IS broken, the atoms are NEVER destroyed. If they were, then that would disprove the laws of nature. When flesh is burned to a crisp, the atoms that make it up are still there, they have just been chemically changed. So even though hair is no magic material (as I have said before myself), the atoms do still remain and as long as those atoms are there, the bonds can and will form back when the appropriate atom comes along.

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so where do we get this Si-OH silicone? and do u feel using more silicone while flat ironing will protect your hair more?

i also noticed you mention older bonds are weaker does this mean use a lower temp on your ends than you do your roots? I may have to try something similar to this the next time i use heat.

thanks for the info

Supergirl said:

I have a cousin that is a type 3 and was once natural. She was going to the salon to get her hair blown and flat-ironed weekly. While her hair looked beautiful, healthy, and silky I never saw it get any longer while she did this.

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ITA with this statement! I'm a type 4, and when I got my hair blown out weekly, it looked nice and silky, but it took about 2 years before I noticed any growth. Mind you, I ALWAYS deep conditioned, and used a heavy protein treatment about once a month. Using that much heat weekly showed me a couple of things:

1. My hair was much thinner then. Now, my hair just keeps getting thicker. Heat definitely makes fine hair thin, even when you have a thick head of fine hair.
2. All that heat will give you split ends, requiring more frequent trims. I didn't see growth because I always had to nip the splits.

Currently, I don't get blowouts (only the roots) and I don't need to trim more than 2x a year.

I really do believe that coarse hair can withstand heat more than fine hair can. Other than that...there's no heat protection/deep conditioning in the world that can protect/repair/grow my hair if I use that often.

navsegda said:

Your hair is made up of chemical bonds (as is everything else in this world). Understanding organic chemistry (that has a key in everything) leads to truly understanding how things work around you. You can see how something looks from the outside and if it works or not, but that is different than knowing the chemical mechanisms that go on to MAKE it work. Products will change, methods will change, but guess what's never gonna change? The chemistry that makes up your hair (bonds change, but the atoms do not). For instance, keratin will always be keratin and if you come into a product that contains keratin, the broken keratin bonds are going to reform because NATURE will always take its course.


Like I said, each atom forms a bond and has its own level of bond strength. Before the heat can destroy the bonds in your hair, it has to FIRST destoy the bonds in the PROTECTANT. If you are not using a temp high enough to destroy the bonds in the protectant, then guess what? It's not gonna touch your hair. Even though these chemicals are "manmade," (although there are reconstructors that use human hair keratin), no man is creating these atoms, only causing the bonds to form back into molecules like they would NATURALLY. You can create bonds in a certain way to form manmade products in different shapes (for instance, a diamond looks different than a piece of regular black carbon but they are both carbon, and a human being can cut a diamond in the way you personally request), but the bonding occurs naturally on its own.

As for which ingredients do the protecting, look for the silicones or strong polymers (proteins are just polymers of amino acids themselves) . Amodimethicone has a different chemical makeup than cyclomethicone. Dimethicone has several different forms within itself that vary when you change a functional group for instance. For instance, regular dimethicone is C6H18OSi2 So take the O (oxygen) bonded to the silicone (Si) as an example (Si-O-Si). Si-O has a bond dissociation energy of about 108 kcal/mol (this is just one type of bond in dimethicone now). But if you take another silicone that might have Si-C in it, Si-C has a bond dissociation energy of 306 kj/Mol. But anyway, let's just focus on dimethicone for my example. Little dimethicone (one of many in a silicone containing heat protectant) here is protecting your hair, right? Now, once you exceed the energy needed to break the bond in dimethicone, say goodbye to your hair bonds because they are about to be zapped. That is the ONLY way a heat protectant isn't gonna work--when the energy from the flat iron (or whatever other form of heat) you are using exceeds that of the bonds of all the silicones (and trust me, there are many more than my little example) in the protectant, causing them to break and letting the heat get through.

As for what temperature can be used to break a bond, it also depends on the condition of the bond itself. If it's a new bond, higher temps may be needed to break it depending on the nature of the atoms. But if the bond is already weak, 200 degrees could be the amount of energy added to that that has already weakened it before and will equal the maximum amount of energy for the bond to break. Bond dissociation energy is just the amount of heat needed to be put into a molecule to break the bonds (usually measured in kcal/mol or kJ/mol, keep in mind, these are not equivalent to degrees celsius, they are different units). It takes different levels of energy to break different bonds. For instance, take the hydrogen bromide bond. H-Br has a bond energy of 366, H-H 436, Br-Br 193 (all in kJ/mol). Now, the amount of energy put IN is what's gonna break it (some energy will also be released, so it would take 732 kj taken in to break the bonds). When you reach those energies, you will break those molecules back into their original atoms.

Now, Si-OH in a silicone product can survive at over 1000 degrees celsius (which is not equivalent to the kJ/mol or kcal/mol number, mind you), and I KNOW no one is using a flat iron at 1000 degrees Celsius (if you are, get your head checked).

But like I said, EVEN when a bond IS broken, the atoms are NEVER destroyed. If they were, then that would disprove the laws of nature. When flesh is burned to a crisp, the atoms that make it up are still there, they have just been chemically changed. So even though hair is no magic material (as I have said before myself), the atoms do still remain and as long as those atoms are there and the strand has not disintegrated into thin air, the bonds can and will form back when the appropriate atom comes along.

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*wipes fo head* that was a lot of information to digest. but a great read nonetheless. i just hope everyone reading this note in the back of their minds that a lot of these silicones mentioned are water soluable, in most importantly hot water. if hot water, is enough to rinse these chemicals out of your head, i wonder how much protection can they offer you in direct heat.

my point is, that anything that can be washed down the drain (with or without sulfates) cannot provide you with that much protection. and as for that si-oh silicone, from what i learned it isn't an actual silicone itself. it is a compenent of silicone. only a certain percentage of that stuff is used in silicone to provide the heat protection. if it were an actual cone all types of scientist would have made money off of this by now.

It depends on how hot the heat is! If you are not scorching your hair, then I think using heat no more than 2x a week is acceptable, as long as you deep condition each time.

I don't have any scientific research to back this up but my personal observation after going a summer pressing every other week is that over time, it thins the hair out- not like anyone besides me noticed since my hair is super thick but still. So I don't know, it might work for some but as mentioned, there are some risks.

Qetesh said:

so where do we get this Si-OH silicone? and do u feel using more silicone while flat ironing will protect your hair more?

i also noticed you mention older bonds are weaker does this mean use a lower temp on your ends than you do your roots? I may have to try something similar to this the next time i use heat.

thanks for the info

Click to expand...

No problem. I have been editing my previous post constantly to try to make myself clearer. I meant to say Si-OH bond. I didn't mean to sound like you can just buy Si-OH by itself. Now, dimethiconol based silicone products have Si-OH bonds (for instance, Garnier Sleek and Shine Weightless Anti-Frizz Serum has dimethiconol, so does CHI Silk Infusion Reconstructing Complex). Nexxus Heat Protexx has dimethicone and amodimethicone, JOICO K-Pak Reconstruct Leave-In protectant has dimethicone too. (I'm just looking through my own products right now, there are many more heat protectants that I'm not mentioning that have this or other strong silicone ingredients).

Well, using products with a higher silicone-based content than others will better protect your hair from damage. But you don't wanna drench your hair in silicones because too much can cause buildup on some people's hair.

You made a very good point. It would be smart to use a lower heat on the ends than at the roots. But this is if you have already used heat on your ends previously and because the ends are older than hair coming out from the roots that may have never had heat on it before, it wouldn't take that much more energy put in at one time to break the barrier to cause your ends to break off (assuming you weren't using a good protectant and the heat got through to the bonds in the ends of the hair in the first place). However, you have to be careful with the roots because if you use too much heat and break through those bonds at the roots which could result to it breaking off there, that would be catastrophic (no hair breakage is good, but better to break off at the ends than at the roots lol).

LocksOfLuV said:

*wipes fo head* that was a lot of information to digest. but a great read nonetheless. i just hope everyone reading this note in the back of their minds that a lot of these silicones mentioned are water soluable, in most importantly hot water. if hot water, is enough to rinse these chemicals out of your head, i wonder how much protection can they offer you in direct heat.

my point is, that anything that can be washed down the drain (with or without sulfates) cannot provide you with that much protection. and as for that si-oh silicone, from what i learned it isn't an actual silicone itself. it is a compenent of silicone. only a certain percentage of that stuff is used in silicone to provide the heat protection. if it were an actual cone all types of scientist would have made money off of this by now.

Click to expand...

I had to edit my post before responding to the previous to say Si-OH bond because I didn't want anyone to think it was a product (it's just a bond that can be found in some silicones). I thought I made that clear by writing Si-OH (because the hyphen indicates a bond in science) but I didn't, and that's my own fault hahah. But anyway, it is also just ONE TYPE of the bonds in a silicone. There are other bonds that I didn't mention that make up a certain silicone, but I used that one as an example. Keep in mind that many of these form long chains and then there are OTHER ingredients in the heat protectants that will also protect your hair. Before the heat penetrates through to your hair, it has to be enough to break the bonds of not just the Si-C, Si-O, Si-OH or whatever (and all these have different bond dissociaton energies), it has to break through the bonds of the other protective ingredients too (like very strong polymer chains).

Also, I do agree on the hot water because it's just another form of heat energy. Hot water opens up your hair cuticle and will make damage that much easier to happen (it's never good to use hot water on your hair and it's ALWAYS good to use something that's gonna close your cuticle because even an accident in how you manipulate your hair when combing, brushing, or harsh touching or grabbing can aggravate the cuticle). You can use a good temp of water that isn't gonna have you shivering to wash your hair and the surfactants in the shampoo are good enough to wash the silicones off. But you are right. These things WILL be washed down the drain and once they are off your hair, you will have no protection. So when you wanna use heat again, you need to make sure you have a good heat protectant (silicones are great, but other things can also form really strong polymers to protect your hair, but I just decided to focus on silicones because my posts were getting long enough haha). An analogy of silicones is like a firefighter with all his equipment on (now I'm in no way saying that fire is equivalent to the heat of a flat iron or blow drying tool; put your hair in fire and see how quickly it burns off haha). That equipment is gonna prevent the fire penetrating to burn his skin but if he jumps in the fire and stands there long enough, that heat will eventually be too much and it's gonna break through the bonds of that protective material.

P.S. If there is anything else that wasn't clear, please let me know. Just because it sounds good in your head doesn't mean it sounds good in anyone else's. Although I am a scientist, I really am not trying to make things sound over the top because I want EVERYONE who reads my posts to get me 100%.

before i started my transition, my hair was always a few inches above bra strap, split ends, my bangs hardly grew and my nape was a mess. i'd faithfully blow dry and use a curling iron once a week and for touchups in between. ugh.

it looked great but always managed to stay basically the same length.

first 2 months of transitioning i still washed, conditioned, blowdried and curling ironed every week or so.

right about the time the weather got warmer, trying to keep the new growth straight in hot humid N.C. just wasn't working anymore and i started wearing twists and wash n go's. my hair grew so much and the only thing i've done differently was cut down the heat use to about once a month.

i read somewhere (probably on NP) you may not singe your hair off in one pass of an iron today or tomorrow but the damage heat does to your hair is cumulative over months and years. to me it makes sense and i really believe it.

but it still boils down to everyone's hair is different and not everyone's hair behaves the same.

Ok this is my conclusion on heat, being I went from heat to no heat (pregnant) and back to heat 4 years later. I try my best not to use heat but since I like to wear my hair down, just to give my hair some curl and style I use my Conair iron, on 16 level. I blow dry more than most on the board but not alot. I do wash and deep condish because I use heat. Yes my hair grows and it is healthy, but thanks to this board for any pointers for products for my hair. Yes when I used less heat it grew faster, but my stylest says she can't tell. She thinks me getting more knowldege on my products (due to this board) is the reason for my hair growth and it being healty.

Yes growth is possible with heat, but it depends on your hair and how you use it.

LynnieB said:

before i started my transition, my hair was always a few inches above bra strap, split ends, my bangs hardly grew and my nape was a mess. i'd faithfully blow dry and use a curling iron once a week and for touchups in between. ugh.

it looked great but always managed to stay basically the same length.

first 2 months of transitioning i still washed, conditioned, blowdried and curling ironed every week or so.

right about the time the weather got warmer, trying to keep the new growth straight in hot humid N.C. just wasn't working anymore and i started wearing twists and wash n go's. my hair grew so much and the only thing i've done differently was cut down the heat use to about once a month.

i read somewhere (probably on NP) you may not singe your hair off in one pass of an iron today or tomorrow but the damage heat does to your hair is cumulative over months and years. to me it makes sense and i really believe it.

but it still boils down to everyone's hair is different and not everyone's hair behaves the same.

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I noticed the same thing during my transition! And I totally agree with the bolded
I don't think that I can have healthy hair with regular use of heat. It may work for some, but not for me.

LynnieB said:

but it still boils down to everyone's hair is different and not everyone's hair behaves the same.

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ITA. Even with my long, drawn out posts about bonds, atoms, silicones, blah blah, it all depends on the individual's hair and the condition of it or those bonds in the first place (also, not everyone's hair strands are created equal, even though the same type of bonds/proteins [like keratin] make up our hair, not everyone has the exact same AMOUNT of bonds; there are people with shorter, thicker, coarser, etc types of hair strands). Heat and relaxing aren't the only things that can weaken bonds in your hair, harsh manipulation can do the same. It takes energy to break a bond, and heat and chemicals are just one form of energy. You can actually do a good amount of damage just by combing or brushing the wrong way (I have been guilty of this in the past when I'm in a rush to get somewhere) and then you risk breaking part or the entire hair strand off, which is obviously worse than damaging a few bonds out of tons and tons that make up the hair strand and that can form back together. It can't form back together if it's not there in the first place, so that's why it's also important to treat hair gently when combing, brushing, or grasping it in your hands so you won't break the strands. That's one reason I don't like anyone just coming up to me and grabbing my hair or running their fingers through it to see if it's real.

OneInAMillion said:

ITA with this statement! I'm a type 4, and when I got my hair blown out weekly, it looked nice and silky, but it took about 2 years before I noticed any growth. Mind you, I ALWAYS deep conditioned, and used a heavy protein treatment about once a month. Using that much heat weekly showed me a couple of things:

1. My hair was much thinner then. Now, my hair just keeps getting thicker. Heat definitely makes fine hair thin, even when you have a thick head of fine hair.
2. All that heat will give you split ends, requiring more frequent trims. I didn't see growth because I always had to nip the splits.

Currently, I don't get blowouts (only the roots) and I don't need to trim more than 2x a year.

I really do believe that coarse hair can withstand heat more than fine hair can. Other than that...there's no heat protection/deep conditioning in the world that can protect/repair/grow my hair if I use that often.

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ITA, especially with the bolded part. I cannot use heat regularly, and even occasional usage of heat gives me problems. I only use a CHI curling iron a few times a year, and I have completely given up on blowdrying. Heat makes my hair look pretty for a little while... but then it gets thin and crispy.

Thanks ladies for all of the useful info. Navsegda in your opinion what is the best heat protectant? I am 4b relaxed and I have a chi flat iron and curling iron. TIA.

JazzyDez said:

Thanks ladies for all of the useful info. Navsegda in your opinion what is the best heat protectant? I am 4b relaxed and I have a chi flat iron and curling iron. TIA.

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Oooh...that's a hard one haha. I have so many lol. There are many good, reasonably priced heat protectants out there. But since you have a CHI flat iron and curling iron already, I think you would absolutely LOVE the Chi Silk Infusion Reconstructing Complex (it contains no alcohol, so it won't dry your hair out and it doesn't buildup). Not only is it a great protectant (three major silicones are listed as the first ingredients: cylcomethicone, dimethiconol, and dimethicone), but it has silk proteins which will penetrate at the maximum into your hair by using the ceramic heat from the flat iron but the high silicone barrier prevents the actual heat from damaging your hair (cell membranes let certain things through and other things they do not). But bottom line, it reconstructs and strengthens the hair while protecting it from heat damage, so that's one reason I love it sooooooo much.

I also have Nexxus Heat Protexx (really good), JOICO Reconstruct Leave-In Protectant (it's supposed to prevent thermal and environmental damage), Garnier Sleek and Shine Weightless Anti-Frizz Serum, to name a few.

So yeah, if I could only choose two out of all these, I'd buy CHI Silk Infusion and the Nexxus Heat Protexx. If I could only choose one, CHI Silk Infusion. You can find it at Trade Secret, JCPenney salon, etc. etc. I bought one of mine from JCPenney and the other two from folica.com.

navsegda said:

Oooh...that's a hard one haha. I have so many lol. There are many good, reasonably priced heat protectants out there. But since you have a CHI flat iron and curling iron already, I think you would absolutely LOVE the Chi Silk Infusion Reconstructing Complex (it contains no alcohol, so it won't dry your hair out and it doesn't buildup). Not only is it a great protectant (three major silicones are listed as the first ingredients: cylcomethicone, dimethiconol, and dimethicone), but it has silk proteins which will penetrate at the maximum into your hair by using the ceramic heat from the flat iron but the high silicone barrier prevents the actual heat from damaging your hair (cell membranes let certain things through and other things they do not). But bottom line, it reconstructs and strengthens the hair while protecting it from heat damage, so that's one reason I love it sooooooo much.

I also have Nexxus Heat Protexx (really good), JOICO Reconstruct Leave-In Protectant (it's supposed to prevent thermal and environmental damage), Garnier Sleek and Shine Weightless Anti-Frizz Serum, to name a few.

So yeah, if I could only choose two out of all these, I'd buy CHI Silk Infusion or the Nexxus Heat Protexx. If I could only choose one, CHI Silk Infusion. You can find it at Trade Secret, JCPenney salon, etc. etc. I bought one of mine from JCPenney and the other two from folica.com.

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cool....just wanted your "scientific expertise ".....someone recommended biosilk on here and I almost bought the chi but was waiting to try out the biosilk but havent been able to find it....i will probably end up picking up the chi next time I am in jc penny

JazzyDez said:

cool....just wanted your "scientific expertise ".....someone recommended biosilk on here and I almost bought the chi but was waiting to try out the biosilk but havent been able to find it....i will probably end up picking up the chi next time I am in jc penny

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I was actually thinking of getting the Biosilk but I had to make the PJ part of me shutup. Curiosity kills the cat as well as the piggy bank. Biosilk has alcohol in it, so it may dry the hair out over time if you use the same amount of it on your hair as you do the Silk Infusion. Both Biosilk and CHI Silk Infusion are made by the same company (Farouk) and Silk Infusion is supposed to be the newer, better version of the Biosilk Silk Therapy (a big change was getting rid of the alcohol).