NATURALS HELP ME PUH-LEASE!!!!!

[CoilyFields]

I'm at my wits end with this hair of mine!

I need ideas about how to style my heat damaged hair!

Background:
Transitioned for a year in braids with the intention of being a straightened natural.
In the humid summer after my transition I decided to try natural styles cuz my presses kept reverting but found that most of the styles were unachieveable cuz i had heat damage.
So took the step of cutting off 4-5 inches of heat damaged hair so I could experiment with natural styles for a while.( went from almost APL to above SL)
Fell in love with natural hair and only straightened every 6 months for trims and to please DH.

2 years later...
I got my hair flat ironed this past October...and ended up with heat damage (though we used a heat protectant and everything! )

NONE of the styles I normally wear work...including my signature flat twist out that was so hot old men at church were complimenting me...now it looks a scraggly mess becuase Ive lost the volume.

I'm also worried about my ends because all of my natural styles involved shrinkage which kept my hair floating above my shoulders

I really dont know what to do! I have half a mind to cut it all off and start over...but im BSL and dont wanna cut it off, and even if I did I cant say that I would NEVER use heat again.
I dont want to wear it straightened all the time either becuase I truly love natural hair...

PUH-LEASE help a sista out...anybody experienceing this? Any ideas about hair styles?

FYI-Ive been wearing weaves and crochet braids since october and me AND dh are tired of them...

 

[Lylddlebit]

Since the damage that you have is something that you notice, I suggest you not expect identical results with heat damaged hair that you had with healthy natural hair. That doesn't mean that you can't still have good twists outs or natural hair styles, but I do think that you need to put you hair in perspective. It may not look the same but it can still look really good and some of the hairstyles that those transitioning use might be a great go to medium.

 

[ms.blue]

I have some heat damage that I caused last year b/c I wanted my hair to match my weave & the only style that hides my heat damage is braidouts.

 

[naturalgyrl5199]

Since the damage that you have is something that you notice, I suggest you not expect identical results with heat damaged hair that you had with healthy natural hair. That doesn't mean that you can't still have good twists outs or natural hair styles, but I do think that you need to put you hair in perspective. It may not look the same but it can still look really good and some of the hairstyles that those transitioning use might be a great go to medium.

ITA:

It seems you may have been wanting to have a relaxed look with natural hair...which is very hard to do as the hair grows longer and fuller. Its good that you laid off the heat....You can trim the damage slowly and keep your regimen tight....I would keep it simple, and embrace your natural hair and hair styles...stay strong...don't give up... many of us have been there! It gets easier...but keep it SIMPLE!

 

[CoilyFields]

ITA:

It seems you may have been wanting to have a relaxed look with natural hair...which is very hard to do as the hair grows longer and fuller. Its good that you laid off the heat....You can trim the damage slowly and keep your regimen tight....I would keep it simple, and embrace your natural hair and hair styles...stay strong...don't give up... many of us have been there! It gets easier...but keep it SIMPLE!

Oh no no no! I love the look of my natural hair...thats why Im sad because I cant do those styles (or even just a fro) anymore because of the heat damaged.

The complication is that the heat damage is intertwined throughout my whole head and not just the ends. meaning, some strands from root to tip are straight and others from root to tip are completely curly so even when I tray to wear some stretched (not staightned) styles it still looks scraggly becuase the heat-damaged hair is hanging down my back and the natural hair is at my shoulders.

I hope Im describing this right.

I dont want to trim gradually because I would essentially be replacing a whole head of BSL hair...and I will want to straighten a couple times a year so eventually I could run into the same problem.

I'm trying to get used to this mixture of curly and straight argh!

 

[CoilyFields]

Since the damage that you have is something that you notice, I suggest you not expect identical results with heat damaged hair that you had with healthy natural hair. That doesn't mean that you can't still have good twists outs or natural hair styles, but I do think that you need to put you hair in perspective. It may not look the same but it can still look really good and some of the hairstyles that those transitioning use might be a great go to medium.

Thats a great idea...I'll visit the transitioning thread for some ideas (though in my case Im not dealing with just straight ends)