You CAN Overcome Heat Damage... Here's how

The title seems misleading, but it's true; you CAN overcome heat damage! But it will not happen overnight. Contrary to belief, there is no overnight hair product or oil that will magically fix your damaged hair.

Before I dive into anything, let me give you a rundown of my heat damage experience. Go back to October 2017 for a second. It was a beautiful fall day in Atlanta. For whatever reason, I got the sudden urge to straighten my natural hair.A wig was not enough for me anymore. I just took my extra long twists out and I wanted to try something I haven't done in a while......

This was my first mistake.

Later that day I began to prep for my straightening. I pulled out some old and I mean OLD heat protectant spray and spritzed it all over my hair. I can't remember the brand, however I do remember is it was in a green bottle, with an orange spray top. As I gathered my tools, I realized I had two really old flat irons tucked away in my beauty closet. I was excited about my find because I didn't want to purchase a new flat iron.

Another crazy mistake here..

Everything was plugged up and ready to go (keep in mind I already washed, and blew out my hair) . I sectioned my hair and began flat ironing. As soon as the flat iron touched my hair, it began to smoke. One would think I would unplug the flat iron, turn it off, and throw it away right? Wrong! Of course I didn't do that.

I continued to flat iron my hair until all of it was bone straight. When I was satisfied, I snipped my ends and tucked the flat irons away. Fast forward to April 2018. Since the flat ironing, my hair hasn't been the same. My curls in the front and sides refused to reformulate. My hair had a sad and dull like appearance. No matter what I put on my hair, it just stayed the same; literally nothing penetrated my strands.

 My Heat Damage April 2018

I knew I damaged my hair beyond repair and I was in shambles! I have been natural since 2011 and all of my growth went out the window when I touched a flat iron. The entire 2018 (beginning in April) has been me repairing my damage.

Below is a list of  issues I was experiencing with my damaged hair:

• Limp, loose, and wavy curls even after product was applied
• Dry/ brittle hair
• Product just sat on my hair; nothing seemed to really penetrate it
• Very dull appearance; unhealthy look and feel   

Since April, I have been following a pretty strict deep conditioning regimen. I deep condition weekly and apply heat every other time. Deep conditioning with heat allows the product to really penetrate. I also only shampoo my hair once a month and I pre-poo with olive oil every wash.  

Limp lifeless curls

I had to snip away A LOT of damaged hair; including a HUGE chunk of the left side of my hair. The damage was beyond repair, but I still had a nice amount of new growth there so off it went! I increased my trims to every three months instead of six.

I highly recommend using a deep conditioner with protein in. I used Mielle Organics Babbassu Oil & Mint Deep conditioner. That product jump-started my natural hair journey and I was extremely surprised at how much my hair loved it (see my Mielle Organics post :).

This heat damage is/was no joke. Looking back, I would have never touched those flat irons.

  It took two hours to destroy over seven years of healthy natural hair. Do I regret it? Yes, and No. Yes, because my hair would've been so much longer and healthier had I not applied heat. No, because it was a valuable lesson that I needed to learn. I value my hair so much more now since about 92% of my heat damage is gone.

With patience, great products, a good trim, and persistent hair regimen, you will be able to repair your heat damaged hair. Please comment if you have any questions about my progress or if you just want to chat!

AND........

Please, please, please always use a heat protectant while straightening your hair OR just go to a professional.

Healthy Curls October 2018