Heat Training: Her Hair is not Your Hair

Some more readers questions!



Comment:
Is heat trained hair automatically damaged hair because it is
permanently altered? I ask this question because there are women who
heat train but yet they still maintain very thick, long hair that
appears to be healthy, and in my opinion damaged hair means hair that is
unusually thin, dry and rough, brittle, with excessive breakage and
split ends. So this made me wonder if it were possible to heat train
without excessive amounts of damage? There are two women on youtube that
seem to have successfully accomplish this, which is what sparked my
curiosity.




Q:Is heat trained hair automatically damaged?

Yes heat trained hair is damaged because in
order to stay straight or 'straighter', the hair has to undergo a
chemical and physical change.



Similarly colour treated hair where permanent commercial hair dye or bleach is used is also damaged but can look fantastic.



Q: Is it possible to heat train hair without excessive damage?



The reason why some
people can have heat trained hair is because their hair is able to take
more damage without breaking or indeed becoming rough and brittle - we have to remember always that as
individuals we have different hair.



For example: My
hair breaks at the mere sight of a comb but I have seen 4abcxyz girls on
youtube combing with fine tooth combs and having no visible damage. Equally my
hair really never looks greasy - ever, you can pour a bottle of oil on it and will not look sleek at all, but for some people a teaspoon of coconut oil sends them to grease heaven.



Q: How can heat training be made safer or less risky?



Trust your hair, if you have previously used heat and realised that your hair really did not like it, it is unlikely that things will have changed. If you want to heat train your hair, try testing it out on some of your shed hair. Test different temperatures and try out the routine you would like on that hair (for example apply heat to it once a week for a month and see if it becomes brittle or dry.).



The important take home message is that her hair is not your hair. Don't ever trust that what you see on youtube will work or is in fact good for your hair. Trust the message from your hair.



Please see this archive article for notes on what different temperatures do to hair and how you can select a lower temperature.