Hey everyone and welcome back to the blog! It is currently quarantine day 20, and we have been on shutdown/lockdown for around a week and a half. I'm doing okay, feeling a little cramped and really just want to get outside!
Today's post is going to be a long one, so throw in a hair mask, and grab a snack! I am **very** passionate about hair growth, and although I don't believe in their being any secret to growing out long hair, I think that ditching heat is the thing that will make the biggest impact on your hair's health, growth, and shininess. I am not going to lie. I have never truly been heat addicted. I didn't use heat tools every in elementary school, other than my mom blow drying my hair on special occasions. However, when I reached middle school, I slowly started dabbling into hot tools, and I really like the effects they gave me. I have slightly frizzy/wavy hair, type 1b/2a, and I loved that I could use a flat iron to get that glossy sleep look, or get big bouncy waves and curls with the help of a curling iron. But what I hadn't realized was that this scorching heat was killing my hair slowly.
What is heat damage, and how does it work?
When hair is damaged by heat, it is permanently damaged, it can not be reversed or repaired. When you use hot tools on your hair repeatedly, it damages the Sulfur bonds (also known as SS bonds) in your hair. These bonds are what give the hair natural texture and strength, the wavier and curlier the hair is the more bonds are present with each strand. This is why when individuals with wavy and curly hair repeatedly straighten their hair, they lose their natural curl pattern and are left with strange in-between hair. In the worst cases, heat can permanently break these SS bonds.
I know that it's bad for my hair, but do I have to quit hot tools completely?
Ideally yes. However, for many people, this is not totally realistic. My best tip that I learned is that although it may seem like your curling iron or flat iron are more damaging, the most damaging tool of all is actually your blow dryer! So If you can try to at least skip the blow dryer, and just curl you air-dried hair. You shouldn't be washing your hair every day anyway...
My top tips on how to wean off of heat styling...
1. Quit your blow dryer! Blow dryers are by far the most damaging of the heat tools, so if you are looking to cut back on the amount of heat you use on your hair. I would be totally be happy to make a air drying tips post, so let me know if you would be interested.
2. Try to find shortcuts, or ways to lower your amount of heat tools without cutting it out all at once. For example, let your hair air dry 80 percent of the way, and then finish off with the blow dryer if you feel that you need that smooth finish. Or, if you want to curl your hair, use any heatless curling method, and then touch up certain pieces with your curling wand or iron.
3. Find ways to create heat free styles, such as using heatless curling methods, or the silk wrap straightening method. I personally love to braid my hair overnight, and then when I wake up I have some super cute and subtle waves!
4. Or, just utilize updo's and (damage free) buns! It's a lot easier for me personally to just have my hair up and out of the way in my day-to-day life!
Anyways, to finish off today's post I wanted to touch on the little hair health challenge that I have taken upon myself, #heatfreehousearrest. It's pretty self explanatory, but during quarantine I am not using any heat on my hair. By anyI mean any - not even blow drying. That about wraps up today's post! Let me know if you try these tips out, and as usual give this post a like, and subscribe to my mailing list!
stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy
xoxo,
malia nicole