Is straightening/using heat on my hair on the weekends an awful idea? *pic*

[nikkidondon]

Okay so my hair is MBL about 4 inches away from hip. I do enjoy my hair in its natural state which is wavy/curly ish but I like the change of blow-drying/straightening/using a curler on my hair with heat-protectant spray and product on the weekends for a more "done"/ "polished" look. I feel sick doing this but I feel that I like the look and doing it twice a week can't hurt my hair too much can it? I have pretty thick hair and never use heat styling at all during the week. Am I doing a lot of damage? My goal is hip length hair... here is my picture of my hair which is currently straightened for the first day of the weekend:
I have noticed significant growth also this photo was taken today:
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a587/nikkidondon/130330-004356_zps4bd550aa.jpg


And this photo was taken february 4th:
http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a587/nikkidondon/02031311291_zps104bfccf.jpg

[Cheele]

If it makes you happy, you should do it. I certainly won't judge you, nor do I really think anyone else will.

It's your hair!

:D

[nikkidondon]

Thank you so much! Your hair is so beautiful if I had to have a "picture goal" it would be your hair! Wow. Do you ever heat style it or is it naturally that amazing texture?

[anitacs9101]

Do you plan to maintain at hip? The way I see it a little damage isn't a bad thing as long as you're realistic about how it will affect your goals and expectations of your hair.

[Ravenwind]

To be honest, any heat whether it's used a lot or even a little can still weaken hair. Over time it can hurt it, but not as quickly as it would if heat was being used everyday. But as long as you keep nourishing your hair and use heat protectant you should be ok :)

[Natalia]

It really depens on how your hair handles it and how much you enjoy it. If you dont enjoy your hair whats the point in growing/caring for it? If i want my thin/fine hair to get past waist i cant use heat at all. Which really is pretty fine by me im a low maitenance gal anyway :p. If you hair seems to be handling it ten enjoy :). Maybe give it an extra treat like a SMT or overnight oiling once and a while to midigate the guilt.

[Crysta]

I think you know your hair and what it can take the best. OFC the repetative use of heat is going to weaken and damage your hair, but if you're maintaining at hip, I can't see it effecting your length and if you're happy with it being a little weaker, maybe take some extra care otherwise. I can't see a problem at all. Just do what you want to with your hair, as mentioned before, there's no point having healthy long hair if you can't do what you want with it.

Personally my goal is CL and I blow dry every now and then if I am late going to work, dye my hair with vegetable dye, and may even use a straighter occasionally. In contrast I oil my scalp and have a strict brushing method. That gets rid of my guilt ;P

[EtherealDoll]

You should enjoy your hair and if occasional heat-styling makes you happy, then go with it. Of course, there will be damage but if you baby your hair, the damage will not be signifant.

[Fantak]

I'm sorry if this is blaringly obvious but if you heat style it at the start of the weekend wouldn't it last until the end of the weekend? That way you only heat style once a week.

[vindo]

It really depends on your hair. Some will see damage from only rare straightening and some won't or at least not a lot of damage. if you see worsening I would stop.

It also depends on your goals, if you don't want it extremely long it might work.

I have never used a straightener or blow dried frequently, but I assume it would cause me a good deal of damage.

[DarkCurls]

I agree with what has been said. We can't really say whether or not it will work for you. I straightened my hair for years, every day or every other day or something like that, and only stopped about two years ago. I did it the bad way, too -- sometimes on hair that was still slightly damp because I couldn't be bothered to let it dry completely, sometimes many passes over the same section because my hair is quite resistant to straighteners (or I'm just unskilled). A lot of the hair that is on my head right now (the lower portion) has somehow survived that, since I've trimmed very little since then. I have splits, but mostly on the ends of my hair where I expect to get splits, and they don't bother me so much. I can't feel damage or any sort of "demarcation" line (before/after stopping heat). Babying my hair since I joined LHC has given me the softness I was after.

However, that's not to say there wasn't damage. Heat hurts, no matter how you do it. As long as you're aware of that, then you can make your own, informed decision.

I quit straightening, but mostly because it was such a pain and I realised I loved my natural curls. My hair was shorter than yours is now, though, maybe about BSL. Doing it, like, once a week... some people's hair couldn't handle it. I'm pretty sure mine could. Yours might, and it might not. It really depends. I think the only advice that can be given is to do what you have to do to be able to enjoy your hair. Which, by the way, is very pretty.

[melusine963]

At the end of the day you should do what makes you feel happy and confident. However, I straightened my hair once a week/once every two weeks for about two years, and it completely destroyed it. My hair is pretty fragile and I didn't always use heat-protectant spray, so that may be to blame. I hope you have better luck!

[nikkidondon]

Thanks for all the replies!! To clear a couple things up, I am planning on maintaining at hip, and sometimes I straighten it twice in a row on the weekends which I know is soo bad but I work out everyday sweating bullets so I don't have any other choice really. I try to S&D as much as I can, but it's funny because the longest part of my hair does not really seem to get any splits it's mostly in the layers that get splits which I have no idea why that is....anyway thanks for all the advice I think before I style it on the weekends and after it I will do a deep condition...hopefully the styling won't damage my hair too much! I'm glad I got clarity though because I've been itching to get a trim simply because I "feel" like the heat styling is bad, not because I see any actual damage.

[cooklaezo13]

You already know the answer. You know the condition of your hair. If your hair has made it to the length you have now, without excessive breakage and damage, while heat styling twice weekly, then it will make it to hip. Enjoy your hair, its really pretty.

[jacqueline101]

If it makes you happy and you aren't damaging it go for it.

[SerinaDaith]

I know my hair cannot take the heat at all, ever, it can't even take me sleeping on a normal cotten pillow at night. If your hair can and you like the look of it go for it! I wish I could straighten my hair but I can't if I want to keep growing.

[nikkidondon]

Thank you guys so much for your help! :D

[dwell_in_safety]

Go for it! And while you're at it, appreciate your hair's ability to tolerate heat so well. If I straighten mine ONCE, it will be full of splits a few days later. :o You have beautiful hair.

[gillybeanxo3921]

I used to flat iron my hair everyday when I was 12-13 years old. I would put lemon juice in my hair to lighten it, too. When I started trying to grow my hair out and keep it healthy, it was hard for me to stop flat ironing. I started by only doing it once or twice a week, because I figured that it wouldn't damage it that much.

Well, dealing with my natural texture was difficult. I only wore it in buns and braids unless it was straightened. Basically, I became aware of the fact that the longer I went without heat styling, the softer and shinier my hair was. I also frustrated by how often I had to get trims. So I flat ironed less and less, and now I wear my natural texture down almost always because it's so soft and shiny.

I guess the moral of the story is, I was only flat ironing because the damage I had made my hair unmanageable and frizzy, but once I stopped and started babying my hair, I began to resent heat styling. It's been two years, and I'm still trying to trim off the split ends.

Do whatever makes you happy, I just wanted to share my experience :)

[Cheele]

Thank you so much! Your hair is so beautiful if I had to have a "picture goal" it would be your hair! Wow. Do you ever heat style it or is it naturally that amazing texture?

Haha thanks :o.

I love how sleek but also much movement your hair has in the last picture with the layers look. Makes me miss my layers.

I straighten all of it briefly maybe once a month (I straighten just my bangs probably 3 times a month - awkward growing phase right now) when I want something different. My siggy is probably the most natural texture pic I have. I usually brush my hair like crazy when it's wet so I lose my wave, but I just let it be in that one.. it's rather wonky :p.

But to add about the straightening.. there will be some damage (I'm sure not an excruciating amount).. it just depends on how your hair handles it and whether or not that's a worthy trade-off for you.

I didn't say this before because I figured you were already somewhat aware of that and just posted because you were feeling guilty. But as I said in my first post, its your hair. There's no point in this hair journey if you are unhappy with what you have or what you're doing :).

~I'm a chemical dye head with no regrets ;)

[akilina]

Do what makes you happy. :) You should ENJOY your hair...so I do not believe that flat ironing on the weekend is the worst thing ever at all. Your hair looks really healthy anyhow.

If you are going to do it, just experiment and find out the lowest heat setting you can get away with. My hair straightens perfectly on the lowest.

Another big determiner is your technique. Use a heat protectant, and section your hair out in thin one to two inch wide sections and do ONE controlled pass down your hair. Use a comb to control the hair if you can.

The most damage comes from the people who use a flat iron like its a hair brush and pass it down their hair 5 times and that is just awful to watch.

Never put coconut oil or any natural oil on your hair before flat ironing though...Think of it like oil on a frying pan. Heat protectant is synthetic for a reason. However, if you already use oil, it definitely would not hurt to use it on days when you are not using any heat.

[HylianGirl]

As long as you take good care of your hair and don't notice any damage I don't see why not ^-^ enjoy your hair =D

[Helenae]

Depends on your hair. If I even touch my hair once with a flat-iron, it will erupt in twenty thousand split ends.

[NymphSpirit]

Personally I don't think it's a good idea at all, since even if you heat style only once a week, the hair is still being fried, and it'll never look as good as it would without the heat, but I agree with cooklaezo13, you already know your answer :) if you don't mind the damage, then continue to use heat.

Have you tried any other straightening methods that don't involve heat?

[goldloli]

Depends on your hair. If I even touch my hair once with a flat-iron, it will erupt in twenty thousand split ends.
I'm finding this lately. I've been straightening hair a couple times a month, sometimes less, and like immediately after i notice splits and white dots that take a week to s&d out. I been using lowest settings but guess the hair was already damaged from high heat straightening a year ago, that even low heat pushes it over the edge into split-city.

I read on a few hair sites that use pubmed studies and stuff to back up their arguments, it's general consensus that above 300f/150c is when the real damage occurs. Most modern straighteners don't even have settings that low, or if they do they don't advertise it. The emphasis is always 'heats up to 230c!', but I'm going to look around for one with settings below that magic 300f/150c.

I think it's key to maintain the health of my non damaged hair once I reach my goal. Blow dry on cool then swipe with low heat straightener if needed.

[Anje]

Well, it's not a great idea if you want your hair to be as long and healthy as possible...

If you are willing to risk a little damage and feel that it would help you enjoy your hair more overall, though, you can try it. Just make sure you use one with adjustable heat settings and use the lowest heat that works on your hair, for the shortest time possible. Make sure your heat protectant is indeed a heat protectant (as opposed to that poor girl on Youtube who melted her hair off trying to curl it).

Monitor the condition. If you're getting too much damage, your hair might not be able to handle the heat styling. Some people can, some people can't, and it's usually not fair who's who.