Opinions on Heat Protestant

[jackie_rapunzel]

Hi all.

Maybe this a dumb question but I wanted to gather everyone's thoughts on heat protectant. I try to use heat as little as possible when styling, but I do use hot rollers about once per week.
I am concerned about the alcohol content drying out my hair even more. I am currently using a cheap drug-store (I think Tresseme?) brand for Fine hair.

Any advice would be very helpful.
I am new to LHC and still learning :)

(speaking of which, if anyone can additionally guide me on how to edit my signature, that would be highly appreciated as well).

Thanks all!

[Entangled]

Heat Protestant or protectant?;)

I can't help you out on that, but I can about your siggy. You can edit it once you can access your profile; you can access you profile once you have reached 25 posts. Here's a link to some commonly asked questions:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=114999

Edited to add: Nice to meet you! I hope you find what you're looking for here.

[shinyspoon3]

Hi! From what I understand, heat protectants somewhat work if you use a low temperature setting and minimize the duration of heat exposure. They don't prevent damage; they just lessen it a little bit. Unless you are using high temps and long exposure--then your hair will fry no matter what you spray on it. Certain ingredients are more effective than others as well. Here is an interpretation of a study on heat protectants. It can guide you on which ingredients to look for: http://www.brightestbulbinthebox.com/2013/10/the-science-of-hairstyling-heat.html.

If you want to read the original article she is referencing, she pasted the address to the pdf at the bottom of the molecule diagram.

As for your siggy, you don't have enough posts yet. I believe you need 25 posts before you have the ability to mess with it. You'll get there in no time!

[HintOfMint]

You mean when Martin Luther used a hair fork to pin his 95 theses to the door? :p

In my personal experience, heat protectants don't help that much, but have you considered Caruso rollers? They're kind of like hot rollers, except they use steam to warm the foam rollers and they produce some very nice curls without damage from direct heat.

[sarahthegemini]

IMO they're just a marketing gimmick tbh. All they do is make the hair smooth and give the illusion of damage prevention.

[MINAKO]

They create a thin heat resistant barrier that prevents moisture to evaporate from inside the hair shaft, hence the hair will be less dried out. Of course that only works to a certain extend, but i would highly suggest to use it. If the alcohol bothers you in the girst place, there are many options not containing any, like serums and even alot of sprays, like Elnett or Aveda.

[Firefox7275]

Depends entirely on the ingredients. Most are laden with silicones which give faux shine and slip, with a flat iron that slip should help the hot tool slide evenly and not focus heat on one spot. But AFAIK silicones have little or no research backing any direct reduction in damage. Alcohol may be damaging, particularly if applied to wet hair or used to drench the hair.
http://science-yhairblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/alcohol-in-hair-sprays.html

Some ingredients are proven to reduce damage: glycerin, propylene glycol, hydrolysed protein, a few polyquats. There is a longer list over on the Facebook Wavy Hair Community but I am not sure it is replicated anywhere else.

Recent post on heat styling/ protection including a ton of linkies
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/2292886-post10.html

[Johannah]

Guess Firefox gave you a good explanation.

I have blunt bangs which I need to heat style every day/every other day. Heat protectants have done nothing for them, except making them greasy faster. So IMO, they don't work.

[AmyBeth]

One of our witty posters (sorry, I can't remember who) suggested spraying your skin with protectant and then applying the heated appliance to your skin to get a good idea of how effective the protectants are:p.

[Anje]

You mean when Martin Luther used a hair fork to pin his 95 theses to the door? :p
You all make me not want to fix the spelling on the title. :lol:

Regarding your signature, jackie_rapunzel, I think you're going to need to hit the 25 post mark before you can do much about it. (I know that's frustrating. Hang in there and you'll get to that point pretty fast.)

No personal experience with heat protectants. I suspect that they might be better than nothing, especially since they add slip to speed a flat iron along, but hair that hasn't been heat-styled is going to be better off than hair that's been styled while using a protectant.

[meteor]

As a somewhat related question: Does anybody know if heat protectants can help a bit against sun damage? I really don't know what works (except for hats/scarves/parasols), since skin SPF and hair UV-filters don't really protect natural hair color from fading.

It was briefly mentioned here... without any support / research at all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8QDHjzQel4

Also, I never use heat on hair, but was wondering if heat protectants provide additional protection against the daily wear and tear, more so than ordinary leave-ins/serums?

Thank you! :flower:

[Merlin]

Sure and thats a very Norn' Irish thread title so 'tis...

[Firefox7275]

As a somewhat related question: Does anybody know if heat protectants can help a bit against sun damage? I really don't know what works (except for hats/scarves/parasols), since skin SPF and hair UV-filters don't really protect natural hair color from fading.

It was briefly mentioned here... without any support / research at all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8QDHjzQel4

Also, I never use heat on hair, but was wondering if heat protectants provide additional protection against the daily wear and tear, more so than ordinary leave-ins/serums?

Thank you! :flower:

Sunscreens are a different animal to heat protectants, many of the proven ingredients for thermal protection have humectant properties so they likely reduce damage by moderating the speed at which water leaves the hair (cuticle cracking).

Igor added skin sunscreen to conditioner without issue. My advice is generally close weave hat or UV Buff plus protective styles (as much hair as possible tucked away). Chemical sunscreens break down in UV light so have to be reapplied, that would leave hair a sticky or greasy mess by the end of the day.

http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/ingredients/polyquaternium-59-sun-protection-for-your-curls/
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/sunscreen-for-hair.html

If you have mixtress tendencies it is possible to purchase micronised zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. You would also need a decent scale and high speed stick blender. Together they are capable of making a fairly high factor sunscreen that is lightweight in texture. There are people making their own sunscreen on skincare forums (look for username DragoN) from these powders plus lotion plus a little natural oil, no reason why you couldn't do much the same with conditioner since it has a lot in common with lotion formulation wise.

[RapunzelKat]

Welcome, jackie_rapunzel! :flower:

I don't know much about heat protectants, but have you looked into heat-free methods of curling? (Rag curls, pin curls, sock curls, etc.) Those would remove all worry of heat damage, if you can find one that works for you. :)

[meteor]

Thank you so much, Firefox! :D
Actually, about Igor's Bell Tower... I wanted to add that she did an awesome experiment recently: 2 months of sun exposure on shed hair sprayed with skin SPF vs. hair UV-filter vs. control.
Hair UV-filter didn't protect from sun bleaching her natural hair and skin SPF made it even darker (but she didn't wash it after, so I'm assuming it's just stained with heavy product):
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-sun-protection-experiment-2-months.html
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.se/2014/05/the-sun-protection-experiment.html

Hair UV filters protect dye, not natural hair color, if I understand correctly. And skin SPF... well, how much does one need to slather on hair to protect it appropriately, if it takes almost a tablespoon to protect face alone? I would imagine that it takes a lot of zinc oxide/titanium dioxide for proper coverage... which would probably make hair unpresentable?
I'm really curious about all this... :)

[animetor7]

Honestly I just wouldn't use heat at all, it's VERY damaging. But if you must use heat I suppose they can provide more protection than just using heat without one. In any case I would limit heat and stick to low heats when it is used to limit damage. Good luck on your hair journey and welcome. :)

[meteor]

Some ingredients are proven to reduce damage: glycerin, propylene glycol, hydrolysed protein, a few polyquats.
I'm curious about propylene glycol... how does it work on hair and how does it reduce damage? :) Is there anywhere I can read on this?
Thank you so much for all your advice, Firefox! :D

[oatmealpie]

Ooh, thank you for the suggestion about Caruso rollers, HintOfMint! I just picked some up on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Caruso-C97953-Molecular-Hairsetter-Rollers/dp/B0002JKPB8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407535783&sr=8-1&keywords=caruso+rollers) for $40.

[Firefox7275]

Thank you so much, Firefox! :D
Actually, about Igor's Bell Tower... I wanted to add that she did an awesome experiment recently: 2 months of sun exposure on shed hair sprayed with skin SPF vs. hair UV-filter vs. control.
Hair UV-filter didn't protect from sun bleaching her natural hair and skin SPF made it even darker (but she didn't wash it after, so I'm assuming it's just stained with heavy product):
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-sun-protection-experiment-2-months.html
http://igorsbelltower.blogspot.se/2014/05/the-sun-protection-experiment.html

Hair UV filters protect dye, not natural hair color, if I understand correctly. And skin SPF... well, how much does one need to slather on hair to protect it appropriately, if it takes almost a tablespoon to protect face alone? I would imagine that it takes a lot of zinc oxide/titanium dioxide for proper coverage... which would probably make hair unpresentable?
I'm really curious about all this... :)

Oooh has Igor finished that experiment?? Will check that out in a minute.

Agree you are likely not going to get an amazing SPF from adding physical sunscreens to conditioner, which is why I am all about the sunhats and Buffs. But if one cannot or will not ....

I have been slack this summer and my hairline has faded on a couple of occasions, from berry pink to as light as peach! This is both sun and sweat. My hair has mostly been bunned when out, with no part and it's surprising how little of the hair under the top layer has faded, my bunned lengths have not more than they do with normal washing.

I might do an experiment one day, see if I can replace my leave in conditioner with sunscreen without it trashing the look and feel of my hair when worn straight and bunned (as most of you do). I have DeVita Ultra Solar SPF50 (zinc plus titanium and very 'light'/ non greasy). I don't know if I could use a tablespoon, but I'll measure and try. Of course it would not protect the roots but a wide headband would do that if you were concerned.

This series of articles is relevant, I just found this blog and like her writing style! Crying shame she doesn't blog more on haircare
http://www.brightestbulbinthebox.com/2013/05/how-much-is-2-milligrams-per-centimeter.html


I'm curious about propylene glycol... how does it work on hair and how does it reduce damage? :) Is there anywhere I can read on this?
Thank you so much for all your advice, Firefox! :D

Propylene glycol is a humectant, relatively common in styling products.

http://journal.scconline.org//pdf/cc1998/cc049n03/p00141-p00153.pdf
http://journal.scconline.org/pdf/cc1998/cc049n04/p00245-p00256.pdf
http://journal.scconline.org//pdf/cc2011/cc062n02/p00265-p00282.pdf

[meteor]

Thank you so very much for all the awesome information, Firefox! :flowers:

Yes, Igor finished her experiment and one of the biggest things she noticed was how gunky hair becomes when it's soaked in product. Her hair is not dyed, and dyed hair would probably show different results in terms of fading of color.

I'm all for hats/scarves/parasols/buffs! Also, I'm very curious if henna protects hair from sun damage... it doesn't fade in the sun and it protects the skin from sun tan, so it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that it might help the hair a bit too?

I just started reading Brightest Bulb In the Box blog (thanks to you! :) ), and I'm hooked! What an awesome, no-bull blogger! :applause

[jackie_rapunzel]

Ha ha y'all are the best! Thanks for all the informative information (and ignoring my terrible subject mistake -- although all the comments certainly did make me laugh!)
This was very helpful and I never really thought of an alcohol-free protectant. I will definitely look into getting a brand that is better for my hair.
I'm trying to cut out heat all together but sometimes for work I feel I need to look more "polished" than when my hair is just down or in a ponytail.

Thanks again for the help, everyone!

[LongHairLesbian]

Ha ha y'all are the best! Thanks for all the informative information (and ignoring my terrible subject mistake -- although all the comments certainly did make me laugh!)
This was very helpful and I never really thought of an alcohol-free protectant. I will definitely look into getting a brand that is better for my hair.
I'm trying to cut out heat all together but sometimes for work I feel I need to look more "polished" than when my hair is just down or in a ponytail.

Thanks again for the help, everyone!

Maybe try some buns for work? :) In my opinion, no hair style is better for work than a bun if you have medium or long hair. Keeps all the hair out of your face, and they don't require any heat to look polished. I know what you mean, I wore my brushed out waves down or in a ponytail today (my hair sticks broke, and my braid was hurting my scalp) and I just felt messy and distracted all day, like my hair was tangled and frizzing. Not the way you want to feel at work. Buns are the way to go. :)

[jackie_rapunzel]

Maybe try some buns for work? :) In my opinion, no hair style is better for work than a bun if you have medium or long hair. Keeps all the hair out of your face, and they don't require any heat to look polished. I know what you mean, I wore my brushed out waves down or in a ponytail today (my hair sticks broke, and my braid was hurting my scalp) and I just felt messy and distracted all day, like my hair was tangled and frizzing. Not the way you want to feel at work. Buns are the way to go. :)

THIS is EXACTLY how I feel!! You nailed it. I'll have to try buns more :) I want to experiment with some fancy braided buns and such