Giving up the heat [styling]

[scrivener827]

I am getting ready to henna my hair next week, and my strand tests have confirmed that heat styling will darken the color pretty quickly, which I really don't want to happen. I have no worries about the color the henna will come out, as my hair is already chemically dyed a fairly bright coppery red, which I love on me, but the forced avoidance of heat is scaring me a little. I KNOW it is so much better for my hair to avoid heat styling anyway, I am just so used to blow drying and straightening it. My hair is quite straight with just a little wave to it, so wearing it straight always seemed easiest. Letting it air dry bring out the waves, of course, but it also just doesn’t sit as nicely. I’m trying to experiment with some different heatless styles this week, but it feels like I am having to learn how to care for and deal with my hair all over again. It’s almost like I have a whole new head of hair to deal with, and I haven’t even hennaed yet!

Has anyone else gone through this? Did you successfully stay away from the heat for good? Any tips on taming the mane?

If there is already a thread on this topic that I didn't see (and I figure there very well might be), feel free to point me in that direction.

Thanks all!

[Arctic]

If you have waves, you are not 1a/1b.

If your waves are not strong, though, you can probably get your hair pretty straight by blowdrying with cool air (and some gentle tension).

There is at least one recent heatless waves thread. (I like headband waves, rag curls, french braid and crown braid waves and cinnabun waves on myself.)

Good luck with your hennaing and new styling experiments :) Both of those can be very fun :D

[Arctic]

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=129604 Here you go, the heatless waves thread.

[Nesoi]

I don't heatstyle my hair. It's naturally wavy and blowdrying it destroys my wave pattern! So it actually looks better when I just leave it. Now I don't event think about it - just build enough time into my day if I need it to dry before going somewhere, or wash it before bed. Try braiding loosely or a big topknot for some nice waves!

[luxurioushair]

It's just my opinion, but if I'd been heat styling my hair for a while, I would not also color it. I would at least spend 6 months conditioning it to strengthen it first. Seems risky to color already heat-damaged hair. I hope things go well for you.

[Nimia]

I was in the same boat as you, and found it easy to give up heat -- the fear of my henna turning brown was motivation enough. To get my hair to look smoother when it has dried naturally, I'll twist it up in a bun when it's nearly dry (sometimes I have to spray it with a bit of water, if the ends have dried too much), or if I want waves I'll do a Dutch braid; when I let it down, it's usually looking glossier than if I'd left it hanging. I use twisty foam roller thingies for curls, or I get waves from them if I only leave them in for a short while. Varying how damp the hair is to start, and how long the rollers (or bun or braid) are left in will change the results from smoothed-out to waves to curls.

Although these methods take more total time, they (for me, at least) take less active time than heat methods. Twist or roll things up, then ignore. I always hated the time it took in front of a mirror to curl or straighten my hair with heat.

[scrivener827]

Thanks for the ideas! I did some braid waves yesterday, and even though they straightened out quite a bit over the course of the day, I liked them. The bit of wave I have is pretty subtle and only in the back section of my hair, so the braid waves helped give a little more even wave all over. I was also pleasantly surprised that the little bit of extra wave gave my hair more body, since it usually feels quite flat if I just let it air dry. I also just got some spiral rollers to try.

I am not worried about the damage to my hair. From everything I have read, henna coats hair and aside from possibly a tiny bit just from rinsing it out, should never cause damage. As is, I really wouldn't consider my hair "heat-damaged." I mean I'm sure it must be to some extent, but I only use heat 2-3 times a week, and then quite quickly. I have some split ends that could use a trim, but otherwise the length of my hair is shiny and soft. I can only assume it will improve more for ditching the heat completely.

Maybe I need to post a picture and get help deciding my hair type. Even though I only wash my hair twice a week or so, I have almost always blow-dried it, which is apparently enough to straighten out the wave so I didn't notice it. Plus I know I've been getting more wavy/curly hairs in the last couple of years (I notice more and more crazy shed hairs). Is it possible to be a 1a/1c? :confused: