How on earth does this method NOT damage hair?

[Anya15]

So, I came across this video on YT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMfidCZho0

While she's using great ingredients in her haircare recipe, I'm just concerned about the use of a flat iron. She claims that it will not damage hair, and can be used daily (eek!). (Also yes my country is a bit obsessed with straight hair, which I talked about in another thread on hair insecurities...)

Anyway, thoughts? How can using heat daily not damage hair?

[Nadine <3]

Well, she IS damaging her hair. It might not show up...yet, but it will eventually. My guess would be she has rather coarse, thick robust hair that can take a little heat without showing much damage.

If I did that to my hair even on a weekly basis my hair would just break off.

[a.steeez]

Omg!! Youre right she is soo damaging her hair. Exposing oil to extreme heat is literally how you fry something. Exposing your hair to heat will definitely damage it. There are products like heat protectant that help but do not completely protect from heat. My advice is if you really want to use heat on your hair, use it sparingly, like when you go out on certain occasions and use protectant!!

[a.steeez]

http://www.brightestbulbinthebox.com/2013/10/the-science-of-hairstyling-heat.html?m=1

[Sarahlabyrinth]

I wonder if you could just use it to get added shine. Without using the hair straightener - just use it as a hair treatment. Maybe with a heat cap. Hmmm....

[lapushka]

Any flat iron or hot tool is going to damage hair. Maybe not right away and with one go, but even one go is already enough for white dots to pop up.

[Platzhalter]

As already mentioned, the heat from the straightening iron will always damage one's hair... there is just a slight difference in the impact whether you have thicker/coarser or finer hair.

[Anya15]

I wonder if you could just use it to get added shine. Without using the hair straightener - just use it as a hair treatment. Maybe with a heat cap. Hmmm....

Yes, pretty sure the ingredients will make a great hair mask minus the straightener. :)



If I did that to my hair even on a weekly basis my hair would just break off.

Omg same here. My hair is mostly M but about a quarter of it is F i guess. It'll get damaged in no time ;_;

[spidermom]

I destroyed my hair about 10 years ago with occasional use. But some hair is more resilient than mine.

[meteor]

Of course, flat ironing is damaging. Yes, one can go ahead and use flaxseed gel, aloe vera gel and conditioner/serum mask, just not with that direct heat!

Especially since aloe vera, flaxseed gel and conditioner all contain water, she basically wets down her hair and then flat-irons it, which causes even more damage: see "bubble hair" and damage from water escaping hair as steam.

It really disturbed me that the YouTuber said "For all of you who are worried about using heat on your hair on a daily basis, do not worry, the heat just helps aloe vera absorb and nourish your hair better ... Doing this daily will not ruin your hair, I can absolutely guarantee it." :no: I really hope people will not simply take her word for it, but will do some research instead.

Also, she showed the strands next to each other to "show the difference" in shine. There is a great study that explains this phenomenon. Beyond heat simply straightening out hair surface, thus making it more reflective, the reason behind the extra shine is actually the damage to the cuticles and the abrupt change in moisture levels.

Influence of internal structures of hair fiber on hair appearance. III. Generation of light-scattering factors in hair cuticles and the influence on hair shine: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.9320&rep=rep1&type=pdf, Summary: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14528388
"The effects of thermal treatments on hair fiber induced by blow-drying have been investigated. It was found that the hair shows whitish and powdery appearance after heat drying, especially when dark hair is rapidly dried from a wet condition. For all kinds of hair, the appearance of numerous glittering speckles was confirmed on the cuticle surface by optical microscopic observations. SEM images of hair transverse and longitudinal sections with glittering speckles revealed that the splitting of cuticle layers generated by blow-drying occurred not only at the outermost parts of cuticle cells but also at the inner parts of the cellular interfaces. The release and uptake of moisture through fiber surfaces induces deformation of cuticle cells, probably because of anisotropic swelling or drying of the cells. The cuticles with glittering speckles are found to be fragile and are easily damaged in combination with other mechanical stresses such as combing force."

And if somebody has any doubts about the damage from heat-styling, please check out these studies on thermal damage:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136845&p=3191167&viewfull=1#post3191167

[Anya15]

meteor, that is some lovely research you've done! I actually didn't know about the extra shine being damage to the cuticle.

The shine from healthy hair is due to the cuticle being smooth though, right?

[Arctic]

Was her iron even on for this? Also the "after" strand appeared to still clearly be soaking wet, hence it looked "shinier". What a silly demonstration.

[lillielil]

Someone should point her to LHC!

[meteor]

meteor, that is some lovely research you've done! I actually didn't know about the extra shine being damage to the cuticle.

The shine from healthy hair is due to the cuticle being smooth though, right?

Most definitely! :agree:
Notice how that study was talking about "numerous glittering speckles" (from heat-damaged cuticles) as opposed to natural "shine". And those "glittering speckles" actually disappear when the moisture level re-equilibrates with humidity in the environment again. (If you click on the study, you'll see some great pictures that demonstrate it: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.9320&rep=rep1&type=pdf)


And yes, natural shine from healthy hair is partly due to hair being smooth :agree: E.g. studies:

- Influence of internal structures of hair fiber on hair appearance. I. Light scattering from the porous structure of the medulla of human hair: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11919644
"Hair with a porous medulla gave a whitish and lusterless appearance because of light scattering from the fiber center, whereas in the cases without pores, a clear and brilliant appearance was observed. [...] Both contrasts in lightness and apparent color (chroma and hue) decreased in the hair with medulla pores, and the decreases in contrast caused a whitish and lusterless appearance. [...] The histogram was further analyzed by hair care behavior of individual panelists, and it was found that the pores in the medulla can be generated in a heat-drying process."

- Patterns of light interference produced by damaged cuticle cells in human hair: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728927
"The strong patterns of light interference appeared only in cuticle cells that had been damaged either mechanically or by thermal stresses. Cuticle cells that were not damaged did not produce this phenomenon. The zones of light interference on the hair surface were seen to extend to cuticle sheath areas whose damage was not apparent when analyzed under the Scanning Electron Microscope. The presence of oils and other hydrophobic materials in the hair had a strong effect in the appearance or disappearance of the interference patterns."

- Formation of nanostructure on hair surface: its characteristic optical properties and application to hair care products: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728928
"Uneven structures on hair fiber surface, such as lift up of cuticle or build up of hair spray ingredients, generally cause a diffuse reflection which results in a dull and unhealthy appearance."

And, just in case, here is a compilation of studies specifically on hair shine: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136845&p=3193079&viewfull=1#post3193079

[Arctic]

Same person, same method, here you can see the hair cooking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNXXpUML9gE

[TatsuOni]

If I would do that even once, I would completely destroy my fine hair...

[turtlelover]

Of course, flat ironing is damaging. Yes, one can go ahead and use flaxseed gel, aloe vera gel and conditioner/serum mask, just not with that direct heat!

Especially since aloe vera, flaxseed gel and conditioner all contain water, she basically wets down her hair and then flat-irons it, which causes even more damage: see "bubble hair" and damage from water escaping hair as steam.

It really disturbed me that the YouTuber said "For all of you who are worried about using heat on your hair on a daily basis, do not worry, the heat just helps aloe vera absorb and nourish your hair better ... Doing this daily will not ruin your hair, I can absolutely guarantee it." :no: I really hope people will not simply take her word for it, but will do some research instead.

Also, she showed the strands next to each other to "show the difference" in shine. There is a great study that explains this phenomenon. Beyond heat simply straightening out hair surface, thus making it more reflective, the reason behind the extra shine is actually the damage to the cuticles and the abrupt change in moisture levels.

Influence of internal structures of hair fiber on hair appearance. III. Generation of light-scattering factors in hair cuticles and the influence on hair shine: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.553.9320&rep=rep1&type=pdf, Summary: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14528388
"The effects of thermal treatments on hair fiber induced by blow-drying have been investigated. It was found that the hair shows whitish and powdery appearance after heat drying, especially when dark hair is rapidly dried from a wet condition. For all kinds of hair, the appearance of numerous glittering speckles was confirmed on the cuticle surface by optical microscopic observations. SEM images of hair transverse and longitudinal sections with glittering speckles revealed that the splitting of cuticle layers generated by blow-drying occurred not only at the outermost parts of cuticle cells but also at the inner parts of the cellular interfaces. The release and uptake of moisture through fiber surfaces induces deformation of cuticle cells, probably because of anisotropic swelling or drying of the cells. The cuticles with glittering speckles are found to be fragile and are easily damaged in combination with other mechanical stresses such as combing force."

And if somebody has any doubts about the damage from heat-styling, please check out these studies on thermal damage:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=136845&p=3191167&viewfull=1#post3191167

Yikes, this is making me feel REALLY guilty for straightening my hair once like a week or so ago to see if my trim was even. Now I am wishing I had not done it even ONCE!

[Ondina]

Eeek. Cringe cringe.
First cringe is for using the straightener to straighten from scratch without round brushing in advance... 10x more damage and flat hair. It's glued to her head and the lengths look unnatural.
The second cringe is for using the iron on anything but perfectly dry hair.
Really, just some time spent round brushing makes it shiny, straight, and voluminous. It will damage in the long run but much less than this.

[Lavendersugar]

Oil plus heat equals frying. I guess she's willing to chance it. Once the damage shows her hair will look so fried nothing can save it but a cut. She will get breakage too.