To those who cant get rid of their heat tools.

[Carissamarie08]

I dont think I will ever give up using my hair straightener. I couldnt fathom just having my hair "natural" I have to have some kind of perfected style to my hair and the straightener does that for me. What is the best heat protecting product that has worked for you? :D

[beccababesx]

Have you tried the wrapping method? I know a lot of curlies use that (don't know your natural texture), I'm sure others who know it better than me could explain it.
If you really really can't give it up, I recommend using a LOT of silicones - in your shampoo, condish, then add a heat protectant. Let it airdry so it's not a double heat. And consider stretching washes so that if you HAVE to straighten every time you wash, that happens less.
Hope whatever you decide to do turns out well for you :)

[fridgee]

Before I decided to lose the heat (2 months today since I last blow dried and straightened :D and thats a looong time for me!) I religiously used the frizz ease serum that has heat protection (the kind of orangey one). I don't really know if it protected from the heat, because I can't compare what my hair would have looked like if I didn't use it, but it made my hair shiny and slippy and I would never heat treat my hair without it.

[Carissamarie08]

haha I wish I could have the will power to get rid of my heat, but I cant. The former hairstylist in me is addicted :rolleyes:

[Avital88]

heat works really good for my hair... to destroy it!

[Carissamarie08]

Well I am the example of doing everything wrong for your hair. I used to wear fusion hair extensions in my hair for the longest time too, and taking those out was not pretty.

[vanillabones]

A couple months after joining LHC I got rid of my flat iron and blowfrier :) I hadn't been able to use them because my hair was so damaged I couldn't even heatstyle... but now I couldn't dream of it! I guess it gets worse before it gets better ;) I'm so happy I don't feel the need to blowfry every time my hair gets wet. I love rare visits to the salon and get it blown-out though.
I hate straighteners. I love curlers... I'll get rid of my 'curling wand' once my hair is long enough to braid wave... I don't use the tool but I'd feel bad getting rid of it right now.

[vanillabones]

Well I am the example of doing everything wrong for your hair. I used to wear fusion hair extensions in my hair for the longest time too, and taking those out was not pretty.

I can second this!!!
I went cold turkey on all my bad habits however. Especially after clip ins, bleaching white, clip ins, fusions, dying, bleaching white again, removing fusions. During all this heat styling whenever my hair wouldn't fall apart. I had no choice but to quit.

I can't wait for long virgin heat-free hair though :) After being here awhile you may feel the same and this comes from someone who never wanted to see their natural color or not to tease/damage hair just to get some volume.

[Carissamarie08]

I refuse to blowdry my hair, I dont even have a hairdryer. I think my hair feels better when I dont blowdry.

[Mairéad]

I guess it all depends on how long you want your hair, how it stands up to heat, and how well it reacts to products.

Many of us ban the heat tools from our routine because many of us want super lengths and heat is usually pretty counter productive. -Cone laden products can help mask some of the damage caused by heat but many us have hair that rather dislikes the stuff making heat damage worse. A lot of people have hair that can't really even handled being straightened once or twice.

So, I suppose if you're not looking for super length, have somewhat resilient hair, have hair that likes -cones, and get frequent trims that heat tools may fit your lifestyle just fine.

But, there is also no-heat curling and straightening to explore too. Don't discredit that. Depending on your hair texture wrapping could be a huge success.

[Kiwiwi]

You view on what looks good on you might change in the future.
Or you find out how you can take care of your own specific hairtype and how to make it look beautiful. That's what happend to me. I never would've believed I could very simply give my hair what it needs and it suddenly looks beautiful ^_^

I'm not saying you should stop heat, I'm not judging, just sharing ^_^

[Carissamarie08]

I know I am kind of "unfitting" for this forum so far. Maybe after being here for awhile my ways will change who knows.

Honestly my goal is just to get about 2 inches past BSL and ill be happy. I want Kim Kardashian's hair..lol /hair length anyways.

[Mairéad]

I know I am kind of "unfitting" for this forum so far. Maybe after being here for awhile my ways will change who knows.

Honestly my goal is just to get about 2 inches past BSL and ill be happy. I want Kim Kardashian's hair..lol /hair length anyways.

Eh, there's no such thing as a proper 'fit' really. There are no rules and we have different things in mind for our hair. Each one of us has a different opinion of what long is and have different styles. Many like the natural organic look of natural hair and there probably plenty here who also like heavily styled hair. A good phrase here is, "I'm not here to decorate your world," so as long as you like your hair you're doing the right thing.

[Carissamarie08]

I like your thinking :)

[NotInPortland]

Well I don't use heat styling tools any more but seeing as you asked about heat protecting products, I really don't think there is any product that's going to protect your hair from heat. I know there are loads of products which claim to protect the hair but honestly I don't believe them, I can't see what miracle product could possibly protect the hair when you run a heat styling tool over it that's that hot. I think a lot of them are just riddled with cones to help to hide any damage that may occur.

[Silverdragn7385]

I'm like you...I can't see myself ever truly letting go of my hair straightener. The slip it creates, how it makes it look...is just awesome to me. >_> Also, if I ever actually tried to let it go, I know someone would notice and ask something along the lines of "What's wrong with your hair??" Since I've never in my life gotten a negative remark about my hair, I don't think I could handle it, especially since my hair is my best feature. :/

[luxepiggy]

Aquage Beyond Shine! It's like a little blue aerosol bottle full of magic (^(oo)^)v

[DarkSky]

Hi CarissaMarie08 I can relate to how you are feeling. I personally like my hair heat styled as well but I also do like it natural (on the days that it's behaving). I've been battling with the heat styling and going natural since the summer mainly because I know that it's the best thing to do for my overall hair health. Since then I have cut back a lot on heat ... from once every 4 days to now once or twice a month. Around the same period of time I went from using sulfate to going with a modified CO method and only using silicone on the days that I used heat. I have seen improvement in my hair since then but I think it's mainly from going CO and keeping my hair moisturized. Before that I had lots of poof which is now diminished somewhat. I'm still not completely convinced that going completely heat free is going to make much more of a big change in my hair. I do notice less split ends or bad ends with this reduced heat method but I didn't get many to begin with. Also my hair has the same amount of frizz which is really not much and I've never had issues with reaching my goal length.

I will say that at this point in time I do feel comfortable with my once or twice a month straightening habit. I'm sure I'll ween off of the flat iron completely one of these days but it will take time and I'm not in a rush. I want to feel good and enjoy my hair at every stage that it's in. I will admit that I am appreciating and enjoying my curly hair days more when it turns out to be a good hair day. What makes it tough to go natural some days is my heavily layered hair cut. It makes my wavey curls look messy (not good for the office) and I'm used to the more put together look from heat styling. Putting my hair up is not an option unless it's because my hair is dirty or I'm having an unexpected bad hair day. Once the layers grow out though I'm sure my natural hair will win out over flat ironing occasionally because it will look more put together and behaved.

Sorry for the long rambling post... I just wanted you to know that you are not alone. I know I often feel like the odd person out with my methods.

[DarkSky]

I dont think I will ever give up using my hair straightener. I couldnt fathom just having my hair "natural" I have to have some kind of perfected style to my hair and the straightener does that for me. What is the best heat protecting product that has worked for you? :D

For heat protectant I use "It's a 10 Miracle leave in" and "Tresemme Heat Protectant Spray"

In case you or anyone is wondering, both are somewhat CO friendly. I read that cyclomethicone can be removed with the surfuctants found in conditioners and the tresemme seems to rinse out fairly easily especially since it's very light.

[beccababesx]

For heat protectant I use "It's a 10 Miracle leave in" and "Tresemme Heat Protectant Spray"

In case you or anyone is wondering, both are somewhat CO friendly. I read that cyclomethicone can be removed with the surfuctants found in conditioners and the tresemme seems to rinse out fairly easily especially since it's very light.

Interesting, thank you Dark sky! It is hard to find information on safe heat here, as most people only know about no-heat.

[WaterMusic]

I don't think anyone is wrong for using heat on their hair, everyone has to do what works for them! With the length that you are aiming for, it shouldn't be a problem for you. That being said, I really don't think it makes sense for you to be asking advice about heat protection here. This forum is heavily biased against using heat, I just don't think you are going to get the range of answers you are looking for.

[tori93]

the heat protectant i have used for years is v05 heat defence taming spray, it's more of a mist so it doesn't wet the hair. I've never got many split ends at all when using this and i used to straighten my hair every day.

[Cania]

I use Charles Worthington 5 in 1 "Protect" Salon Finish Heat Defence Spray.

I blowdry often and straighten my fringe, but I don't set any serious splits, so that might be worth a try.

Avoid tresemme, I'm sure it actually dried my hair out! I love their shampoo and conditioner but that heat defence is dreadful.

[Ceridwen Iris]

I also use the Tresemme heat protectant spray. I have BSL hair that has blonde highlights and I use a blow dryer and GHD on occasion (I've even been known to use the GHD to actually dry my hair!). Not all hair is going to faint at the sight of heat styling and I think you just have to figure out what works for you.

There is no point having waist length hair that you don't enjoy.

[Lianna]

I really don't think it makes sense for you to be asking advice about heat protection here. This forum is heavily biased against using heat, I just don't think you are going to get the range of answers you are looking for.

I'm quite surprised at the many answers she got (happily surprised). I think the board/members should help in every way to achieve long hair, specially the harder way, which is using heat tools/coloring/bleaching.

The "grow it virgin and no heat" is too overdone. I see long "altered" hair all the time in real life, it's only natural to me to be able to grow it regardless.

OP: I'm not able to recommend products based on brand (because I'm not from USA/Europe), but I advise if it's possible to get your hair straight buy doing the brush method with a hair dryer you should do it because it's way less damaging than a flat iron. If you are able to get your hair straight just using the flat iron (and not blow drying prior), it's quite possible that you can. Your hair only feels weird with the dryer because you probably didn't smooth the as you dry it (with the brush).

Personally only 3b and curlier hair "need" the whole process of smoothing with the brush-dryer and finish with a flat iron. I had a friend that used to blow it out straight every week and she was 3c, BUT she always did at a salon though. I don't expect professional blow-outs that's why I said 3b and curlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LvOdDv04Yw

ETA: We have threads that support hair dyeing, we should have for heat aswell, specially to promote a somewhat safer use of it.

[Vanilla]

I successfully grew my hair to waist length by using a blowdryer to straighten twice a week. I used a flatiron on my hair once it was already at waist.

I used V05 hot oil shower works (light protein treatment) weekly to keep away the split ends. It took 4 years to grow to waist from shoulder this way. I also used a lot of cones in my shampoo, conditioner and straightening cream.

[Bonkers57]

When I want to get "dressed up," I must use a curling iron on mine. It's still too short for all the pretty up-do's I see on this site (it's not even APL yet). Fortunately (at this time) I don't have that many occasions to get "dressed up."


haha I wish I could have the will power to get rid of my heat, but I cant. The former hairstylist in me is addicted :rolleyes:

[jesis]

Fortunately for me, I learned to love my waves before I came to the LHC. I didn't even think about "quitting" my flat iron until after I joined, but really, I still flat iron every now and then.

The point at which my hair grew the most is when I went about 3 months without heatstyling.

I guess if you're only going to grow to BSL, it can be done without giving up the flat iron. I will amend that my hair is a lot healthier now than it was when I flat ironed constantly. I guess if your hair is strong enough to hold up to any damage a flat iron might cause, and if you're willing to take extra time out to be sure you're getting rid of all of your splits before they cause too much breakage, it could work!

[MoreWhenNuh]

I know I am kind of "unfitting" for this forum so far. Maybe after being here for awhile my ways will change who knows.

Honestly my goal is just to get about 2 inches past BSL and ill be happy. I want Kim Kardashian's hair..lol /hair length anyways.

Kim's hair is most likely enhanced greatly by extensions but I'm not sure.

[Amber_Maiden]

I used to love my hair straightener... I mean, it makes my hair look even longer. It make it look like it's at hip. It makes it sleek and shiny.

but you know what? damage isn't worth it. I threw it out (my cheap one) and gave my other away. Can't see it, so won't use it! :)

[Carissamarie08]

Thank you to those of you who gave me answers:) and to whoever mentioned using the Aquage product, that is actually what we used at the salon I used to work at :) I liked this product, and I am surprised I forgot all about it, its been over 2 years since ive used it.

[luxepiggy]

Thank you to those of you who gave me answers:) and to whoever mentioned using the Aquage product, that is actually what we used at the salon I used to work at :) I liked this product, and I am surprised I forgot all about it, its been over 2 years since ive used it.

I seriously don't know how I lived without it! Even with daily use, it never makes my hair greasy or limp. I've not seen any buildup either, and I only CO-wash every 3-4 days.

Interestingly, I've noticed that it can be used without heat as well. When applied to dry hair, it noticeably softens the texture and is a wonderful detangler. My hair tangles much less throughout the day now that I've started spraying it with Beyond Shine every morning. (^(oo)^)v

[Ceridwen Iris]

I also find that just straightening the top layer of hair, and/ or doing it in large chunks of hair means less heat on my hair overall.