About a year ago I had my hair straightened. I've had my hair professionally braided a few times but this was the first time in about five years that I'd let someone else DO my hair. Prior to that point, I've washed, cut, permed, trimmed, pressed, braided, twisted, etc. my hair myself. I had been two-strand twisting my hair for about six weeks when I decided that since I hadn't had anyone else do my hair in a long time, and since I was going to attend a special event, that I would get it "professionally" straightened....mistake!
The mistake wasn't letting someone else do it, the mistake was letting a person who seemed surprised that I liked my hair in its natural state be the one that I trusted with the supposed temporary straightening of my happily kinky hair. I got a few suggestions for who to go to, but I waited until the last minute - and I went with the woman that was physically closest and that could do my hair in the middle of the day. The process consisted of a wash, a deep condition, then a blow dryer being blast at my scalp until my strands succumbed.
I will say that my hair was STRAIGHT. So straight that its been a year and I still haven't gotten rid of all of the ill effects. After washing my hair and recognizing that it wasn't snapping back to its previous glory, I washed, conditioned and deep conditioned my hair (several times). The deep conditioning helped, and I started to see my curls come back. I continued to deep condition, and I went back to my twists, but over the next several weeks my hair began to shred and shed. I then cut between 1.5 and 2 inches off of the ends of my twists, which got rid of the worst of the heat damage. Then I kicked myself for having done that to my hair.
After I had my hair straightened, I promised myself that I wouldn't use heat on my hair for a year. My year is up. I've learned how to trim my hair while it is still in twists instead of from straight as I've done in the past, and I've decided that if I ever go get my hair straightened again, I will go somewhere with a different hair philosophy. Anyway it was a lesson learned....
Another lesson learned is that two -strand twists are a fantastic protective style. Even if I hadn't suffered the heat damage, I'm glad that I turned to the twists. I've been able to protect my strands from too much manipulation and from any heat during the last year, and I've been able to style my hair in so many ways that I was able to create a book of styles. As you can see from the photo, I've experienced a good amount of growth during the year that I've been doing the twists. I'll continue until the damage is all gone.
The mistake wasn't letting someone else do it, the mistake was letting a person who seemed surprised that I liked my hair in its natural state be the one that I trusted with the supposed temporary straightening of my happily kinky hair. I got a few suggestions for who to go to, but I waited until the last minute - and I went with the woman that was physically closest and that could do my hair in the middle of the day. The process consisted of a wash, a deep condition, then a blow dryer being blast at my scalp until my strands succumbed.
I will say that my hair was STRAIGHT. So straight that its been a year and I still haven't gotten rid of all of the ill effects. After washing my hair and recognizing that it wasn't snapping back to its previous glory, I washed, conditioned and deep conditioned my hair (several times). The deep conditioning helped, and I started to see my curls come back. I continued to deep condition, and I went back to my twists, but over the next several weeks my hair began to shred and shed. I then cut between 1.5 and 2 inches off of the ends of my twists, which got rid of the worst of the heat damage. Then I kicked myself for having done that to my hair.
To this day, the ends of my hair are still thinner in the middle and front sections of my hair (see above), and I also have 4-5 inches of hair in the middle of some of my twists which is straighter than it should be. (It is residual damage at what was the root of my hair at the time it was pressed.) My ends have recovered, but I will have to do a series of mini chops in the future.
Another lesson learned is that two -strand twists are a fantastic protective style. Even if I hadn't suffered the heat damage, I'm glad that I turned to the twists. I've been able to protect my strands from too much manipulation and from any heat during the last year, and I've been able to style my hair in so many ways that I was able to create a book of styles. As you can see from the photo, I've experienced a good amount of growth during the year that I've been doing the twists. I'll continue until the damage is all gone.
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Unknown - Friday, June 10, 2011
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