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| Sometimes, it be like that. |
There is a lot of support for ladies transitioning from relaxers, but I can’t completely identify with their struggles. I wanted to do this post to support the ladies who have managed to steer clear of the creamy crack, but overdosed on the heat. Transitioning in a new crop of hair from the heat damaged stuff can be challenging, frustrating, and discouraging. Hopefully this post will shed some light and provide some help.
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As I have spent the last 6 or so
months transitioning from self-inflicted heat damage (not my proudest moments),
I have adopted a styling routine that allows me to coddle and slowly clip my
heat damaged ends while playing to my hair’s strengths. Sometimes, I even opt
for a style that gives me a sense of pattern uniformity. A successful heat
damage transition rests upon understanding the following things about your
hair:
·
If your hair is heat damaged, your
original curl/texture will not return, no matter what you do. When hair is heat
damaged, the protein structures in it are melted – irreversibly. This differs
from relaxed hair, where straightness is achieved through a breaking, swelling,
and realignment of bonds within the cortex of the hair itself.
·
Although not chemically altered,
heat damaged hair is still weaker than your normal, healthy head of hair. In my
humble opinion, heat damaged hair may be slightly stronger than relaxed hair. (Please note that this is just my opinion,
based upon my own observations of my heat damage vs. those I know with
relaxers). This is not to say that you have clearance to treat your heat
damage any ol’ kind of way, but more so that your chances for length retention in
a successful transition are more likely to occur if the proper steps are taken.
·
Not all hairstyles are meant for
heat damage transitioners. Stick to what looks good on you, and what your hair
responds best to. That’s the best way to maintain sanity along the ride. A
little further down in this post, I’ll discuss what styles have and have not
worked for me.
·
Treat your textures differently. My
healthy new hair requires a lot more moisture and heavier sealing than the heat
damaged stuff does. Therefore, I’ll moisturize with my leave-in spray and seal
with something heavy, like Shea Moisture Coconut Hibiscus Curl Enhancing
Smoothie. My heat damaged hair has a finer texture, and I can get away with
leave-in spray and aloe vera.
I have attempted many styles – some
with success, others with complete failure. But hey, that’s the learning curve.
As I mentioned previously, some styles do not look good on heat damaged hair.
Those styles for me were:
1.
Mini-Twists: Heat damage hair tends
to have a tapering effect. The hair closest to your scalp is generally the
thickest, and sections get smaller and smaller as you get closer to the ends of
the hair. Mini-twists left me feeling like my hair was thinner than it actually
was.
2.
Chunky Braids: Because of the tapering
effect mentioned, chunky braids never worked for me. Not to mention my hair is
layered, and braids would become progressively shorter the closer I got to my
face.
3.
Chunky Twists: Ever notice how
healthy, natural hair “stays put” for the most part, when it is twisted… all
the way to the ends (a’ la Napptural85)? Heat damaged hair, well at least my
heat damaged hair, tends to unravel at the ends – forcing me to use scrunchies.
This is fine for a night-time set to get cute waves for the next day, but as a
style it doesn’t work for me. I am a full-time Director for a Non-Profit
Program. Walking around with multicolored scrunchies is not in my cards.
Styles that do work for heat damaged hair, that blend, conceal, or make the
most of my multiple textures have been:
1.
Bantu Knot-Outs: I covered this one
a while ago, and you can catch all the detailed instructions here. Sure, they're a pain to sleep in, but the inconvenience
pales in comparison to the cute super tight (or super loose, depending on how
big your knots are) ringlets you emerge with. Perfect camouflage for multiple
textures -- it stretches my more shrink-prone textures while giving definition
to my straighter side.
2.
Braid-Outs: Braid out are probably
the least complicated of all the prep practices, and will produce anything from
tiny crinkles to gentle waves, depending on how small are large your braids
are. Just prep with your favorite moisturizing product(s), braid, cover, and
undo the next morning!
3.
Flat Twists: Admittedly, I am still
trying to master this one. Since flat twisting is just like cornrows (with two
pieces of hair instead of three), I pretty much suck at it. Even with my
sub-par twisting skills, I manage to get some great, cooperative curly waves
all over, instead on just 1/4 of my head.
4.
Flexi-Rods: They are a complete and
utter pain to sleep in (worse than the Bantu Knots), and you definitely have to
take the time to learn how to get your hair around the rod correctly to achieve
the uniform curls you seek. But once you do all that, the result is well worth
it.
5.
Buns: The boring bad guy of the
bunch. I resort to bunning as my go-to protective style 80% of the time.
Sometimes I’ll mix it up and do a hump-thingie in the front, or a flat-twist
crown around my hairline. Buns are definitely great for me, and make the
transition from work to gym time seamless. I usually wear a twist or braid out
on weekends, and use the manufactured texture from those to add some definition
to my buns throughout the week.
What are some of your go-to
transitioning styles?
2 Comments
This article is speaking to my life!!! I'm such a lazy natural so this is inspiring me to stop straightening all of the time & start learning my hair.
ReplyDeleteGo for it! E-mail me if you have any questions or concerns!
ReplyDelete