the problem with ironing...

Hi Ckizzle,

Well, heat stilying is always going to cause some damage. The trick is to keep the damage to a minimum. Use a high quality hair straigthener, and use high quality products. You have to do protein treatments at least once a month. And deep condition, at least once a week. You do have two good products for heat protection. Remember the heat glide is very concentrated and you only need a little (usually 2 pumps for long hair, 1 pump for short to medium). Also the matrix spray is great, but you must hold the bottle several inches away from your hair, and just mist the hair with it. If the iron sizzles you sprayed too much, and your hair will be sticky and nasty. It takes some practice, but you'll get the hang of it.

As far long term use damage, I've been heat styling my hair all my life and I am 31. The only time I've have "irreversable damage" was when I got my hair Thermally Reconditioned. I blow dry and flat iron my hair twice a week (except for one week out of the month when I give my hair a break and won't heat style at all) and my hair looks and feels great. No split ends or breakage. However I take very good care of it, deep condition with good products and use protein treatments. Nexxus Emergencee is great, so is Redken extreme deep fuel. I've started to use the Nexuss Emergencee recently and must say I am in love. The stuff leaves my hair super shiny, soft, and frizz free. Remember to always deep condition after a protein treatment. They are not designed to make hair soft, like a conditioner, but rather to buffer the damage from the abuse we put our hair through. So if you don't condition afterwards your hair will feel like straw.

And if you still feel unconfortable with heat styling your hair, then do it only once a week, or on special occasions.

LOL, no problem, glad I could help. And it is good to be paranoid about your hair; after all, your hair is your most important accesory, and it is good that you care enough, to not want to damage it. Good girl!. And don't get me wrong, If I could get away with it, I would probably not use any heat, but like you, I have crazy frizzie hair. Just remember to take extra care of it, and get a trim at least every 8 weeks to keep it looking its best.

Good luck and beautifull hair!

Hi Ckizzle,

Sorry I took so long to answer, but I live in FL and as you know we had a hurricane. My internet has been down for the past 2 weeks and I just got it down.

To answer your question, yes, I do treat my hair to some repair potions. Not the whole week thougth. Usually the last 2 or 3 days. If I don't feel like wetting it, I put in Sebastian Potion 7, and put my hair up in a pony tail all day. If I do wash it, I put in Nexxus Emergencee and again, put it up in a pony tail. The stuff is soooo good. It makes my crazy curly frizzie hair, dry into beautifull soft huge curls. It almost looks wavy instead of curly. On the last day I will wash the potein treatment out with Paul Mitchell shampoo two and will put in an ampule of Alfaparf Semi Dilino oil shine treatment (the blue ones). The stuff is amazing. They are expensive and hard to find, but you can get them on ebay. It is an italian brand and it does wonders for the hair. One ampule gives me two treatments. The smell is amazing. Eventhough it doesn't say to use heat with it, I put on a shower cap, and go under my heat cap for 10 min. when I feel I need extra conditioning. The results are amazing.

Well, let me know if you have any more questions.

Good luck and great hair. 

Thanks. Everything is fine. Thank God I didn't loose anything (other than a few days without electricity). But other than that, everything is fine.

I know Alfaparf is a little expensive. You can just use the Nexxus. It works even better if you use it with heat. If you have access to a Sauna, put it in your hair, and sit in the sauna for 10 to 20 minutes. Your hair will look and feel great.

Or you can wash it and spray it with All soft addictive hair transformer and rinse it out when you come home (or even the next day)

Talk to you later,

Shary