This summer I stopped using heat styling tools on my hair, I have naturally curly hair, (I’m talking ringlet curls) and I have always hated caring for it so I flat ironed all the time. I finally decided that the heat was just to damaging and that I had to embrace my curls which everyone but me seemed to love. I have been anti- heat during the hot summer months. The thing about naturally curly hair is that when it’s hot and humid and you sweat or your hair gets wet in any way shape or form (BAM) it’s curly again and all the time you spent with a flat iron goes down the drain.

I have always had long hair but since I stopped using the heat styling tools this summer I have noticed a dramatic difference with how fast my hair is growing. That’s the good part, the bad part is that the only way I can get straight hair is by using heat and curly hair takes so much more work to care for. The conditioners, the deep conditioners, the sulphate free and organic shampoos, the co washing, leave in conditioner, non damaging non crunchy gels and creams and treatments....it can be a real hassle sometimes...but my hair looks wonderfully long and healthy.

To flat iron my hair I use to always use the Tresemme heat tamer spray along with the Chi Silk Infusion and Chi Keratin Mist. I use to use my flat iron on 450 which is the highest heat setting on my appliance, hair burns at 451 degrees...so maybe that wasn’t a good idea but since then I have learned. I gradually reduced the heat setting to see what the lowest setting that could straighten my hair was and ended up reducing it to 350. The thermal protection products vary by heat settings, some only protect your hair up to a certain point and then anything over that doesn’t give much protection if any at all. So when buying a thermal protector you really have to know how much protection you are getting correlated to how much heat you use on your hair. Some of the drug store products only offer protection up to 250-300 degrees. And I would suggest that people know how hot they really need their tools to be to achieve their desired look because you may not always need the highest setting. You also have to set your tools based on the texture of your hair thinner hair may not be able to handle the highest settings as well as thicker hair.

If I had naturally straight hair that dried sleek and looked great right out of the shower then I would not use heat on my hair at all, but when I get tired of dealing with my curls I will need to use the flat iron. I like to use the heat protectant with a serum and then make sure I’m not holding the iron on my hair for too long and going over every piece too many times. I also make sure that my hair is not hot to the touch and scorching my hand if I try to touch it after flat ironing; if touching your hair burns your hand then obviously it is burning your hair. I also make sure that my hair is in good condition, strong and healthy before I put heat on it. Putting heat on already damaged hair will just make it worse and cause further problems for you.

It would be interested to know of some thermal sprays that work well because I haven’t even had the chance to look into it myself.