Why are curls and waves more vulnerable to heat?
Are all kinds of heat bad?
What can I do to prevent heat damage?
Heat can be bad for all hair types but waves and curls just feel so much more precious. Am I biased? Maybe 😉
What we can be sure of is that curly hair is defined by its pattern and this is one thing that can be lost by heat damage.
I used to blow dry my hair, straighten my hair..and then even when I was starting to wear it curly I would even out areas that didn’t clump by curling them separately with a curling wand. Man, I loved that thing.
I experimented and found that the less heat I used, the better condition my hair seemed to be in. This is hardly shocking but to see the results myself was powerful. It made me think twice.
Why are curls more susceptible to heat damage?
Curly and wavy hair has weak cross-sectional points.
These make it vulnerable to breakage and heat damage. Plus textured hair can often be drier than straight hair due to the way sebum is distributed from the follicle.
The consequences of breaking the bonds in curly hair can be:
- Brittle Texture
- Dryness
- Breakage
These can all lead to a loss of curl pattern. Yikes!
Can I even use a diffuser?
There isn’t always time to air dry, right?
Low heat can work to style your hair without causing damage. Use a diffuser on the lowest heat setting to ensure that damage is minimised.
Even so, it is best not to heat style every day. Give your hair a rest and dry shampoo/curl refresh instead or air dry naturally when possible!
Heat protectants offer protection from heat but nothing will shield your hair from damage completely.
Curly Girl Method approved
If you are using a heat-styling tool such as a curling wand these are temperatures to look out for..
The optimal temperature for styling is 185C/365F – this is enough to make the hair ‘mouldable’ so that the style/shape of the strands can be altered, but not high enough to cause permanent damage. Above 210C/410F you are effectively melting your hair and causing permanent damage 🙁
Got it! So what do we need to do?
Make sure you are adding as much moisture into your hair as possible through treatments.
Use moisture and protein treatments regularly.
Most importantly – use a heat protector!
Curls are beautiful and fragile and the question ‘is heat bad for curls?’ is a tricky one. If possible try not to use heat at all. There are ways of getting around it!
If you are going to use heat, be sure to fully protect those curls! They will love you for it.
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