Update on My Heat Damage Thoughts

Hey Guys,



As you may recall from my last post, I have been weighing the pros and cons of both cutting off my heat damaged hair or going back to relaxers. Well, I recently saw a YouTube video by DPrincess28 entitled, "Heat Damage 101." I encourage everyone who may be dealing with the same struggle I am to take 12 minutes and 26 seconds out of your day to watch this vlog. In the video, she basically reinforced a few of my previous beliefs about heat damaged hair.



Although I may have heat damaged hair, my hair IS NOT DAMAGED!!! Lol just had to clarify that. That's not what I was trying to say in my last post. What I was really trying to get at in my last post was that my curl pattern has been morphed by constant use of heat. So, instead of being puffy all over, I have straight ends that will not curl again. That's what you call heat damage. The purpose of me waiting until after the hair challenge is over was to assess how my hair is doing overall, meaning whether my ends were really uneven or if the two textures (straight and kinky) affects the overall look of my hair. I do believe my hair is healthy, but if the straight, heat damaged ends are not thriving as much as the roots of my hair, I may be convinced otherwise.



But, anyways, back to the YouTube video. So, it helped me realize that I wasn't "ignoring" my heat damage. Not at all. I always knew my ends were straight. The fact is, as I stated in my last post, I like to wear my hair straight. When I stopped perming my hair, my real thought process was, "Oh, I can get a wash and set without a relaxer and still get the same results? Bye, bye Affirm" lol. Thus, due to my preference for straight hair, I have been tolerant of my heat damaged hair. If I were one of those naturals who wears their hair in its natural curly state 90 or even 80% of the time, I might have taken a scissor to those straight ends a long time ago. However, for me it doesn't make sense. Because when I wear my hair in it's natural state, my mind is set on retaining length so my ends are tucked away in a protective style.



So, here's what I'm thinking now. I will continue to be natural, I'll work on decreasing my usage of heat (really for the sake of retaining length), and I won't be hindered by straight ends because they never really bothered me. If I ever feel different, because let's face it we all change our mindset, I will gradually trim off the straight ends.




Well, that's my decision for now. It may change, it may not. Who's to say *kanye shrug*