NAIJA HAIR CAN GROW

Hiya,
So the year is almost over can you believe it?! Where did all that time go?!! Anyways I've been keeping myself accountable heat wise all year long and used heat as sparingly as I could...so I'm here to present my report card in the form of what I've coined 'My 2015 Heat Chronicle'...after I share mine, promise to share yours below and let's see how we have all fared, Deal?! Deal!!

Blow Drying-

2 times- I blow dried my hair twice this year, recently actually...once, a week before I did my crotchet braids- and last weekend after my fresh texlax at the hub...the rest of the year I usually just air dried.

Roller Set-

1/2 I would say Nil but I remember rolling my hair sometime in the middle of the year and going under the dryer for like 20 minutes before I had to rush out to attend to something (I forget) so I took my hair home with the rollers in it...curls dropped the next day :(

Straighteners/ Thongs/ Crimps-

4 times-These heat tools are the worsttttt but oh sooo tempting!! I like to hide them as far away as I can!! You know when you have so much new growth and your hair is just so thick at the base and feels sooo unmanageable and there's shrinkage(for us the Texlax) you can be sooo tempted to just want to stretch your hair a little even if it's just so your hair can lie flat instead of puffing up!! Well this year I fell 4 times- The first in April on relax day, then in June I straightened just the back I left out for the Salon Day out, relax day again end of July and my latest relax day in October....it became a relax day ritual because I was eagerly length checking but now I've seen that I progressed I'll have to lay off these tools if my ends have a chance at surviving....it also helps that I always use heat protecting serums as well as ceramic coated styling tools.

Deep Conditioning-

Over 30 times!! Technically this isn't Heat as it's more steam but I'm driving at a point here. There are about 52 weeks in a year and we have roughly 10 weekends left....meaning about 42 weekends have gone by of the 42 weeks/weekends I deep conditioned my hair with a Hair Steamer almost every weekend at my salon and I can attest to the GREAT benefits of regular DC's ladies!! It just makes your hair more manageable!! Your Hair is brittle and breaking off- Increase your DC's, you are not retaining length- increase your DC's, you feel your hair and it's dry and feels like hay- Increase your DC's!! It makes a world of difference...the only thing is that it doesn't have lasting effects, so the more regular it's done, the better the results! Kabish?!

It was a struggle to come to terms with the fact that MY HAIR HATES (DIRECT) HEAT!! Since I accepted this fact and have focused on keeping my moisture levels high whether it's from mid week co- washes, deep conditioning, moisturizing and sealing, I have really seen the quality of my hair improve. You too can keep a Heat Chronicle and tweak it according to what your hair needs...

What other ways can we use heat to our hair and in what ways did you stay heat free this year...feel free to share below.

Have a great weekend People!! If in Lagos, come by the Hub for a DC if you need one, just call 08090613325, I'll be there for a few hours on Saturday :)

Xxx
Dabs

Hiya,
Hope you are all well! Two months left and the year is over!!! Who is retaining length!!! We will soon know the verdict!

Back to my topic, who like me has felt using an oil to seal your ends before you apply heat(blow drying, straightening, roller setting) is enough? You can imagine my reaction when I was browsing instagram the other day and came across a post that simply read in bold letters- OILS ARE NOT HEAT PROTECTANTS! I was like what?!

Went straight to consult with my friend google and to my greatest shock, the online resources were all saying the same scientific proven facts- using hair oils alone will NOT protect your hair from heat damage!

You see for the longest time after reading about smoke points of oils and how the higher the smoke point(meaning-the temperature at which an oil begins to break down into glycerols and free fatty acids and inevitably produces smoke) the better the oil's ability to tolerate heat, so for example Grapeseed oil and Olive oil have a smoke point of 485F and Avocado oil's smoke point is as high as 520F thus they have been advocated as great oils to prevent heat damage SOURCE.

So you'd think that'd be enough protection no? NO!Apparently it's not enough for the following reasons;

Every good heat protectant should help prevent full heat transfer to the cortex of hair, preventing degradation of the protein bonds that largely lead to split ends and breakage.
While oils are great as lubricants, apparently they slow down drying so that if you are using say a flat iron, you have to pass it through more times when using oils and could end up doing MORE damage than protection!!

You want to know what a good heat protector should have?

1. Silicones- yeah cones, I know?!! Apparently Dimethicone and Cyclomethicone are must have ingredients in any good heat protectant because they are both thin, water proof and heat resistant man made compounds that when applied on the hair strands, coat the strands then evaporate while allowing the oils and nutrients on the strands to absorb, Demithicone is also known to have detangling properties- SOURCE

2. Hydrolized protein/silk amino acids- heat breaks down the protein bonds of our hair strands as mentioned before so a good heat protectant should have protein fill in any broken protein bonds and strengthen the hair to withstand heat damage.

3.Glycerin or any form of humectant to help attract moisture to the hair as the heat is being applied.

4. Propylene Glycol is also a chemical compound that attracts moisture to the hair strands.

5. Cetrimonium Chloride to increase tensile strength- SOURCE

6. Then your carrier oils for all their nutritional goodness!

These above products should be listed among the top 5 to 6 ingredients on any good heat protectant's ingredient list.

I did my home work and found this to be true, most heat protectants have most of the ingredients listed above; CHI silk Infusion, Tresemme Heat Tamer and in Naija I've found Organics Olive oil extra virgin smoother and polisher serum

Of the 6 must haves mentioned above, it has Dimethicone as the first ingredient, it also contains Phenyl Trimethicone, olive oil, hydrolized oat protein and silk amino acids #winning!!! I think it costs less than a thousand bucks for this 6oz bottle so that's a plus...Now there is NO EXCUSE again, a perfect heat protectant can be found in Naija and I dare say other parts of Africa!! European and American residents, you are spoilt for choice and have no excuse.

If you decide you want to use heat directly on your dry hair with no protection whether its blow drying, flat ironing, thonging, crimping, rollersetting....what you are doing to your hair is what too much sun does to leaves, it dries the heck out of them, so that when you touch dry leaves they simply crumble to pieces....Do you want crumbled hair? I don't think so, note to self I vow not to use heat on my hair ever again without a proper heat protectant!!

Of course the safest option will be avoiding heat totally but when you want to give into the craving of silky straight hair or bouncy robust curls, then you know what to do!!

P.S You guys, I have been really into chemicals and stuff lately, next week I'll dedicate an entire post to all that I've learnt, till then have a wonderful weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Xxx

Dabs

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