Heat is a curl killer. Women with textured hair know this from experience. Just say the word “heat damage” in a room full of curly hair women, and the universal response would be “damn!”
Heat damaged hair is characterized by unmanageable hair, split ends, excessive breakage and curls that don’t snap back. Restoring heat-damaged tresses back to life may take some time, but it’s not impossible.
Here are 4 tips for repairing heat-damaged hair.
Use sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner
Regular shampoos and conditioners can strip your hair off of its natural oils. If you continue using those products, your hair may end up drier that it already is. This will only make it worse. To prevent further damage, we recommend that you switch to sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner. These products will cleanse your hair without leaving it dry.
Say goodbye to heat styling tools
Heat styling tools are one of the major causes of heat damage. If you are trying to nurse your hair back to life, then you may want to say to goodbye to these tools – at least for now. We understand that blow dryers can speed up your hair’s drying time and make your hair more manageable, but you need to air dry your hair temporarily. The use of heat styling tools will only damage your hair further.
Find some hairstyles that won’t require the use of hot tools. Also, we suggest that you wake up 15 to 30 minutes earlier so as to allow your hair to dry before you style it. Or better yet, wash your hair before going to bed.
Get a haircut
If your hair is thoroughly damaged, the best thing you can do is to cut it. But if you’re not willing to cut your hair short, then you don’t have to. Book an appointment with your stylist and get a haircut. You have the option to leave some length if you’re not brave to chop it all off. Make sure, though, that you follow it up with treatment to revive damaged hair.
Use treatment masks
Heat-damaged hair is thirsty hair. In addition to regular conditioners, we highly recommend that you add a deep conditioning treatment to your hair care routine. Do this once a week until your hair looks and feels better. This will help nourish and hydrate your strands. Also, take time to treat your hair with a protein conditioner to make the strands stronger and repair damage. This conditioner will fill in the weak points of your strands.