Repairing Flat Iron Damage

(Canada )

Q: I recently read that you shouldn't use the highest heat setting to flat iron relaxed year, nor should you be doing it everyday.

For the past 2 months I have been doing just that! I am sure my hair is a little damaged from this and I have been noticing that I am losing hair every time I brush it.

Is there anyway to recover from my mistake? How can I get that nice flat iron look everyday if I am not supposed to use the flat iron everyday?

A: Hi Anon. Where ever you read that advice was a good source. If your flat iron dial goes from 1 to 10 you should never go past 7....and even that's pushing it.

Flat ironing your hair on high everyday is a recipe for disaster. I hate to say this to you but you probably have a lot more damage than you realize and over time the effects will get worse.

The best thing for you to do is to start using some intensive protein conditioning treatment every time you wash for the next month or so. A small trim wouldn't hurt either to prevent the damage from traveling up the length of the strand.

As for getting the "flat iron look" without using a flat iron....not happening. You can however get a straight look that imitates the flat ironed look by using a little technique known as wrapping.

Check this page for more info.

How To Wrap Black Hair

Look around in this section for some more ideas on how to style your hair without using a lot of heat.

Black Hair Styles

Heat from irons and blow dryers are some of the worst things for hair health.

Makes you wonder why they even put a level 10 on there doesn't it? I don't get it with toasters either? Why include a "burn" setting?

Go figure.