Heat Damaged Curls

A reader asked:

I noticed that my curl pattern has changed since using the flat iron to maintain straighter roots 2 weeks ago. Is it possible to revive the natural curl pattern to my hair?

One of two things can be happening. Either you didn't cleanse and deep condition well enough the first time after your straightened or you could be experiencing a form of heat damage. In the first case, you really need to cleanse and deep treat your hair and examine if your curls pop back. I typically recondition and condition my hair after straightening and leave in a deep treatment overnight after using heat to straighten. Because I use a minimal amount of heat and because my hair is healthy, it returns to its natural state as if I'd never straightened. If after a couple of washes your hair doesn't return to its usual state, you may be suffering from heat damage. Unfortunately, if this is the case, the chance of your curl pattern returning is slim to none. A lot of people think that heat damage comes from over usage of heat, but the truth is even if you go three years without using heat and decide to use it one day, extreme heat can still wreck your hair. If that's the case, you'll just have to wait for it to grow out. Make sure you're deep conditioning weekly and keeping your hair healthy and moisturized. You can wear braid outs, twist outs and roller sets to blend the hair without using heat. In the future, when you want to use heat to straighten there are some things you can do to decrease the risk of heat damage, but ultimately you will be taking a chance whenever you decide to use heat to straighten.

• Use a heat protectant or something to coat your hair before applying heat, but be careful if you have fine hair. Too much product can make your hair looked weighed down and dirty. 
• Make sure your hair is healthy and moisturized before using heat, deep condition and recondition before you straighten.
• Stretch your hair before applying heat. I roller set and do silk wraps before I use my flat iron to decrease the amount of heat that I use to get my hair straight. This also enables me to use a lower heat setting on my flat iron to reach my desired straightness.
• Make sure your hair is dry before you use a flat iron.
• Keep the ironing moving fast during the process. Think of ironing a piece of silk.
• Don't go over the section with the flat iron more that necessary. I do at least 2 quick passes, but no more than 4. You have decide your own desired level of straightness.