How Heat Damage Led to My Mini Big Chop

Curlyincolorado.com Heat Damage Mini Big Chop — My hair after my mini big chop in February 2016

Stubborn. I guess that’s the word for it because I have no other way to describe it. I keep trying to straighten my hair until it is laid to the gods and it keeps coming back with heat damage. Yes, I have now, to date, given myself heat damage more times than I can remember. There isn’t a stylist to blame or even a lack of knowledge on my part. I knew better and still wound up damaging my hair while straightening it.

I blame Youtube. We’ve all seen the videos where people are cranking their flat irons up past 400 degrees. Well, I thought maybe I could too. I mean why not? My hair was getting longer and healthier. I was doing protein treatments and using multiple heat protectants. Sometimes I even thought I could just wear my hair straight whenever I felt like it. I found out the hard way that those things would certainly not work for my hair.

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In the past, when I noticed a little heat damage, it was near the ends of my hair resulting in loose curls. Last year, however, I noticed that the hair from midway down the strands to the ends was thinner than the new growth coming in. A lot thinner. That eventually led to some breakage which sent me into emergency repair mode. Of course I tried protein treatments; usually the 2 Minute Reconstructor by Aphogee. This time though, I knew that the damaged hair would have to go. Finally, I decided to do a mini big chop to get rid of the damaged hair. This left me with a very teeny afro. That was in February of 2016. My hair feels completely different now almost a year later. It’s even back to my old length from before the heat damage. Of course, I’m stubborn, so I still like to use heat on my hair.

My hair in January 2017 fully recovered from heat damage

As far as avoiding heat damage, here is what I have learned, again.

Always clarify hair prior to straightening (A must!)
Always use a heat protectant (Duh!)
MY hair cannot withstand heat over 400 degrees (anything higher = heat damage)
Touch-ups are the Devil! Pincurls, wraps and rollers only for styling after straightening.
Use heat less frequently (no more than 1x per month; less is even better)

Have you ever tried something you saw on Youtube and it went horribly wrong? Leave a comment below.