Revive Hair from Heat Damage

Hairdryers, curling irons and other heated styling tools are all your best friends for coaxing each of your hairs into place. Being able to style your hair within minutes streamlines your morning routine, yet you might be starting to realize that there are a few downsides to your close relationship with your hair straightener.

Heated styling tools often lead to hair damage that isn’t all that easy to repair. High levels of damage can even cause your hair to break off close to the roots. 

Knowing how to prevent hair damage on natural hair, along with knowing what to do if your strands already show signs of distress, make it possible to get that lush, shiny style back again.

What Is Heat Damaged Hair?

So, how does damaged hair look? When looking at the consequences of tortured hair strands, you may already be asking yourself that question. It also means you already suspect that your tresses are stressed to the max. 

Damaged hair often looks the same, whether the culprit is heat, coloring or other damaging factors. What often differs is the level of damage. Heat damage tends to get worse over time when you regularly use styling tools versus the instant problems you’d see after you bleach your hair at home.

Heat damage often presents as split ends and excess breakage. Your hair’s texture may also feel dry, rough and more challenging to detangle than usual. 

Even from a distance, your hair will likely look dull, and you might even be able to see where the damage begins if you only use heat on certain parts, such as the ends.

Levels of Heat Damage

There are several different levels of heat damage that you can use to gauge how bad your strands are stressed. The first level is the mildest. Here, the cuticles are lifted and have developed a jagged appearance. Upon visual inspection, you’ll notice that your hair is less shiny and appears thinner towards the ends.

Level two has actual damage to the cuticles that expose the cortex of the strands. Once this happens, the cortex is more vulnerable to damage. This result could affect the color of both natural and dyed strands. Your hair will also feel rough, and you can see split ends.

By the time you reach level three, the hair heat damage is extensive and could be impacting your ability to maintain your favorite styles. In addition, parts of the cuticle are now missing completely. 

This result makes your hair rough, coarse and prone to breakage. You might also find that it tangles easily and is hard to brush, which contributes to even more damage if you resort to pulling and other harsh styling methods.

How to Fix It

Heat damage on natural hair might look or feel atrocious, but it does respond to some basic care methods. While your hair is damaged, you’ll want to use extra caution as you wash, brush and style to avoid breaking off areas that are already weakened. 

Revamping your hair care routine also helps to smooth ruffled up stands so that your hair appears healthier while you work on stopping the damage.

Avoid Hair Tools

Hanging up your hairdryer might not be on your list of things you want to do, but it will make a big difference in how well your tresses recover. If you do need to use a heat styling tool, then try to use it at the lowest temperature possible since the risk of damage goes up with each degree. 

You can also use hair styling tools that don’t require heat. For instance,  foam rollers might look a little silly, but they are miles above curling irons when it comes to preventing heat damage. 

Use a Hair Mask or Leave-In Conditioner

The right hair mask or leave-in conditioner should help to smooth the roughed-up cuticle while also serving as a layer of protection from heat damage. 

Hair masks are meant to be left on your hair for several minutes to hours before you rinse it out. This feature gives the moisturizing ingredients time to penetrate your hair so that they can go to the deeper layers of the shaft, where some of the worst heat damage occurs.

Mounia’s Condition & Hair Mask is infused with flaxseed oil and cumin to bring needed hydration to your locks. Plus, it’s formulated with biotin and essential nutrients to repair the damage.  

You can top off this treatment with our “Two Drop” Serum which contains thermally activated ingredients such as argan and prickly pear seed oil. 

As the oil coats your hair, it naturally heats up and helps protect against damage when you use hot appliances. The product also helps prevent higher temperatures from drying out your strands. 

You can also get these same moisturizing effects without using heat if you are taking a break from your tools. 

For example, warming up Serum in your hands or covering your mask-treated hair with a shower cap or towel while it sits has the same effect as heating it, helping the formula penetrate deeper and prevent damage to hair.

Get a Haircut

Many people balk at the thought of cutting off their hair. However, it might be necessary if the damage is extensive. Depending upon how far up the hair shaft the damage exists, you might get away with only having to cut off a few inches. 

Or you may prefer to go with a trim and gradually remove the split and roughed-up ends until you achieve full-length, healthy locks. Either way, you’ll want to continue pampering your hair so that the new growth doesn’t get damaged before it has a chance to fully shine.

Wash With a High-Quality Shampoo and Conditioner

It’s best to protect hair from heat damage before you ever bring a tool close to your strands. In fact, a large part of hair damage can occur while you wash it if you are using the wrong shampoo. 

Many shampoos are filled with harsh detergents that strip away too many of your hair’s natural oils. That’s why we’ve brought you reparative Mounia Shampoo and Hair Rinse. 

Free of harsh detergents and containing aloe vera and Rhassoul clay, Mounia Rinse gently removes impurities while hydrating your scalp and hair. That way, your hygiene routine isn’t as disruptive to the cuticle.

When you start out with stronger strands, even occasionally styling it on low heat won’t have such a devastating effect. Instead, you’ll find that the nourishing ingredients work with your styling routine to leave you with soft, shiny hair that is the envy of everyone you meet. 

Start Repairing Your Heat Damaged Hair Today

One of the best things about hair is that it is constantly replenishing itself. So after removing split ends with a trim, your next step is to start creating a hair care routine that protects against heat damage. With Mounia’s Hair Care System, reviving your hair is easy. All you have to do is Rinse, Condition and smooth with our Serum to start adding moisturizing protection to your styling routine.