Direct Heat vs. Indirect Heat

Getting a child in the 3^rd grade to sit still while getting their hair pressed is not an easy task! I remember it very well. I was sitting there trying my best not to squirm, at the Little House Of Charms. The lady that did my hair at the time was an older lady (at that point in my life, everyone was old!), she was nice until I squirmed... Then, she would flick me in the head with the hot comb. I went in once every other week to get my frizzy, unruly hair straightened. I loved the way it looked when straight. The other little kids didn't seem to pick on me as much... There I sat, I smelled like Blue Magic and heard the snap, crackle, pop of my hair and it tamed to the command of the heat. At the time I had no clue what direct heat or indirect heat was...

Direct Heat:

Heat that is applied directly to the hair with or without a heat protect. For visual purposes imagine a blow torch being applied directly to a branch... Not only is it going to cause the branch to smoke over time but it was suffer extensive damage and will snap... This is often what we subject our hair to when we are using flat irons, curling irons, and blow dryers just to name a few.

Indirect Heat:

This is heat that is applied in an evenly in an indirect manner... This visualization will be slightly different. Imagine chicken on a barbecue grill... So long as you do not leave it on the grill for too, long it will not dry out but it will cook evenly... provided that you flip it over, lol. This is when we sit under the hooded dryer in the salon.

When using heat, indirect heat is ideal because the chance for damage and breakage are cut down quite a bit. Minimizing heat exposure will minimize heat damage. But, if you aren't able to cut out your heat exposure completely here are some things to remember:

1. Cut it down to once or twice a month (spread it out if it's twice a month). As I said before, minimizing heat will minimize the damage. Cut it down to a once a month heat pass.
2. Use a protectant. You don't have to go out and buy Chi Silk Infusion ( I use either the generic Silk Infusion from Sally's for around $7. If you can't afford that one, I also like the Tresseme Heat Protectant.
3. Be sure that you are not going over the same piece of hair too many times (direct heat). When using a blow-dryer, flat iron, etc, make sure that you go over each piece only as many times that you need to straighten the hair.

I hope this was helpful to you. HHJ.