Natural hair has to be treated with extra care. Personally, no matter how much I love my natural curls, there are days I want to give my hair a press and curl style. Maybe you are the same way? Or maybe you love to take out that flat iron of yours and wear your hair bone straight? Regardless, naturals have to use heat styling tool with precaution. Excessive heat will leave those bouncy curls loose elasticity and become straightened. Here are five tips to help prevent your natural hair from excessive heat damage:

Use a heat protectant

image from ulta.com

This may seem like an obvious tip but using a heat protectant is an important thing to do if you want to keep your natural hair from frying while using heat styling tools. You still run the risk of damaging your hair slightly, especially if you are using high heat from a blow-dryer, but you can at least minimize the damage by 85%

Have your styling tools set to “warm” or “medium”

image from behindthechair.com

To continue on the first tip, switch your heat setting from high to medium or low will help prevent significant hair damage in the long run. For tools like flat irons or curling irons, don’t have the temperature up so high. I feel you as another sister who loves to make sure her hair pressed curls last for the week but too much heat will damage your hair curl pattern.

Wear protective hairstyles

image from pinterest.com

Sometime to prevent heat damage is to stay away from heat styling altogether. Honestly, I love using protective styling as a natural and you can too. From braids, twists, and up-dos, you have an ample amount of protective styles to choose from. Heat can cause split ends. Sometimes the best way to combat that in a heartbeat is to tuck those ends in a cute wig and go about your day.

Use protein treatments

image from pinterest.com

After some time your hair will lose elasticity because of all the heat. To help revive and strengthen the hair, use a light protein treatment. You can make one yourself or use a professional one brands like Aphrogree. Now! Do not go overboard with this tip. A protein treatment should be handled with care. Leaving this stuff on your hair for too long or using it every week will damage the hair. It’s wise to use a protein once or twice a month.

Create space between heat styling days

image from naturalhairqueen.net

Though it is absolutely fine to straighten hair, you don’t want to do it so often. Over time, those hot tools will damage your hair. If you love having your hair straight, do it every two weeks or once a month. Otherwise, try reserving heat styling for special occasions like weddings, parties or days when you want to do a length check to see how long your hair has grown since going natural.

You can never separate a natural from her curls, even if you do love straightening your hair every once in a while. However, too much heat will only lead your hair down a bad path. Keep your hair healthy by protecting it from excess heat with whichever method you choose ladies!