Direct Heat vs. Indirect Heat
Most of us recognize that heat is often used to straigthen or curl. Heat gets wrinkles out of clothing, but can also be used to make creases. How does this apply to hair?
Let me explain. Most stylists that I have spoken with, who are not familiar with a Dominican blow out, insist that heat is heat and no matter how you arrive at acquiring your straight sleek look, it required using heat. While, I don’t argue that heat is a great tool for removing curls and waves that we curly-kinky-haired girls fight to get rid of, what makes a good Dominican blow out different is the type and amount of heat used.
Recently an acquaintance said that her hair dresser secretly laughed at me when I said, “I don’t use direct heat on my hair.”
Apparently, the two of them discussed my hair routine ad nauseum and came to the conclusion that sitting under a dryer and using a flat-iron are one-and-the-same. Um…NOT! That’s like saying that grilled chicken and fried chicken are equally healthy for you. So, you still may be wondering what the difference is, right?
Here’s the difference. When you use a flat-iron, or the old-fashioned straightening combs on your hair, you are applying the heat source directly to your hair. The risk of burning your hair is higher and often, you can smell the hair burning. With hair in rolos, you have the option to sit under the dryer on high heat, low heat, or better yet, no heat at all! In D.R. a woman can parade around with her soda-can sized rolos in her hair while doing the shopping, paying bills, going to her kid’s school, you name it. As long as her hair has been smoothed over the rolos properly, then her hair will come out looking really sleek.
What about the blow dryer? That’s direct heat, right?
WRONG!
The blow dryer, while we use it super hot with great force, it is still an indirect source of heat. Now, in most cases, blowers as hot as we use them can definitely cause some major damage, but it’s still not the same as deep frying your hair. In this case, it would be like leaving your chicken on the grill for too long, drying it out by letting it sit in that one spot without flipping it to the other side.
So, heat IS heat, some of you may be saying. Heat, without moderation is definitly damaging, this is why I only blow out my roots, just to remove the waves and creases created from my rollers. As I get closer to needing a touch up, I will need a little more heat, but since I limit my heat exposure to begin with, my damage is minimal.
With this said, do not let people tell you that using a flat-iron is the same as using rollers and that using a blow dryer is no different than having someone blow out your wet hair. I’m not going to knock someone for having a preference, but trying to equate the two is just so misleading.
Happy Rolos!
