Is it true that a hair straightner damages your hair?

Question

My mom wont let me get one, even though my hair is very hard to manage. Her thinking is, that it damages your hair and makes it fall out. IS this true? And is their any way i can persuade my mom?


by the way i'm willing to pay for it too.

Answer 1

I am a Licsenced Cosmetolegist and my daughter uses straighteners all the time. If you use it to much then it can in fact damage your hair but if you use it 3 times a week or less than you are fine! Just get some nice shampoo and conditioner to keep your hair healthy! Call your hairdresser and ask her opinion too! I think it is fine as long as you are careful! Your mom just doesn't want to hurt you and she is doing the right thing but she is being a little over protective! Just tell her that you will be careful and wont use it that much!!!!!! Good Luck hun!!!

Answer 2

Anytime you put chemicals in your hair it is considered "damage". Sometimes this "damage" is desireable such as coloring it to a different shade.
The cool thing is that straighteners have come a very,very, very, long way in the last few years. The straighteners that your mom used and that unfortunately some people still use that were snapping off their hair contained harsh chemicals like lye...nasty.
Now days, you can get a treatment called Japanese Straightening system. It is an expensive proceedure, but you will be left with very little damage and nice straight hair. Please go to an experienced stylist and don't buy the crap from the store your mom is probably familiar with.
By the way, don't rub this in your moms face-- she probably loves your curly fuzzy hair because you are her precious baby girl.

Answer 3

I have naturally curly hair and I use a flat iron on it only when completely necessary (which unfortunately, is several times a week).The heat from a straightener, hot rollers, curling iron, blow drier, anything that puts heat on the hair can damage it. However, you can reduce the damage by purchasing a high end flat iron like a Chi. Also, keep your hair more manageable by using shampoos with lots of moisturizers and conditioners designed for curly hair (which also add heavy moisturizers). If you're going to straighten your hair completely every day, you'll probably need to use a deep conditioning treatment once a week, too.

Answer 4

It's no more damaging than blow-drying your hair and keep in mind everything (including even shampooing) causes some degree of damage to your hair. As long as you have the right products to help protect your hair from the heat and get a professional iron where you can adjust the heat setting so you can get just enough, but not too much heat.

Answer 5

It does damage it sometimes but doesn't make it fall out. But there are ways to protect your hair from damage.

In order for hair straighteners to work effectively they must be used at high temperatures. A typical hair iron will operate in the range from 100-180+ degrees C. Bear in mind that around 100 degrees it is only hot enough to dry your hair whereas at the top end of the temperature scale it needs to be this hot for especially thick and curly hair. Here is a more detailed breakdown of the temperatures typically used on varying types of hair:

- Drying hair: 80 degrees
- Completely hair: 100 degrees
- Partly damaged hair: 120 degrees
- Slightly damaged hair: 140 degrees
- Ordinary curly hair: 160 degrees
- Curly hair: 180 degrees
- Very thick curly hair: 200 degrees

If you are planning to use your hair iron on a regular basis then I suggest you use good ceramic hair oil. This will help lock in additional moisture, which is normally lost through the application of high temperatures. The bottom line is that your hair is very sensitive and you should try and reduce the amount of times you submit it to high temperatures. However the latest generation of hair irons let you straighten your hair in a shorter time and leave your hair straight for longer.

Answer 6

Umm your mom is right in some aspect. Hair Straightners can be very damaging to the hair if u dont have the proper conditioning or the proper manage. If you have very dry coarse, hair, in order to use a straightner, you have to deep condition your hair for a few minutes before using it. but tell your mom its not that bad to use one if u take care of your hair...but your hair isnt going to fall out if u use one..lol...so feel free to buy one if u commit yourself to taking care of your hair.

Answer 7

yes, a hair straightener will do some damage to your hair. but it won't make it fall out. as long as you use it correctly and only like once a day your hair should be fine. sometimes it helps if you use silicon oil hair spray or hair lotion before you straighten your hair- less damage. just tell your mom that the hair's on your head so if your hair does suffer it will be on you. tell your mom that you will be careful and responsible with it and that if your hair does start to fall out you will stop using it.

Answer 8

Anything you do to your hair from combing, brushing, blow drying and straightening with a ceramic straightener is damaging. I've been using a ceramic straightener for almost 5 years and my hair is very healthy. I only use the straightener 3 times a week and I spray my hair with a heat protectant first.

Have your mom talk with a hair stylist whose familiar with ceramic straighteners and maybe she'll comb around to letting you have one.

Answer 9

yes hair straighteners damage ur hair but thats only if u use it everyday. once a week shouldn't be a problem. buy a heat defence spray before u use the straightener and that should help u protect ur hair. i like alberto miracle mist heat defence style spray. straigtheners don't make ur hair fall out but they do cause split ends (because ur frying ur hair) and that will eventually lead to breaking hair.

u can convince ur mom by telling her that there are heat protections that u can buy when u use the straigthener that'll protect ur hair. promise her u'll use it for maybe once a week so u won't fry ur hair ( once u buy it she won't know how much u've used it). since ur paying for it, it shouldn't be a problem. good luck!

Answer 10

I use a hair straightener almost everyday. They aren't the best for your hair, but if you use it on the right setting, it's no worse than blow drying your hair. Leaving it on your hair too long will damage it highly, but for me, my hair hasn't gotten any more dry, or damaged by using my straightener and i've used one for about 3 years now... It's good for straightening and taking out the frizz of your hair. Although the ones that are made for wet hair, I wouldn't recommend. That one made my hair very dry and frizzy.