F.A.Q. on heat 

How does heat damaged hair look and feel?

1.The natural curly pattern is either loosen or completely  gone. 

2.The hair has a hard time holding water, hence forth becoming brittle or even breaking.

3. hair appears limp or lifeless

 Why does heat affect people differently?

It’s all up to genetics. Some people hair strand contains more  Disulfide bonds then others. These bonds produce more cysteine molecules that aid in stronger hair that can withstand the roughest combing, the strongest wind and a really hot flat iron.

Should I stay away from heat?

I recommend that all naturals stay away from heat but If you like heat, here are some reason why you might want to monitor and control your heat usage.

1. If  you have thin hair be careful with heat.

2. If  you have fine hair strands your chances of heat damage is drastically higher than others

3. If you suffer from really dry hair your chances of heat damage is drastically higher than others  

4.  If you have porous hair your chances of heat damage is drastically higher than others

5. If you like the curliness of your hair be careful with heat.

What are some ways to avoid heat damage?

1. Collect your shedded hair to experiment on, to find the perfect temperature for your curls

2. Use Heat protectant

3. Don't use heat tools higher than 410 degrees.

4. Lessen the amount of times you use your heat tools a year

What Should I do if I have heat damage?

1. Increase the amount you deep condition.

2. increase  protein treatments.

3. Increase the amount of times  you moisturize your hair daily

4. wear more protective styles

5. If you don't like the new texture, simply cut it off and start a new

understanding heat on hair.

Introduction

Let’s talk about heat and hair.  A lot of naturals have a love& hate relationship with heat. I think this is because we lack understanding of the effects of heat on our precious curls. Well it’s time to go into some of the facts and clarify some of the myths…

So, where should we start.

What is heat?short version

 In the dictionary it is described as the state in which the body perceived as having or generating a relatively high degree of warmth.  Heat is energy transferred from one system to another by thermal interaction.

What is hair?short version

Hair is a network of amino acids chains that are joined together by side bonds  There are three types of side bonds: salt bonds, hydrogen bonds, and disulfide bonds. 

Today we are going to talk about two of these bonds, the Hydrogen and Disulfide bond. 

The hydrogen bond appears more frequently throughout the hair-strand and is connected to various parts of proteins and contribute to the overall stability of  the hair. This bond is weak and can easily be broken or altered by heat and moisture.

The Disulfide bond is fewer, but is much stronger and is directly contributed to the structure of the strand, meaning the curliness.

How does heat affect the hair?short version

Since hydrogen bonds is weak, light application of heat can change or cause deformities throughout the hair structure. The proteins are relatively rigid, so several hydrogen bonds must be broken simultaneously for a protein to change its overall shape. Heating of the hair cause reconstruction of the hydrogen bonds within a single hair strand and as it cools new bonds form.
 For example curling the hair with a heated curling wand. 
If you where to create a curl and proceed to hold the curl for 5 to 10 seconds as it cools down. Then proceed to curl another section of hair but release allowing gravity to pull it down and cool in that position.The first curl created will hold its shape longer then the one that was not allowed to hold it curl until the section completely cooled down. The bonds had not set themselves in place, causing the second curled section to drop the shape of the curl.

Duly noted, this newly created bond is weak and the smallest presence of moisture can cause the structure to return to its previous state. Increasing the kinetic energy within the atoms increases vibration or interactions between the atoms involved in the hydrogen bond.  More energy or increase in temperature increase changes or deformation of hair strand. The structure becomes disrupted and denaturation happens.  High temperatures or prolonged use of heat can affect the hydrogen Bond in a way that can destroy or permantly alters the disulfide bond that creates the curly pattern in your hair. Most people know it as heat damage.

That's all flocks..... for now. I just wanted to give my reader a head up to the future video coming soon...Yahhhh!!!!!! I'm really excited about this one. Other questions that will be answered and discussed in this video will be listed below. If you have any questions or topics dealing with heat fill free to leave below and I will add them to the video. 

Thank you and see you soon....

How does heat damaged hair look and act?

Why should I stay away from heat or lower my use of heat?

What to do if you have heat damage?

Hide those scissor

Ok, I have been in LOVE.... with my scissors for two years now and its obvious that I'm lacking the length. I have good length right now but I could of been waist last year. The main reason is because I'm suffering from "scissor-happy-syndrome"

 It's a really serious problem. I see a few split ends and a couple uneven strands...and I must cut. It stems from YouTube....lol. I know----I know, from the beginning of my journey. I would watch all these videos of people who had long hair tell me that they cut their hair 4 to 5 times a year. So, my thoughts were, I want long hair like yours. I will do that tooooooooo!  The thing is, it doesn't make sense to cut your hair that much. Unless your trying to maintain your length. So, lets calculate. If you cut you hair 4 times a year and you cut an inch off each time. You will hardly see any growth. This is because the average speed hair can grow is between 5 to 6 inches a year. That would equal up to around 1 to 2 inches of retained length a year. I was living a lie these last two years. Nooooooooooo....... So I went back to YouTube with a new resolve and a little more smarts. What I pretty much heard ... now was across the board. From Asain to African American; they would only trim or cut their hair once a year. Now this was while they were growing their hair long. Once they got to the length they desired. The long hair Divas cut it more frequently.

 I have no idea why this simple concept didn't slap me in the face years ago. So I have hidden my hair scissor. No seriously I did and now I can't find them... I've been looking for them, for two weeks now. I'm about to just buy another pair. ANY WHO! My major goal is to wear only protective styles like this one

 and only cut my hair once this year. Don't get me wrong, I will still be practicing my search and destroy methods. Split ends are no joke. That's why I have be looking for those blasted scissor. The last time I got a trim was in November. So we will see whats poppin in November 2012...

What is it...and where does it come from

WHAT IS IT

Mineral oil and petroleum are two different substances with different properties and varying uses, but they originate from the same base substance. Petroleum petra (rock) + Latin: oleum oil.  Petroleum jelly is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons with a CAS number 8009-03-8, CAS Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number. This number is an authoritative collection of disclosed chemical substance information. Mineral oil has several grades in which leads to several different cas numbers. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate or collection of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not have a specific chemical composition. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with thousands of known forms. So it can not be specified as easily as petroleum jelly.  So its physical properties vary as well, But can be generalized as transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes (typically 15 to 40 carbons) and cyclic paraffins, related to petroleum jelly. Mineral oil often refers to one of two things. One is a natural byproduct found deep underground. The other, more common mineral oil, or liquid petroleum, is a refined byproduct of crude oil. The refining process is done through Fractional distillation.

Mineral oil and petroleum jelly are substances of relatively low value, and they are produced in very large quantities.

Uses of petroleum jelly

1.Petroleum jelly is commonly used as a personal lubricant. Don’t use on condoms because it can dissolves latex

2. It can be used as a softener for cuticles of the hair strand

3. It is used in pomades to help users sculpt their hair.

The Known Dangers of Mineral Oil and petroleum jelly

Inhalation: 
Causes irritation to the respiratory tract. Symptoms may include coughing, shortness of breath. Inhalation of mist or vapor may produce aspiration pneumonia. 
Ingestion: 
consuming or digesting mineral oil could cause serious diarrhea. Mineral oil acts as a cathartic cause cramping, diarrhea and nausea. The body does not absorb it as it passes through the intestinal, but it limits the amount of water removed from the stool. Almost 98% of mineral oil remains unabsorbed in the Feces

Eye Contact: 
Mists or fumes can irritate the eyes.
Chronic Exposure: 
Prolonged or repeated skin exposure may cause dermatitis. 

Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions: 

Persons with pre-existing skin disorders or impaired respiratory function may be more susceptible to the effects of the substance.

Skin Contact: 

Prolonged contact or over usages of material may cause irritation to the skin and scalp

Clarifying myths from facts

Some mineral oils have (PAH) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and are known to be cancer-causing substances. People who work with these oils should be cautious.The type of mineral oil used in cosmetics, hair care products and food are highly purified and refined and produces non-threatening PAH levels. There are no known cases of white mineral oil-causing cancer. Some people confuse these purified mineral oils, with lower grades of mineral oils, which is related but different product with a different CAS number (64475-85-1) having uses similar to turpentine. A third substance sometimes called "Mineral Oils" (CAS number 8007-45-2) is more often called Coal Tar or Tar and is recognized as a definite human carcinogen.

Rat study

The application of four popular moisturizers increased the incidence of skin cancer in mice who were irradiated twice a week for 20 weeks. A fifth moisturizer, specially prepared without mineral oil and sodium laurel sulphate, had no such effect. This study may not directly translate to humans as mice have a thin skin and live in the dark, unlike humans whose bodies are accustomed to sun exposure. There are no side effects that are shown to be fatally dangerous. Scientist have found in many studies that cosmetic-grade mineral oil has been shown to be noncomedogenic. It means it does not cause pores to be clogged). 

Hybrid petroleum jelly and mineral oil

Many products use mineral oil for moisture because it will not spoil, unlike vegetable- or plant-based oils. To keep the wanted properties of the petroleum jelly and mineral oil, hybrids are now being used. Hybrid petrolatum or petroleum utilizes a complex mixture of vegetable oils and waxes and combines them with micro or nano technologies. Due to the different chemical structure of vegetable based oils, producers of hybrid petrolatum must be blended and matched to the correct order to obtain an homogeneous mixture.

hygral fatigue

I will have to admit I have never heard of this either. So thanks you  MegaSweetmel

Mineral oil does not penetrate into the cortex of the hair, because of three main reasons.  First, mineral oil molecules are larger and bulk; making it difficult to reach the cortex of the hair strand. Second, mineral oil has major interfacial tension between water.  Water is easily adsorbed into the cortex, this then makes it even harder for the oil  to enter. There are  special chemical that can lessen the tension which are emulsifiers but getting off topic.  Third, Mineral oil molecules have no physical attraction to proteins, which minimizes the chances of it entering the hair stand even more. So how does this benefit you? Well, in two ways. It helps prevent major loss of water and help prevent too much absorption of water. Hair that takes in too much water often can undergo what is known as ‘hygral fatigue’. This can happen to swimmer or people who over moisturize their hair.

The hair actually becomes weaker due to the swelling and shrinking. Damage can be sustained to the cuticle and cortex which becomes a greater problem during detangling and styling. So, mineral oil is not entirely bad .

So the conclusion of whether you or your family will use petroleum jelly or mineral oil, is up to you. All I can tell you is if you don’t that’s cool.  If you do don’t forget to use a clarifying shampoo every once and a while. Don't forget to use the product with moderation to get the great benefits you are looking for. 


As for me

I have been using products with petroleum jelly and mineral oil. Now that 

I understand them a lot more, I will continue to do so .

my love for braids

Studying up for the next video on Petroleum Jelly and Mineral Oil

Other names

Because of the many applications for mineral oil and petroleum jelly it has given an equally expansive list of names and trade brands.

Petroleum jelly

Mineral jelly
Adepsine oil

Albolene

Cable oil

Baby Oil

Drakeol

Electrical Insulating Oil

Heat-treating oil

Hydraulic oil

Lignite oil

Liquid paraffin

Mineral Seal Oil

Paraffin oil

Petroleum liquid

White oil

naphthenic oils

aromatic oils

rock oil 
Nujol

HISTORY

The raw material for petroleum jelly was discovered in 1859 in Titusville, Pennsylvania, United States, on some of the country's first oil rigs. Robert Augustus Chesebrough, a young chemist who distilled fuel from the oil of sperm whales for a living. Went to Titusville to find new materials that had commercial potential. He had heard about the booming oil industry in Pennsylvania. Investigating further into it he found rod wax or unrefined petroleum jelly. The Workers disliked this paraffin like forming on rigs because it caused them to malfunction.  Chesebrough returned to Brooklyn with the unrefined black "rod wax", rod wax and spent months creating a clean form of rod-wax which he called "petroleum jelly. By distilling the lighter, thinner oil products from the crude, he created a light-colored gel. He began making so much of this stuff that every beaker in his laboratory was full, so he threw out his wife's flowers and filled the vases with his creation.After awhile, he added the popular medical term "line" to the word "vase" and he called the product "Vaseline Petroleum Jelly."Chesebrough patented the process of making petroleum jelly by U.S. Patent No. 127,568 in 1872.  Chesebrough traveled around New York demonstrating the product to encourage sales by burning his skin with acid or an open flame, then spreading the ointment on his injuries and showing his past injuries healed, he claimed, by his miracle product.He opened his first factory in 1870 in Brooklyn using the name Vaseline.

This was a little sneak peak. I cant wait to upload this video there is a lot more information I have to share...