Too Hot to Handle

Is breaking up with heat the answer to all your hair woes? We investigate...

- Charlotte Bitmead

My relationship with my hair straighteners is the most reliable, long-term one I’ve ever had. After I got my first pair, I didn’t look back. They perfectly smoothed my candy floss-esque hair texture and helped revive limp noodle curls in a single twist. What wasn’t to love? The damage, that’s what!

I was already hooked by the time I realised the havoc that heat was wreaking on my tresses, and while I’ve tried to go teetotal over the years, those ceramic plates keep calling me back. So you can imagine my scepticism when, on one evening online scroll session, I discovered the ‘heatless curl method’. Lo and behold, Gen Z were cutting out the need for heat, using the most random of objects.

It was entertaining, to say the least. Watching people wrap locks around towels, men’s ties, even socks— there was no household item left untouched. But it wasn’t until a satin heatless headband set landed on my desk, complete with matching silk scrunchies, that I decided I just had to give it a go.

My first attempt left me wrestling with the silky headband, wrapping my damp hair around it before going to sleep. But by the end of the week I was a pro, and I had brilliantly bouncy curls in the mornings. As a self-proclaimed lazy girl, this seemed too good to be true...You get extra sleep and skip the heat damage!? Just take my money.

It’s gettin’ hot in here

A couple of months later, my hair wasn’t only shinier, but growth was happening at a faster rate than I’d ever seen. I started to wonder: Was it just heat that was stunting my hair’s potential all this time?