The Complete Guide to Recovery from Heat Damage for Low Porosity Hair

Last updated on March 18th, 2025 at 03:59 pm

So, you finally silk pressed your low porosity natural hair, or maybe you’ve straightened many times in the past, and on wash day your curls bounced back. No issues. But now, here you are reading this article because…Heat damage.

You’re left with a sinking feeling because your curls haven’t sprung back after wash day – it’s time to fix it.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of recovering heat damaged natural hair that’s also low porosity, there are many connected sub-topics that we should cover.

Understanding Natural Hair Problems

Heat damage is not the only hair problem for those with natural hair. Other problems that can preceed and even proceed heat damaged hair (regardless of porosity) include things like:

• Dryness
• Breakage
• Loss of curl pattern
• Tangling

When your hair is dry before you heat straighten it, damage can occur. Also, after you’ve straightened your hair, dryness can occur.

The same goes with breakage and tangling. Each of these natural hair problems can be caused by heat damage, but can also be the result of heat damage.

That’s why it’s important to address any underlying hair issues that you may have before putting a flat iron or any other heat styling tool to your hair.

Plus, these different issues do not discriminate based on hair type. You can have 4c, 4a, 4b natural hair, even type 3 hair. These natural hair problems may be more of an issue depending on how tight your curl pattern is, but they are still issues to look out for.

You’ll discover solutions for correcting some of the common natural hair problems throughout this article, but here are links to related articles offering some solutions as well:

17 Causes of Dry Hair That Have Nothing to Do With Health

Make These Changes to Prevent Hair Breakage

Here’s How to Train Your Natural Curls

Low Porosity Hair Care and Heat Damage

Low Porosity hair is hair that has a tight cuticle layer, making it difficult for moisture to enter the hair shaft. It’s also difficult for moisture to escape. So, there’s a benefit to having low porosity hair.

When it comes to straightening natural hair that’s also low porosity, you do need to use a heat protectant. If you’re using high heat, the recommendation is to use a heat protectant with silicones. However, just be aware that you want to go light on the application because the can build up on the hair shaft due to the nature of low porosity hair.

This is why you want to make sure that you properly moisturize and hydrate your hair, which occurs during your deep conditioning process.

You’ll also only want to use sufficient heat to get the hair straightened but not in excess. Minimize the amount of heat you use by working in smaller sections and doing only one pass of the flat iron.

Having less contact between your hair and any heat styling tool will reduce your risk of heat damage.

Hair Care for Dry, Damaged Hair

Natural hair that’s already dry and damaged can be a recipe for disaster if you straighten it.

Before straightening, you should always make sure that your hair is sufficiently hydrated.

If you applying heat to your hair when it is already damaged, here are some steps to help bring recovery:

• Do a light protein treatment, which will help fill in gaps along the hair shaft. You don’t want to overdo the use of protein on low porosity hair, though, because it can leave this porosity type feeling dry and stiff.
• Deep condition with a plastic cap and (this may seem counterintuitive) heat. It’s not the same as when you’re heat styling. Heat helps the hair cuticle to swell open so that the nutrients and moisture from the deep conditioner can penetrate the hair shaft.
  * Handle your hair as gently as possible

Finally, while each of these steps will help bring recovery to dry damaged hair, more than likely, depending on the amount of damage, you will need to trim, maybe even cut.

If your hair is severely damaged, I highly recommend you seek a professional to help with hair recovery. You may be able to do some things at home, but there is no substitution for a good quality trim/cut if needed.

Use Intuitive Hair Care

When it comes to figuring out if your hair needs moisture or protein, skip all the “rules” and care for your hair by observing what it’s asking for intuitively.

We all have different hair, and there’s no one size fits all method of hair care.

While the “rule” of thumb is to use protein sparingly on low porosity hair, I’ve discovered that my low porosity hair, which also happens to be fine, loves protein.

My hair tends to do very well with light protein applications and regular use of styling products containing very light proteins in them.

However, you can determine when your hair needs protein and when it needs moisture by simply observing how it looks and feels.

Signs your hair needs moisture

To determine if your hair needs moisture by way of deep conditioning, here are the signs:

• Feels dry and brittle
• Breaks when manipulated
• Very prone to frizz

Sign your hair needs protein

• Lacks strength and elasticity
• Prone to excessive breakage
• Feels soft and mushy when wet (can have too much moisture and it can be over-conditioned)
• Hair appears limp

Interested in a tool that will help you identify your hair’s needs and what treatments to use? Check out the SOS Symptom and Solution Finder.

Heat Protection Tips for Natural Hair

When you are using heat to style your natural hair, to prevent heat damage, take these into consideration:

• Properly prep your hair before using heat. This includes making sure that it’s moisturized and balanced with strength.
• Use the lowest heat setting possible. For example, if you have gray hair or fine hair, you want to opt for a lower heat setting of 350 to 390° maximum. Start low.
• Limit the number of flat iron passes over your hair to protect the cuticle layer from getting damaged
• Don’t silk press your hair more than once or twice a year. Some ladies are actually OK with a little bit of heat damage because they are “heat training” their hair and want it to be straight. However, if you want to regularly see your natural curls, the less heat you use to style, the better.

The Importance of Heat Protectants for Natural Hair

While you may be most interested in how to recover from heat damage, I’d be negligent by not addressing the importance of using a good quality heat protectant on your natural hair before straightening.

How heat protectants work

Heat protectants work by forming a protective “shield” over your hair. This helps to smooth the hair cuticle while also reducing moisture loss, thereby preventing heat damage.

Common ingredients that you will find in heat protectants include silicones, polymers, natural oils, humectants and hydrolyzed proteins.

Proteins help with elasticity to prevent breakage.

Silicones and polymers form a film on the hair to help it resist heat and humidity.

There are heat protectants that don’t contain silicones but they aren’t as effective when you are using high heat.

Silk Press Products for Natural Hair

While it’s clear that you need to use a heat protectant on your natural hair before straightening it, there are other products that can be useful at reducing the risks of using heat to style your hair. These include:

• Clarifying shampoo – to remove product build up and residue from your hair so you can achieve the most effective straightening without having to pass the flat iron over your hair multiple times
• Moisturizing shampoo – to restore any moisture lost after clarifying
• Deep conditioner and/or a protein treatment if needed
• Blow dry cream or serum – to prepare your hair to make it very smooth before flat ironing
• Anti-humidity spray
• Light and flexible edge control – to smooth flyaways on your edges where hair tends to be a little shorter.

DIY vs Store-Bought Hair Masks for Repairing Heat Damage

If you love your DIYs, I don’t want to burst your bubble, but they aren’t going to be nearly as effective at bringing recovery to heat damaged hair as store bought manufactured products which have been formulated by chemists.

Your DIY hair mask can help with imparting moisture to your hair and even strengthening your strands if it contains protein. For added moisture, you’ll want to use hair masks made with ingredients like avocado and honey.

However, to address heat damage, you need something with ingredients that are able to work on the structure of your hair.

A product that is really good for hair that has been heat damaged is a bond repair or maintenance treatment.

A product line like Olaplex, works to rebuild the disulfide bonds of the hair shaft. The disulfide bonds are the molecular structures that give your hair its strength and elasticity. These are what get weakened with excessive use of heat.

Here are some additional hair masks to help you recover from heat damage:

• Shea Moisture Bond Repair Hair Mask with Amla Oil
• Ouai Treatment Mask for Damaged Hair
• Amika Soulfood Nourishing Mask

There are many products on the market that promise to repair heat damaged hair. While I think these can help with hair recovery, the true fix for heat damaged strands is to allow it to grow in healthier and to trim damaged ends.

However, you can still improve the condition of your hair with hair masks that are rich in moisture and balanced with protein.

Best Hairstyles for Heat Damaged Hair

When it comes to styling, if you have heat damaged hair, the best hairstyles are those that mask those straight , damaged ends. These styles include.

• protective styles with braids, two strand twists, or buns
• low manipulation styles like twist outs and braid outs
• curled hairstyles which require the use of rollers to curl the ends

You can also do a combination of buns with twists or a bun with a twist out.
Skip the wash and go’s for now because your ends will look raggedy when you have heat damage.

Heat damage doesn’t have to be the end of your healthy hair journey. Rather, it’s a clean start, or you just want to take care of your hair as best you can until it grows out, embrace the learnings. Do what you need to do to prevent heat damage from happening again in the future.

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