My Hair Story – Brittany

I have written about Brittany’s hair growth secret before (heat training). Read her story in her own words below.

Brittany

Are you relaxed, natural, texturized or texlaxed?
My hair is heat trained (natural)

What’s your story, how did you get to where you are?
I have had every hair style from relaxed to natural, pressed to texturized. When I was younger my mother would press my hair and then she eventually moved on to relaxing it. Once I was an adult I decided that I wanted to experience and enjoy my natural hair. I cut my underarm length hair to less than 2 inches and rocked a short little afro.
My natural hair thrived for 3 years and grew to almost bra- strapped length. But, as my hair grew I began having troubles with knots, tangles, and dryness. The lovely afro that I enjoyed wearing started to become loppsided. At this point, I was ready for a change. I made a disastrous attempt to texturize my hair which end up with hands full of broken hairs.
My next move was the Brazilian Keratin Treatment. The treatment’s “temporary” straightening was the product that I needed to make a change with out additional damage. I dealt with the chemicals and time of the the treatment for 2 years thinking that it was the only solution I had to help loosen my curls without a relaxer.
During the end of that 2 years I decided to let the treatment wear off. According to the bottle of the treatment it is suppose to wear off in 2 to 3 months. After my 3 month had passed and my hair had not changed I came to the realization that the keratin treatment had nothing to do with the results I was achieving. It was the heat I was using, and I discovered that my hair was actually “heat trained”. After many month of experimenting I came up with a method to heat train the hair to get consistent texture and results.
I have used my method for 1 year now and my results continue to be successful. My hair is currently longer than it’s every been( full bra strap length). I am now able to retain all of the hair I grow and see hair growing to my waist in the very near future. I am now in the process of writing a book on my method to help others understand and use heat in a way that they never have before…to achieve the healthy hair they’ve always wanted.

What is your regimen at the moment?
I currently wash and deep condition my hair weekly. I usually blow dry and flatiron my hair after washing and moisturize my hair as needed in between washing. Every few weeks I do wash and goes for a week to allow my hair to rehydrate. I heat train my hair every 4 to 6 weeks.

And your favourite product?
I don’t have a favorite product. I change them all the time.

What’s your signature style?
I usually like to wear my hair down and straight. I have found that wearing my hair straight gives me the most retention.

What is the best tip you have learned to protect your ends?
The best thing you can do for your ends to keep them moisturized. Deep conditioning is very important to keeping ends supple.

Any links you would like to share?
On my YouTube page I talk about my experience with the keratin treatment and heat training
http://www.youtube.com/user/Brittanynic16

Here is my website:
https://sites.google.com/site/mybeautymarc/

Author Spotlight

Alma

BlackHairInformation.com is the brainchild of myself Alma Campbell. I am a homemaker, a mother and a writer. I started the website in mid 2008 with breaking relaxed hair. After making the decision to transition to natural hair, I have now fulfilled my dream of healthy long hair and I want you to achieve the same. My favourite subject is hair and I continue to blog about my hair journey here but I also write a weight loss blog LessFoodMoreLife.com

More To Explore:

Reader Question: Advice For Men's Hair?
Reader Question: Product Rotation
My Hair Story - Vonique‏
My Hair Story - Momo
Posted by on December 11, 2010. Filed under My Hair Story & Reader Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry


Like reading comments? So do we, be sure to leave yours below!


  • ShayHoney

    I have watched all of her videos and when i found out she was featured on this site, i had to check it out…i am soooooooooo GLAD i did. Talk about LOADS of useful information! I have chosen to transition to natural hair and i hope this site has everything i need to successfully maintain and grow healthy natural hair :-D

    SO INSPIRED*

    • http://www.lessfoodmorelife.com/ BHI

      she’s got gorgeous hair. good luck with your transition!

  • lyra777

    I don’t understand how heat training is different to heat damage. If you are loosening the curl with heat, and this change is permanent, it must be damaged to an extent. I don’t know why people don’t just call a spade a spade. The heat has to be breaking the bonds within the hair strand for a permanent change. It may revert someway, but if it doesn’t revert 100%, the hair is damages Some people can grow damaged hair very long, other can’t. In the same way some people can smoke for 50 years and never get lung cancer, someone does it for 1 years and dies of cancer. If I were to do this, I would lose all my hair because it likes minimal heat. It has to be damaged hair in the same way a relaxer ‘damages.’ I don’t fully understand these need to say heat trained. A rose by any other name…….. I don’t really care what people do, but I don’t understand these need to act as if heat trained hair is not somewhat damaged!

    • Yalanda

      Finally, someone with some sense, I agree 100%

    • Hafwyn

      Heat training is intentional and controlled…and comparing it to lung cancer? It isn’t that serious!

  • lyra777

    I agree that everyone has different hair needs, but I get the impression that BHI is using this girl as an excuse to show how healthy and long heat trained hair can be. Like I said, not everyone is going to get good results. Its like me saying look at the girl with the waist length 4a /4b hair on youtube. my hair will be that lond! Just because she has that, doesn’t mean I will. The presentation of heat training of this site is somewhat unbalanced.

  • lyra777

    Your hair can retain some curl pattern and still be damaged – like when people get texturisers. It seems to me that when people like the way it look and it retains length, its heat trained and when people don’t want it, its damage. It is still damage and acting otherwise is silly. If people want to do that fine, but people shouldn’t act like its not damaged

    • http://www.lessfoodmorelife.com/ BHI

      Oh I agree with you. Heat training is ‘controlled damage’ just like using any relaxer or texurizer. At the end of the day it’s about what your hair can handle. Some can have texturizers and have hair that grows very well while some will struggle.The point of heat training, as I see it, is an alternative to chemicals to achieve ‘easier to manage’ hair and for me that is hair that will not constantly create single strand knots and break. For some heat training has meant growth retention but results may vary. Surely that can’t be a bad thing?!

    • Hafwyn

      Isn’t the main issue with damage loss of retention? Looks like we’ve found a loop hole. ;)

  • Lyra777

    It depends on what you define as a bad thing! For me yes, because my hair seems to hate anything but minimum levels of heat. For others, maybe not. Honestly, natural black hair isn’t that hard to manage without all these extras. A wide tooth comb, a good detangler and moisturiser = voila! I do think the reason a lot of people see chemically / heat altered hair as easier is because they don’t have basic knowledge about the proper way to care for afro hair. Its hair, not brain surgery. Until a couple years ago, I used to be one of those people. I’m not saying I’m amazing now, but with the internet and youtube, my hair has never been so long in such a short period of time, in my whole life. If you have an overproliferation of knots and breakage, the person is not taking care of their hair properly. Its the person and not the hair which is the problem.

    • BrownChica

      puh-leez.
      Call it damage if you like, but since heat training I haven’t had ANY single strand (or more) knots which are highly damaging and have to be cut off completely. And yes I used the widest tooth comb I could find/only combed my hair when it was soaked in conditioner while in the shower with tepid water running over it/moisturized every day and bagged my ends at night. i.e. I knew how to properly care for my hair.

      When people like you make sweeping generalizations about lack of “basic knowledge about the proper way to care for afro hair” it makes me wonder just what your qualifications are to say something like that. Youtube taught you all you know about afro hair care? Well good for you, but don’t disparage those of us who choose make our natural hair work best for us, after all we are the ones wearing the hair, not the other way around.

      • Lyra777

        I wasn’t disparaing anyone on how they wear their hair. I could care less. If u got off your high horse and actually read what I wrote, I was that people should just acknowledge the damage they are doing. You don’t know what qualification or knowledge I have about hair! If you had any knowledge at all you would realise that damaged hair doesn’t mean that its not falling out of your head. Just because you are too limited in your ability to do anything apart from heat, doesn’t mean you should have an argument with me.

    • Hafwyn

      It’s hair not a child…
      lol

  • Shaniqua

    I think brown chica probably knows that damage is being caused but it is controlled damage and some of us are able to get better length retention with this method than any other. In all honesty, any mechanical action done to the hair, combing and even braiding cases damage so saying that damage is caused is vague and not relevant. What matters is that it may not be BREAKAGE CAUSING DAMAGE which many ladies have found that it is not. Constant braiding and unbraiding on the other hand . . .

    • http://www.lessfoodmorelife.com/ BHI

      I think you have a point. Breakage causing damage is more important than just damage. Even going out in the sun damages hair, UV rays and all that!

  • Sunni

    It’s all about people’s preference or aesthetics. Relaxers have chemicals in them that can weaken the immune system, according to what I read. Also some people just have bad reactions to them, but they are only comfortable managing their hair when it’s straight, semi-straight – heat-trained. That’s their preference. It’s just a preference.

    But I do agree that it’s not for everyone. One has to be gentle and careful while heat training. The hair has to be well-moisturized, treated with a protein conditioner, elastic and supple already. Some people have hair that is very fine or prone to breakage so heat training may not be for them.

    However, if your hair is pretty elastic and you have been disciplined about moisturizing and protecting your ends, I don’t see the big deal.

    I, personally, love my kinks and curls but I don’t feel like the shrinkage all the time. My hair is almost arm-pit length after a little over a year since my BC but in it’s virgin state it touches the top of my shoulders in the back and is above my shoulders in the front. No one can see my true length unless I use heat – the difference is dramatic.

  • N.Danger

    It seems to me that the natural black hair community likes to look down on girls who still want to wear their hair straight. Curly hair styles aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Whether it’s the maintanence, aesthetics, or whatever, not all women want to wear their hair curly. It seems that the default assumption is that these women are trying to “look white” or aren’t “truly natural” or that she doesn’t love her “natural” hair. All these arguments is what turns a lot of girls off to the whole natural hair community. There seems to be a set list of rules for a girl to follow for her to be considered natural and if she colors occasionally, straightens her hair daily or once in a while, or doesn’t fit into the communities neat little “natural” box then she can no longer declare herself natural.

    Not every girl who heat trains or wants to wear her hair straight is some self-hating white girl wanna be. The same way white women wear their hair in all different kinds of styles from curly to straight and everything in between, black women are the same way. I’ve worn my hair both ways my entire life. I stopped getting perms at age 12, did the wash and go thing for about 2 years and just couldn’t keep up with it. At 14 I started getting Dominican blowouts and then took over my own haircare at 18. Never did my hair grown as long as it did when I was heat training. But that’s my personal hair care journey. Every woman’s is different.

    Will heat training work for everyone? No. Should every black woman commit to curly care? No. Should we continue to try to get caught up on the labels of “natural” “curly girl” “heat trained” or whatever? No. Especially when we’re trying so hard to throw off the labels that society as a whole has cast upon us. It seems we’re hell bent on finding one reasons or other to hate on one another.

  • Ade_ells

    Why must you all argue over dead protein cells that elongate from your scalp? Hair is very dispensable…so much so that you can either grow it yourself or buy it in a shop. Get over your self-righteous, highfaluting selves and stop condemning people for what they choose to do with or call their dead protein. HAIR IS NOT THAT SERIOUS!! Get it? Got it? GOOD!

    P.S. Let the stone throwing begin…but if I cared any less, I’d be dead, just like the protein from my scalp :o ).

    • http://www.lessfoodmorelife.com/ BHI

      hahahahahaha!

  • Dearlady4

    Wish it was that simple, Ade_ells. I’d like to believe what the scientists say that color is a social construct.  But history and my personal experiences tell me different. Of course, it’s just hair – an outward showing of protein – but society tells us different.  The issue is this: long hair, straight hair = feminine beauty.   Women with long hair are afforded minor privileges (and sometimes major ones), that Black women with shorter hair or kinky hair don’t often enjoy.  I have watched this first-hand with my daughters.  I have three daughters: one with short 3c hair, one with short-medium tightly coiled hair, and one with long hair.  All of them have natural hair.  Guess whose hair gets complimented the most from family and my friends and other kids?  You guessed it! The daughter with the long hair and the one with the loosely curled hair. I am faced with building up my daughter’s confidence with the tightly coily hair.