{removed} I will rightfully ask it here now.
For the first time, lately, I've heard of heat protectant, I have NEVER used one! And some times I used my ceramic flat iron every day! Is it bad?! Have I been damaging my hair? What's it for and what's it not for?

Not sure...but you may want to try ThermaSilk products that are supposed to protect against heat damage. Leaves my everyday blow dried hair silky.

basically a heat protectant is a product that will lightly coat your hair. most irons get so hot that they will literally burn your hair. the damage shows up slowly over time. if you use a heat protectant, the iron will instead burn and "damage" the product rather than your actual hair.

i love the new vo5 miracle mist. its very cheap but its very light, smells great, and is conditioning. but you dont necessarily have to use a heat protectant before ironing. any type of coating product will do, like a serum or gel. as long as you have some type of product on your hair before ironing, you should be ok.

oh so it's like a shampoo with feature " heat protectant " ?
( just like those with " color resist " or " anti-dandruff" ? )
Or it's a product you use right before every ironing? also does the kind of iron matter at all?

a heat protectant is usually a spray that you use right before blowdrying or ironing. when hair is wet, spray it on, comb through, then blowdry. when ironing, lightly spray each section of your hair just before you iron it.

the least damaging flatiron is a ceramic plated one. please do not use a steam flatiron or wet-to-dry iron. they are extremely damaging to your hair, even with a heat protectant.