While minimizing your hair’s exposure to heat is one of the ways to keep it safest from damage, it’s less damaging to use a straightening brush daily than it would be to use a flat iron, due to the heating element not touching the hair directly. If you do opt to use a flattening brush daily, take steps to mitigate heat damage. For those with natural hair, Byrdie writer Tameka Abraham suggests that in addition to always using a heat protectant, you should perform deep conditioning regularly, detangle often, wrap your hair at night, and visit a salon quarterly so any potential damage can be assessed before getting worse.