Today I want to touch on ways to straighten your natural hair without heat damage. Straightening natural hair or hair that has been chemically processed can be known to bring heat damage. With this hairstyle, I have compiled some tips that will get you off to a great start to healthy hair.
You definitely want to avoid heat damage mainly because it can damage the hair. Excessive damage to the hair can cause the hair to break due to fragile hair caused by heating appliances.
Try not to be too hard on yourself when it comes to straightening your hair. If you did a bad job, don’t fret and take it easy and always be gentle to your hair. You can always try again the following week.
The main reason why you should be avoiding heat damage to your hair is that your hair will thrive when it is healthy and because you will also notice hair growth. You should always be aware of how damaging some of our habits can be. And work on improving our methods and techniques. But if you want your hair to thrive and grow out faster. This is the main reason why you should be opting for less heat damage.
The typical time that women tend to use hair appliances is around the colder months. So this is the time to be more aware of this. We don’t want our hair to get wet a lot during these months. Or to go outside while the hair is wet. So we run to the straightening iron the most during the winter month.
So, during these colder months, be aware that you should be avoiding heat damage while achieving a straight look with the flat iron. Also, another tip would be to try to use heat less often if you can.
I will be going over 5 top tips that I want to suggest to achieving straight hair without heat damage. Lets, go!
1. Deep Condition Your Hair
I know this step may not seem as important but it is important to now beneficial it is to deep condition your hair weekly (or twice a month) to avoid heat damage.
I always deep condition my hair and my hair has thanked me for and I know for a fact that my hair would look so damaged if I did not opt for a deep conditioner after washing my hair. Deep conditioning also makes your hair much easier to detangle when the conditioner is on it. I also detangle my hair after I have thoroughly applied a deep conditioner to my hair.
2. Use a Serum on Wet Hair
I know that this may not be common, but I have found that whenever I am getting ready to straighten my hair, I must always apply some kind of serum to my hair when it is wet.
It all started with the frizz eas line. That big bottle of serum it comes with that you apply on wet hair. I’ve noticed that serum is an important hair product to use when straightening hair.
There are also many other hair brands that include serums such as the Paul Mitchell super skinny line, and the Fantasia IC smoothing serum, lets not forget the Mizani thermasmooth collection has its very own serum.
When I apply serum to damp hair, it also acts as a heat protectant and smooths out my hair as I blow dry . It also makes it even smoother after flat ironing. This is a secret that I have learned and that is to always use a serum on damp hair.
3. Use less products to Avoid Breakage
To continue on to why I only use a serum is because, if you end up using too many products, it can weigh the hair down and make it stiff. This can cause problems when straightening the hair because too many hair products can be a no-no. Which can lead to hair breakage by running the flat iron through the hair multiple times, which is also a no-no.
Like I mentioned in the previous tip, the only hair product that I use is a serum on damp hair. And maybe a blow-dry lotion. My staples are the Fantasia IC heat protector straightening serum. Not only does it protect the hair from heating appliances, but it also aids in straightening the hair.
The other blow dry cream that I use is the Creme of Nature Argan oil blow-out creme. Which helps to smoothen the hair follicle and provide heat protection.
4. Use hair appliances That Cause Less Damage To the Hair
You may be thinking that there are no hair appliances that can cause less damage to their hair but I have found there to be a few that aid in hair health.
First of all, let’s talk about ceramic-plated flat irons. Almost every flat iron comes with ceramic plates and this is something that is looked past but ceramic is very friendly to the hair. They allow for even heat distribution and don’t have any cold spots.
Ceramic also helps to eliminate frizz, making the hair smoother and therefore cause less breakage.
One of my most recent discoveries is a new heating appliance that I have found, aids in hair growth. You may not believe this, but I have found the Revlon One-step Blow dryer blowdries and straightens my hair in one step.
You may be wonder what this product looks like and no, it’s not the Revlon paddle brush that a lot of natural women have been raving about. It is similar to the Revlon paddle brush but it is like a round brush with ceramic plates that circulates hot air through the vents of the round brush.
I love this tool and I also believe that the ceramic plates around the brush, help to straighten my hair, which is also something you will not be able to find in the paddle brush.
5. Use Heat Protectant
I know this may sound like beating a dead horse with a bat, but you should always be using heat protectant in your hair straightening game.
Like I said in the previous tips, I only use 1 or 2 products before blowdrying my hair, and that is a serum that contains a heat protectant, and a blow-out cream that also contains a heat protectant. Heck, most products out there nowadays come with a heat protectant, so just make sure that you are using one to avoid head damage.
So I have gone over the basics on the tips and what I do to achieve straight hair and at the same time prevent heat damage. I talked about why you should be trying to protect your hair and when you should be protecting your hair. Also I went over how you can protect your hair from heat damage while achieving straight styles. I hope that you really take this advice and use it to your advantage. Thanks for reading!
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